Black History Month with Aaron Douglas

Aaron Douglas has been called the father of African American art. Douglas was an important part of the circle of artists and writers we now call the Harlem Renaissance. His paintings reflect his confidence that African Americans can learn from the past "to carry us on to new and higher levels of achievement." Many paintings of Africans creating civilizations, overcoming oppression, and building new worlds. Working in 1920- 40s, Douglas proudly showed black Americans with their African past before the dawn of the civil rights movement.

**Remember click on artwork for close-up, there are great details to see**

The students were given the choice of doing their own interpretation of one of his painting or do n "abstract" work of art using Aaron Douglas' style as their inspiration

Adrian and Jennifer chose to do abstract interpretations of Aaron Douglas' paintings.

Aspirations (1936) contains symbols of musical accomplishment and achievement in scholarship and business Unlike many of the artists who have come of age after the civil rights era, Douglas is most interested in showing self-determined success. Douglas' most common signifier of such is not government, but industry, as at top in 1936's Aspiration.

"Aspiration" Artwork by Jallayha and no name
Jungle scene by Aaron Douglas
Jungle scene by Kendra and Mayuan

Ship scene by Aaron Douglas
Ship scene by Chloe, I am so proud of how she used all those different values!
Ship sene by Darneisha, and again great use of values!
Ship scene by Fahrenheit
Ship scene by Lavonte
Ship scene by Malik

7th-8th Grade MLK Portrait Winners

Congratulations to the 7th- 8th grade winners of the MLK portrait contest! Remember click on picture to get a closer look at each winner. The winners are listed in the following order : Most Expressive, Most Realistic, Most Creative.

Room 307: Heaven, Marquise, Kenda
Room 306: Malachi, Brandon, Tejuan
Room 308: Malik, Markese, Terron

Runner-Ups for 7th-8th Grades: Matthew, Bobby, Toyia

Go Chicago! Room 307 Skyline Design

With pride, the Upper Grades designed their own artistic Chicago cityscape. They looked at pictures of the Chicago skyline and decided which buildings they wanted to highlight. Half of the students used watercolors and half used tracing paper. Those who used tracing paper have skylines that are more exact and they focused more energy on using creative colors. Which room do you think worked the hardest?!

Artwork from Room 307:
Artwork by Talaiyah
Artwork by Lavonte
Artwork by Erica
Artwork by Kennedie
Artwork by Farenheit
Artwork by Walter
Artwork by Jimmie (you can not see the detail with this photo but Jimmie is great, he has an eye for art)
Artwork by Kenda, she requested that I post her painting, but I hope that she finishes it!