Art History - Romare Bearden

In my Art History 2024-2025 blog post, I decided January would be Romare Bearden. Here are some resources and my planning notes:

Romare Bearden
1911 - 1988

Li'l Dan, the Drummer Boy:
A Civil War Story
written & illustrated by Romare Bearden

Romare Bearden 2025 Wall Calendar

I also bought the 2011 Wall Calendar

My Hands Sing the Blues:
Romare Bearden's Childhood Journey
by Jeanne Walker Harvey

Romare Bearden: Collage of Memories
by Jan Greenberg

The Block
poems by Langston Hughes, artwork by Romare Bearden

Me and Uncle Romie:
A Story Inspired by the Life and Art of Romare Bearden
by Claire Hartfield

also

Art History Kids - February 2021

The Dove (1964)

Jazz Village (1967)

Tomorrow I May Be Far Away (1967)

City Lights (1970)

The Blues (1975)

Quilting Time (1986)

Week 1 Project, p.16 - A Family Portrait Collage

Week 2 Project, p.26 - A Collage That Features Your Passion

Week 3 Project, p.32 - A Collage That Shows Your Community

Week 4 Project, p.34 - A Collage Series

Martin Luther King, Jr. - Mountain Top (1968)
National Portrait Gallery

The Art of Romare Bearden: A Resource for Teachers (PDF)
National Gallery of Art
print pages 1, 4, 6, 10-13, 20-23, 30
activity: Write a Poem Inspired by Collage

MMA - Georges Braque (Cubism)

Using Art to Create Art: Creative Activities Using Masterpieces
by Wendy Libby
p.11 - art movement (Cubism, Surrealism)
p.12 - "Collage of a Person" activity
p.13 - sample piece of art, Serenade (1969)
p.14 - mini biography
p.15 - "Neighborhood Collage" activity
p.16 - "Collage of Faces" activity

Grid journaling slowstitch style
YouTube video from k3n clothtales

"Printing with threads and yarns" lessons from Jayne Emerson's course
(Gel Printing on and with Textiles)

The Encyclopedia of Artists

volume 1, pp.30-31
New Orleans: Ragging Home (1974)

Bearden's work at nearby museums:

Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University, STL
Black Venus (1968), on display from 01/09/2025 - 07/21/2025

extra ideas I had that we didn't get to

design additional collage materials using "Printing on threads and yarns" techniques from Jayne Emerson

"A Collage That Features Your Passion" activity
from Art History Kids, p.26

"A Collage Series" activity
from Art History Kids, p.34

I recommend joining Lotus Stewart's Art History Kids website (The Studio) and getting access to her past lesson plans. I like her work, and find it's really helpful to have so many ideas that I can use as a jumping off point.

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week of Jan 6:

Thu

read Li'l Dan, the Drummer Boy: A Civil War Story by Romare Bearden

begin Grid journaling slowstitch style
as a Handwork project to work on during our Philosophy lessons

for each child:

14 inch square of old sheet as background

draw four squares (3 3/4 inches) with ultra fine point Sharpie

choose fabric scraps, put in handwork basket or sewing box

three needles (2 strands of embroidery floss)

pincushion or slip of paper to hold the needles



these cardboard pcs from the Laurence King BINGO games
have been so useful!

week of Jan 13:

Mon

AM - open and look at artwork in 2025 calendar
Monday Morning (1967)

Saturday Morning Breakfast (1967)

Three Folk Musicians (1967)

The Fortune Teller (1968)

Patchwork Quilt (1970)

Calypso's Sacred Grove (1977)

Falling Star (1979)

Artist with Painting and Model (1981)

At the Well (1983)

Autumn Lamp (1983)

Blues at the Crossroads (1985)

Lady and the Blues (1986)


read My Hands Sing the Blues: Romare Bearden's Childhood Journey
by Jeanne Walker Harvey

work on fabric collage (choose 3 colors of embroidery floss, pull out 2 strands of each color, thread all 3 needles, begin to sew)


PM - look at calendar artwork and discuss collage

read My Hands Sing the Blues: Romare Bearden's Childhood Journey

begin "Collage of a Person" activity
from Using Art to Create Art, p.12
with various scrapbook papers and faces cut from magazines

Tue

Friends collage (for Philosophy discussion)
modified "A Family Portrait Collage" activity, Art History Kids, p.16

Wed

design our own papers for collage using "Printing with threads and yarns" techniques from Jayne Emerson, set them aside to dry
Golden OPEN paints, 5x7 gelatin printing plate, printer paper, thread

week of Jan 20:

Mon

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

AM - open and look at artwork in 2011 calendar

Mother and Child (c. 1972)

Dreams of Exile (The Green Snake) (1973)

Delilah (1974)

Noah, Third Day (1974)

Tropical Flowers (c. 1974)

The Family (1975)

The Return of Ulysses (1976)

Tidings (c. 1977)

Mecklenburg Autumn (1980)

Morning of the Rooster (1980)

Easter Procession (1983)

Le Jazz (Out Chorus II) (c. 1986-1987)


read Romare Bearden: Collage of Memories by Jan Greenberg

continue to work on fabric collage


PM - finish "Collage of a Person" activity

Wed

read excerpts from The Block
Projection, p.9
Late Last Night, p.10
As Befits a Man, p.13
Testimonial, p.17
Motto, p.32


begin "Neighborhood Collage" activity
from Using Art to Create Art, p.15
with our gelatin-plate printed papers

Thu

work on "Neighborhood Collage" activity

week of Jan 27:

Mon

AM - learn about Cubism

read Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail by Laurence Anholt



see Picasso's work in 1950

Bearden traveled to Paris in 1950 and spent about seven months there. He met both Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque!

At the end of his visit Bearden did not want to leave. His friend, the cultural critic, essayist, and novelist Albert Murray, said, “Romie spent the whole day buying paper...all kinds of drawing papers—rice papers, special sizes and surfaces, different colors. His eyes got more and more moist the later it got.” One reason Bearden turned to songwriting in the 1950s was in hopes of raising funds for a return to Paris.

from National Gallery of Art packet, p.30

Wed

finish "Neighborhood Collage" activity

week of Feb 3:

Mon

AM - "Cut-Paper Portrait" activity (Pablo Picasso lesson plan)
from Using Art to Create Art, p.166


PM - experiments with gelatin plate printing

Tue

"Cubist-Style Leaves" activity (Georges Braque lesson plan)
from Using Art to Create Art, p.18

Wed

revisit Bearden's work and look at the influence of Cubism

"Collage of Faces" activity
from Using Art to Create Art, p.16

Thu

read Me and Uncle Romie: A Story Inspired by the Life and Art of Romare Bearden by Claire Hartfield

"Write a Poem Inspired by Collage" activity
from National Gallery of Art packet, p.23

In addition to the Art History lesson for my regular school group (age 7-13), I'll have a Monday afternoon Art History class for early childhood (age 5-7). I think the "littles" will love Romare Bearden!

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