Art Through the Ages with Louise on Friday’s at 9am for 7-14 year olds
This Black History month I popped into Art Through the Ages to see how Louise was incorporating black history into her lesson. Louise has such a warm and relaxed approach to teaching. Before the main lesson began all the children were given the option to share any artwork they had been working on in the week, whether it was related to one of the previous lessons or not. Several students shared their fabulous works of art including one child who shared her picture and another child who shared the festive pumpkin she’d decorated with melted wax crayons. Louise was visibly impressed and so full of praise for all the artwork the children had shared.
Previously the children had been looking at artists from around the world but in this lesson they were going to look at Black artist’s living and working in the UK.
Louise then moved onto her main theme of the lesson by asking the children what they already knew about Black History month. Many of the children shared their knowledge of inspiring figures such as Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela.
Louise shared on her screen several pieces of artwork by black artists and encouraged the children to share their opinions on the pieces, affirming that all opinions were valid. It was great to hear the children’s very imaginative opinions and to witness the confidence some of the children displayed in speaking aloud to the class.
Learning about Sonia Boyce
Louise then honed her focus into sharing one particular female black artist, Sonia Boyce, who lives and works in the UK. The children took a look at many of her art pieces, with Louise really encouraging them to analyze the work and find deeper meanings within the drawings. The children discovered that Sonia likes to use a lot of self portraits in her art and that she sees herself as a strong woman holding her family up. It was really heart warming to hear the children express admiration for the strong women in their own families such as their mothers and sisters.
One child practiced her reading skills by reading aloud an explanation of one of Sonia’s most famous pieces of art. It was great to see the cross discipline learning and it was a great example of how children are always learning, even when they don’t realize it!
Half way through the lesson the children were then given the space to create their own artwork inspired by Sonia’s colourful portraits. Louise provided inspiration and ideas but allowed the children to follow their own ideas. The children could see Louise working alongside them as she showed the students how to draw a portrait. There were no rules to the artwork they created and they were allowed to follow their own inspiration. The children were all really relaxed and were able to put in family friendly song requests to listen to while they worked on their masterpieces.
At the end of the lesson some of the students felt confident to share the artwork they had produced so far. I was really blown away with what they had created so far and it was really interesting to see how they had all been inspired in different ways. I could see Louise was equally impressed and she was full of praise for all the students.
It was really amazing to see so many students felt safe to share their art, opinions and ideas in this lesson. It’s a real testament to Louise that she’s managed to create such a warm, non judgemental class where the students feel comfortable to share.
If you want more information about Art Through the Ages, you can find out more here:
If you are signing up for this class, Louise recommends the following resources. Please note that the the resources listed below are not essential. You do not have to buy them to attend the class.
“Every week we learn about an artist or movement and I love hearing from the students about their opinions of the artworks we explore. The students come up with some fascinating, unique art pieces in response and it is great to hear about what inspires them as budding artists.” – Louise
