FAITH RINGGOLD (1930- )

Transcription

1 FAITH RINGGOLD (1930- ) Born in 1930 in Harlem, New York, Faith Ringgold (Faith Willi Jones) enterd the world during the Great Depression. Her mother was a dressmaker who later became a fashion designer in the early 1950s. Her father came from a long line of preachers, and is described by Ringgold as a fantastic storyteller. She did not start school until second grade because of her severe asthma. Much of her time was spent with her mother in the dress shop, surrounded by cloth, crayons paper, and thread. Growing up surrounded by dressmakers, she learned at an early age how to sew. In 1928, Ringgold enrolled in the New York City College to study art. Because she was a woman, she was not allowed into the Art Department so she decided to be a teacher, and received her degree in While studying for her Master s degree, she taught in the New York public schools. During this time she became fascinated with her African-American heritage. As an artist, Faith Ringgold is involved in issues of social change and revolution. Growing up during the Great Depression and exposed to the Harlem Renaissance, Ringgold emerged as an artist with an agenda of change. In 1963, she produced a series of paintings called American People, which chronicled the Civil Rights Movement from an African-American woman s standpoint. It was in the creation of her first quilt (Voice of Harlem), that Faith embraced a new art form. Ringgold s love of quilt making stems from her grandmother, and her great grandmother who passed this tradition from one generation to another. Her great-grandmother was a slave and part of her household duties was to make quilts for her plantation owner. Faith Ringgolod s most famous quilt Tar Beach (1988), was, at one time the most requested piece to be on loan from the Whitney Museum. Faith Ringgold s work continues to change. She has made many murals, has written five children s books. She won the distinguished Caldecott Honor Medal for her first book Tar Beach which originated form one of her story quilts. She also won the Coretta Scott King Award. Most recently, she has brought the stories of her quilts to a new medium, animation.

2 Masterpiece: Tar Beach Artist: Concept: Story Quilts Lesson: Decorated Fabric Squares Objectives: Students create their own storytelling quilts by decorating fabric squares to represent an event in their life A four sentence border will further explain their story To be descriptive and find single viewpoint. Vocabulary: Viewpoint, Fabric Art, Inspiration, Storytelling Materials: Neutral colored fabric squares ( 5 in x 5 in ) Light colored construction paper squares ( 7 in x 7 in ) Fabric markers Bottles of Puffy Paint (different colors) Pencils Fabric Glue Polyester Fiberfil **Troubleshooting** Students need to pick ONE event in their life that can be summed up in about 4 sentences. May need to BRAINSTORM some ideas on the board before they begin to help everybody choose an idea. ***Please remind the children to be RESPECTFUL with the fabric markers, because they can be fragile. NEED to make sure caps are put back on correctly, so they do not dry out. Setting up a puffy paint station is a good idea where only a few (3 or 4) students use them at a time! PUFFY PAINT NEEDS TO BE MONITORED! It can be expensive.

3 Process: 1. After you discuss the artist, should brainstorm story ideas with students. Write some of the ideas on the board for the children having a hard time choosing a topic. 2. Give each student one of the light-colored PAPER squares. Have them write their name on one side and flip it over. Now, they will write their WORD BORDER with their pencil around the pre-drawn square. They should write ONLY 4 sentences (one on each side) explaining their event or story. 3. Now, the students will SHARE the fabric markers to draw a picture that describes this story. Give each student one of the FABRIC squares for this part. ** MAKE SURE TO RETURN THE CAPS TO MARKERS! 4. Next, VOLUNTEERS or students (maybe) will glue a SMALL AMOUNT of 5. the fiberfill to the CENTER ONLY of the PAPER square. **Leave room around the sides of the pre-drawn square to make the next step easier. **REMEMBER, don t use very much of the fill or it will be hard to glue down the fabric square! 6. Now, you will glue your fabric square to your paper square. Just apply a tiny 7. layer of glue around the edges of the back of your fabric square and apply down covering up the pre-drawn square on the paper part. BE CAREFUL and try not to cover the student s written story. 8. Then, when the gluing is all finished, 3 or 4 students at a time can come to your puffy paint station and add a bit of dimension to their quilt. ** VOLUNTEERS: After puffy paint dries (takes a bit) don t forget to add blurbs to back.** Look in the Artist Folder, for a Step-by-Step example***************.

4 PROJECT SAMPLE: ARTIST: FAITH RINGGOLD MASTERPIECE: TAR BEACH

5 ART MASTERPIECE ART MASTERPIECE ART MASTERPIECE