Black History Focus: Study of Kehinde Wiley, Presidential Portrait Artist.

During the month of February, 3^rd grade students at Central Riverside learned about accomplished leaders in black history by creating a collage on the topic of leaders and their accomplishments.

The inspiration for this project was African-American artist, Kehinde Wiley, who recently painted President Obama’s presidential portrait, unveiled in February 2018.  

A common characteristic of his work is a floral background. His colorful style and the powerful statements made by his work were the starting points for their portrait collages. 

My first goal was for my students to learn to show self-expression in their art by striking a pose for a photograph that is indicative of their emotions and shows a personal statement related to the message they were trying to express. 
These 3^rd graders learned earlier in the year that portraits are created in a variety of mediums, including photography. I referenced that prior lesson when they were posing for their photograph.  I told them to let their pose show expression and emotion. 

I created a slideshow that features a variety of leaders from black history along with some of their accomplishments. I asked the students to choose the accomplishments of their favorite leaders from black history to write out statements on their collage.