Clementine Hunter Paintings, Take 2

Two years ago I posted about our Clementine Hunter art integration project we did with our fabulous art teacher, Mrs. Schepker.  Clementine Hunter was the daughter of former slaves, and was a self-taught artist.  The subject of her paintings were the slave memories and stories that she heard from her parents and (former-slave) grandparents.

Clementine's style was very primitive and childlike.

I loved the way this project turned out so much two years ago I decided we needed to do it again.  It combined art with primary sources: the perfect integration piece for our Civil War unit.

The students were first asked to analyze 8 different primary source slave quotes in detail.  We spent some time in class analyzing these and discussing these.  Students then were introduced to Clementine's work and her style and technique were discussed and critiqued with Mrs. Schepker.  Students then selected one of the 8 quotes they analyzed that they connected with to then paint--in Clementine's style--on a canvas.  They sketched their painting first, then got out the acrylic paint and started replicating her style.

Once students finished their painting, they were given these directions to reflect on their own painting, the quote they selected to illustrate, and Clementine's style.  Students used the screencasting feature built in on QuickTime on their laptops to do this video reflection.  They then uploaded their reflections to the class YouTube channel--that was how they "turned in" their painting and reflection.

Check out some of their final Clementine Hunter paintings and reflection videos below...you can click here for the entire playlist.  I am so proud of these kiddos and how their art integration project turned out!

Clementine Hunter Paintings

This past week we spent time integrating our current Civil War social studies unit with art, specifically the artistic style of Clementine Hunter.  Haven't heard of her?  Check out some info about her here.  She really is a fantastic artist, with a very childlike style.

The students, after reading and analyzing eight primary source documents written by slaves, selected one document that spoke to them.  They then used that document, as well as Clementine Hunter's style to create slave paintings.  Once again, I was so impressed with what these students came up with!  Not only did they do a phenomenal job of recreating Clementine' style, but they did a great job of making the primary source documents come alive in their artwork.