Don Montileaux Hands as Symbols Provided by the South Dakota Art Museum Brookings, South Dakota
South Dakota Artists Curriculum Unit Unit of Study: Don Montileaux, painter Title of Lesson Plan: Hands as Symbols Grade Level: 3 5
South Dakota Content Standards U.S. History: 3.US.2.2 Students are able to identify a community s culture and history. 4.US.1.1 4.US.1.2 Students are able to explain factors affecting the growth and expansion of South Dakota. Students are able to identify basic environmental, economic, cultural, and population issues of concern to South Dakota.
South Dakota Content Standards Fine Arts: Visual Arts Standard One 3-4: Students will describe how visual arts tell stories, express moods, or convey ideas. Visual Arts Standard Two 3-4: Students will understand selected techniques which give artwork detail. Visual Arts Standard Two 5-8: Students will describe the various techniques which give artwork definition and detail. Visual Arts Standard Three 3-4: Students will describe how selected works of art have recorded and preserved history.
South Dakota Content Standards Geometry: 3.G.1.1 4.G.2.1 5.G.1.2 Students are able to recognize and compare the following plane and solid geometric figures: square, rectangle, triangle, cube, sphere, and cylinder. Students are able to compare geometric figures using size, shape, orientation, congruence, and similarity. Students are able to identify acute, obtuse, and right angles.
Assessment Strategies Class discussion Observation using VTS Creation of an art project using their hand
Learning Objectives Students will learn about South Dakota artist Donald Montileaux. Students will evaluate the painting using VTS techniques. Students will define a symbol. Students will explain the significance of the hand in Native American culture. Students will explain the significance of colors in Native American culture. Students will identify geometric shapes. Students will create an art project using their hand. Students will incorporate colors and geometric shapes/patterns that symbolize themselves.
Time Required One class period of 45 minutes Materials/Technology Needed Image of Don Montileaux s print: Touched Construction paper Scissors Glue
Background Information Donald Montileaux is a Yellowbird-Oglala Lakota artist. His art is a reflection of his Lakota ancestors. He has a website that provides a lot of information about himself and various pieces of art that he has created. The link to his website is listed below. The website titled Native American Indian Designs and Symbol Guide is a very good resource to provide images and explanations of various symbols found in Native American culture.
Lesson Description Show students the Don Montileaux piece Touched (see link below for the image). Have students make observations about this piece using VTS. This could be done as an entire class. Have students define what a symbol is. You could also have students provide examples of symbols for a variety of things (i.e. the United States). Explain to students that according to the Native American Indian Designs and Symbol Guide on the Buck A Gram website the symbol of the hand refers to...presence of man. His work, his achievements and his history.
Lesson Description continued Students probably referenced the colors used in the print Touched. You can discuss with students the significance of the colors black, red, yellow, and white. There is a website listed below for Lakota Beliefs and Culture; The Medicine Wheel that explains the significance of each of the colors. Tell students to think about 4 colors that represent themselves. Also, students need to think about geometric shapes that also represent them.
Lesson Description continued Students will create an art project using their hand as the focus. Their hand does not need to be centered on the paper, they need to incorporate geometric shapes arranged in some type of pattern. Students do not need to go down the center of the project (it could be a border, for example). Students will take a large sheet of colored paper - the main color that represents them. Then with smaller pieces of construction paper, the other three colors need to be represented in some geometric pattern (again it does not need to be squares and triangles). Students need to trace one of their hands. Again, color should be determined by each student - but it should be one of the four colors that they selected.
Enrichment Students could research the different meanings of colors before creating their projects. (One way to search is by looking up color psychology or colors and moods. ) After students create their project they need to write about how these images symbolize who they are.
Bibliography/Resources Don Montileaux -Oglala Lakota Artist. Donald Montileaux. 2004 <http://www.montileaux.com/>. Native American Art and Culture - The Sioux nation: Lakota Beliefs and Culture; The Medicine Wheel. Squidoo. 2009 <http://www.squidoo.com/nativeamericanartandculturesn>. Native American Indian Designs and Symbol Guide. Buck A Gram. 2004 <http://buckagram.com/buck/symbols/>. Touched. Donald Montileaux. 2004 <http://www.montileaux.com/gallery-touched.html>.
Don Montileaux Presentation to Students
Don Montileaux http://www.montileaux.com
Don Montileaux Born January 3, 1948 in Pine Ridge, SD Oglala Lakota Artist Primarily a self-taught artist Did an internship under artist Oscar Howe at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, SD Credits his personal friend and mentor, the late Herman Red Elk, as his primary artistic influence Uses his Sioux background as inspiration for his artwork
Bibliography South Dakota Art Museum Collection Don Montileaux Donald Montileaux Biography. montileaux.com. Donald Montileaux, 2004. Web. 6 April 2010. Don Montileaux: Too Close This Time. South Dakota Arts Council. 2008. Web. 6 April 2010. <http://artscouncil.sd.gov/directories/images/montileaux2.jpg>.
Touched http://www.montileaux.com
Other Examples of Don Montileaux s Artwork
Box and Border Image Courtesy of the South Dakota Art Museum
Too Close This Time http://www.montileaux.com