Compare and Connect: How do artists reimagine art from the past to reflect their own personal and cultural identities? (Ready to Go Resource)

Ready-to-go resources are short, flexible learning activities that center art as texts. In “Compare and Connect” students use a guiding question to compare works of art within the context of a shared theme and produce brief writing examples. The activities are presented in google slide decks with teaching notes to make classroom implementation easy.

Guiding Question: How do artists reimagine art from the past to reflect their own personal and cultural identities?

Featuring Kehinde Wiley’s Judith and Holofernes and Mickalene Thomas’s Three Graces.

Make your own copy! Check the slide notes for the teacher’s guide.

Total Activity Pacing: 30 min, split over 2 days

Pacing: 1 min

Grade(s): 6-8

Activity Overview:

• In this Compare and Connect activity, students will analyze two paintings that reference artwork and literature. Students will discuss the stories the new paintings are trying to tell us and the changes the artists made. Students will use the artwork as inspiration for ELA writing to compare and contrast the artworks with their references and how artworks might change over time due to the artists choices. 
• In Day One: Discuss, students will share what they notice in the two paintings, specifically about the figures in the artwork. Students will learn about the background knowledge of the artwork and its references. Students will discuss what changes the artists made to the artwork and how that changes the identity and story of the artwork. 
• In Day Two: Write, students will write a compare and contrast piece analyzing the two artworks and their reference images. Students will share how the artists changed the identity of the painting over time.