Today in Class:
The Studio Art students worked on finishing up their "Elements of Art" packets and will begin their first painting tomorrow in class. They will be starting a 18"x24" optical illusion painting inspired by Bridget Riley, a British artist who is most-known for her "Op Art" paintings created in the 1960's and 70's. All students should have a grade in Progress Book by this Friday for their Elements of Art packets.
Painting students began working on their first project of the year, a quilt pattern-type painting that is tied into the slaves of the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad is an important part of American history - yet it is difficult for our youth to understand what it was and how African slaves, known as fugitives, "rode" it to freedom.
The Studio Art students worked on finishing up their "Elements of Art" packets and will begin their first painting tomorrow in class. They will be starting a 18"x24" optical illusion painting inspired by Bridget Riley, a British artist who is most-known for her "Op Art" paintings created in the 1960's and 70's. All students should have a grade in Progress Book by this Friday for their Elements of Art packets.
Painting students began working on their first project of the year, a quilt pattern-type painting that is tied into the slaves of the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad is an important part of American history - yet it is difficult for our youth to understand what it was and how African slaves, known as fugitives, "rode" it to freedom.
People who worked and traveled the Railroad used secret codes to learn the routes from one safe place to another. Researchers recently learned that an Underground Railroad Quilt Code existed to guide fugitive slaves to freedom. Because it was illegal in slave-holding states to teach slaves to read, slaves could not communicate with each other in writing. But, because slaves of all backgrounds shared an oral history of storytelling coupled with a knowledge of textile production and African art - an art form which embodies African symbolic systems and designs - they discovered they were able to communicate complex messages in the stitches, patterns, designs, colors and fabrics of the American quilt. To memorize the code, researchers believe fugitives used a sampler quilt, with blocks arranged in order of the code. The patterns told slaves how to get ready to escape, what to do on the trip, and where to go.
Once stitched, the coded quilts were "aired" out the windows of slave cabins, acting as secret maps for slaves brave and desperate enough to make the dangerous trek from the South to the North, from slavery to freedom.
Check out the below documents that were provided in class for more information on the slaves "quilt code." Page two has a really interesting SHORT story that shows how slaves "wrote to" and communicated via their quilting. Even if you aren't in art classes at FRHS, they do make for an interesting read!
Below the 13-page article are electronic links to different types of quilt patterns and other handouts that were provided in class today.
Once stitched, the coded quilts were "aired" out the windows of slave cabins, acting as secret maps for slaves brave and desperate enough to make the dangerous trek from the South to the North, from slavery to freedom.
Check out the below documents that were provided in class for more information on the slaves "quilt code." Page two has a really interesting SHORT story that shows how slaves "wrote to" and communicated via their quilting. Even if you aren't in art classes at FRHS, they do make for an interesting read!
Below the 13-page article are electronic links to different types of quilt patterns and other handouts that were provided in class today.