People have been putting art on walls since The Stone Age, before writing and agriculture (think of it simply as farming--growing plants, raising animals) Art sent a message to the community. What message do you think this early art was trying to communicate?
Look at the subject of the art. Most common are large ice age animals like horses, bison, mammoths, and deer. You can see human figures, handprints, and abstract symbols.
What surface is this art created on?
What materials would have been available to the artists? Would they have been able to go to Michael's or Blick to get canvas and paint brushes?
Pigments were created from natural materials like charcoal (black), ochre (reds and yellows), and materials from nature. Some images were carved or scratched into the rock. Even 10,000 to 20,000 years ago, pictures were placed on walls to communicate and display what was important to the people of these areas of the world.
Artists today are still creating art on walls. When an artist creates a large-scale artwork on a wall, it's called a Mural. What would motivate an artist to create art this size? Can you think of any murals inside or near our school?
Artists are able to communicate their ideas to more people and even the world when they create murals. Large art murals are easily seen and can be enjoyed by the community. They can provide beauty or share an important message.
The Giant of Boston is a mural found in Boston, Massachusetts and painted by Brazillian artists by Os Gemeos. Their art explores the idea of immigrating or moving to another country. When you move to a new city, you bring your culture, ideas and beliefs and that might affect how you feel in a new place. How do you feel when you are in a new place? (excited, nervous, proud, unsure, timid)
Kelsey Montague creates murals around the world that often ask the question, What lifts you? These murals bring joy to a community and ask us to think about what inspires us? What are your dreams and goals?
Saint Louis has Mural Mile. A stretch of a flood wall (a large barrier that protects St. Louis if the Mississippi river were to rise) that sits between Saint Louis and the Mississippi River is covered in graffiti and murals. Artists add beauty to a part of a city that would otherwise be a big gray concrete flood wall and lots of warehouses.
Not all murals are on walls. Can you tell where this mural was painted? Michelangelo painted this mural in Italy.
Art we hang on the walls of our home can represent what we like and what we value.
When a person puts art under a magnet on the fridge, in a frame on the wall or saved on a phone screen, it will be seen often. We surround ourselves with things we WANT to see.
How do you choose what to display?
*beauty, memories, decoration, heritage...
What are some items you have on your walls?
Tell us about what you or your family displays on the wall, a shelf, the fridge or another place?
What does the art on the walls and shelves show about what your family likes or thinks is important?
(student examples: soccer posters and trophies. Menorahs on a shelf and Crosses on a wall. tapestry from their relatives in Sweden. a Dala horse from Sweden. photo of relatives. painting grandma made)
What will you display on your walls?
What will your art communicate? and Who is the message for?
Two arm lengths. Your wing span.
