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• Students will identify local memorials and research the historical events and people that inspired them. • Students will explore different forms of memorials including public sculptures, street signs, songs, annual events, plaques, etc. • Students will compare and contrast different artistic interpretations of similar events or people, and consider the influence of historial interpretation. • Students will create a proposal for a commemorative sculpture or an oral or written tribute for a local event, individual or group of individuals that has not yet been recognized.
Art:21 Web Site • Black Hands – Louise Bourgeois clip • Some/One – Do-Ho Suh interview & clip • Vietnam Veterans Memorial – Maya Lin art work • Learning by Looking: Witches... – Kiki Smith interview & clip • Abstraction and "Ladder for Booker T. Washington" – Martin Puryear interview & clip Additional Web Sites • http://www.vietvet.org/thewall.htm Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall • http://www.nps.gov/wamo/home.htm Washington Monument • http://www.cr.nps.gov/nhl/ National Park Service, National Historic Landmarks • http://www.koreanwar.org/html/korean_war_memorials.html Korean War Memorials Classroom Materials • Writing journals • Local maps • Posterboard • Markers • Disposable cameras (optional)
• What makes an event important? • What makes a person important? • What is a hero? • Who decides who or what deserves to be commemorated? • What is the function of a public memorial? • Who does it serve? What effect does location have on who will see a public memorial? • How do artists contribute to the interpretation of historical events and people? • Is history the truth, or an interpretation? • Can there be multiple versions of a single historical event? • Who is commemorated in local communities? • Who has not been commemorated in local communities?
The sole proposition of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is that the cost of war is human life. Maya Lin sequenced the names of veterans by the year of their death. Have students view the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and consider the name as a unit of measure for counting the individual among the many. How many lists can students recall being on? What are they lists of? What are other ways the form of a list has been or could be used to collectively commemorate individuals? (Time: Half a 45 minute session) Louise Bourgeois' Black Hands Have students watch Louise Bourgeois' Season One Art:21 video segment. Bourgeois talks about her memorial sculpture to Jane Addams, founder of "Hull House", saying “I don’t want to talk about Jane Addams, because she is a historical figure, and it is—you just open a book and know what she represents.” How is experiencing a sculpture about an individual different from reading about the person in a book? What aspects of a historical figure’s life, thoughts, or personality can be communicated more effectively through visual media? Ask students what they learn by looking at Bourgeois’ memorial in the video segment and how it is similar to or different from Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial. (Time: One 45 minute session) Kiki Smith & St. Genevieve In several of her recent pieces, including Lying with the Wolf, Wearing the Skin, and Rapture, Kiki Smith takes as her inspiration the life of St. Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris. Portrayed communing with a wolf, taking shelter with its pelt, and being born from its womb, Smith’s character of Genevieve embodies the complex, symbolic relationships between humans and animals. Have students view Smith's artwork and suggest other historical figures that have acquired an abstract, symbolic or iconic status in our culture. What do they represent? How have their images been used in art and popular culture? In her video segment, Smith talks about her commemorative sculpture to witches, Pyre. How has Smith chosen to represent these historical figures and how does it relate to their symbolic and iconic status in society today? Have students make their own proposal for a mythological figure. (Time: One 45 minute session) Martin Puryear & Ladder for Booker T. Washington In his sculpture Ladder for Booker T. Washington, Puryear refers to the historic figure Booker T. Washington without physically representing him or specifically intending to create a commemorative sculpture about him. Puryear prefers to let individuals come to his work with their own interpretations. Have students view the work Ladder for Booker T. Washington and write about their initial impressions of the sculpture and the way that Puryear has chosen to realize it. Have student research the historical figure Booker T. Washington and then revisit the sculpture, again writing their impression of the work, now informed with additional information about who the sculpture refers to. (Time: Two 45 minute sessions) Do-Ho Suh & Public Figures Have students watch Doh-Ho Suh's Season Two video segment from the Stories hour. In his outdoor sculpture, Public Figures, Do-Ho Suh placed six hundred smaller figures standing under and supporting a giant monumental pedestal. The artist explains, “It’s our problem not to see certain individuals, or not to see difference or individuality. I just want to recognize them. Let’s say if there’s one statue at the plaza, of a hero who helped or protected our country, there are hundreds of thousands of individuals who helped him and worked with him, and there’s no recognition for them.” What are instances of this issue in the local community of the school? In the historical record of your town, city or community? In the social studies textbook? Who is standing under and supporting the historical figures we most commonly recognize? Have students make a collection of found or made artifacts that could represent these figures. Combine them to to make a collective sculptural tribute to their efforts, actions or ideas. (Time: One 45 minute session) Research Local Memorials and the History Behind Them Have students identify memorial sculptures in the community and plot them on a local map. Ask students to find out about the efforts of the artists, sponsors, and politicians who contributed to the creation of these memorials. Research the historical events or people that inspired them. Additional varieties of local memorials could include street signs, songs, and events such as parades or other tribute performances. Have students consider the significance of these kinds of memorials in relation to public sculptures. Create an interactive map for a web page or a wall map with legends that gives information on memorials in the community. (Time: Two to three 45 minute sessions) Compare and Contrast Different Versions of the Same Memorial Have students look at examples of different memorials that commemorate the same event or person, perhaps a national monument that commemorates the same event or person as a local memorial. Ask students to describe what the differences are between them. What aspects are emphasized? Which aspects are not addressed? Is one memorial more heroic than the other? Is one more interesting, moving, or otherwise engaging? Why? (Time: One 45 minute session) Propose a New Memorial Brainstorm ideas for a new memorial in the community. As a group, select a local event, individual or group that has not recieved public attention or recognition for deeds or actions the class deems significant. If disposable cameras are available, have students take pictures of the people, neighborhood, or event to be commemorated. Have students write an argument for creating a public memorial for this cause. Alternatively, have students create drawings or sketches. Create a proposal packet and send to the local city or arts council for consideration. (Time: Five 45 minute sessions to long-term project)
• Have students identified local memorials and researched the historical events and people that inspired them? • Have students articulated an understanding of reasons that memorials are conceived and realized? • Have students compared and contrasted different artistic interpretations of similar events or people? • Have students created a proposal for a memorial or commemoration of a local event, individual or group of individuals that has not yet been recognized? Find out if this lesson plan correlates to your state's education standards! On PBS TeacherSource do a search for "Art in the 21st Century" and click on the Standards Match icon.
This lesson could be extended to incorporate other performative media, such as commemorative songs or commemorative events like readings, theater, or dance: Wartime Voices War on Film Cartoon Commentary Did you use this lesson or generate your own activities based on ideas inspired by the lesson? Submit student art work, new lesson plans, and your comments to Art:21 and have them posted on the site. Help the Online Lesson Library grow!
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