"Art does not solve problems but makes us aware of their existence. It opens our eyes to see and our brain to imagine." -Magdalena Abakanowicz

Searching for Great Women Artists in History

This unit is a great way to introduce students to women artists that you may not have covered in your courses before. Students identify a woman artist that is often overlooked by art historians, research this artist's life and work, create an artwork that honors this artist in some way, and make a presentation about this artist.

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Searching for Great Women Artists in History: Lesson One - The Search Begins

Target Group: 6th-8th grade

Timing: 45-50 minutes

Objective: After an activity in which students discuss how gender roles affect the recording of history and in which students learn about different women artists, students will identify an artist to be the basis for a research and artmaking project.

Rationale: While many students are familiar with the work of the "Masters," which are primarily male artists featured in museums and textbooks, the names and works of many women artists go unrecognized. It is important to recognize the artistic contributions of women to the art world as well as the social forces--in their time and ours--that have caused them to be less well-known.

Focus: Before students enter the classroom, write Nochlin's question "Why have there been no great women artists?" on the board. Explain that the question on the board comes from a famous essay of the same title by scholar Linda Nochlin. Ask students to respond to her question, and write their answers on the board.

Tell students that today they are going to learn about several great women artists, and that they will be choosing one about whom they would like to learn more.

• NOTE: If there are any grumblings about boys having to learn about women artists, you can:
  • Point out that the girls in the class have had to learn about male artists as well. Treat this as the issue of fairness that it is.
  • Ask why they are afraid of learning about a woman artist. Try to uncover and debunk any stereotypical views of women's art.

Instructional Input: Ask students for examples of historic moments they've learned about, such as the ride of Paul Revere or the victory of the Allies in World War II.

Ask: "What were the women doing in this story? Do we know? If not, why not?" Point out that historically, women were not allowed to be educated, and that their lives were not considered to be very important--so very few women wrote historical documents, and very few women were written about by male historians. Women's history often goes untold.

Ask: "Are women's lives important?" "How would our view of history change if it was written by and about women as well as men?"

Tell students that the same issue of untold histories exists in the art world. Women were often not allowed to create art, and those that did create art met with many social obstacles that male artists did not face, including being conveniently forgotten by art historians that did not consider women's work to be worth writing about.

Guided Practice: Tell students that you have an activity that will help them become familiar with women artists from history. Give each student a slip of paper with one artist's name and description from the Great Women Artists sheet. Allow students a few moments to read their slips, then have students move to a clear spot of the room to stand. Once everyone is there, read some of the following categories to get students moving into different groups in different parts of the room; after each move, have the students who have moved state the names of their artists.

• Move to the right side of the room if your artist was the daughter of another artist.
• Move to the left side of the room if your artist worked in a media other than paint.
• Move to the front of the room if your artist is best known for art about flowers.
• Move to the back of the room if your artist was a photographer.
• Move to the right side of the room if your artist was also a writer or poet.
• Move to the left side of the room if your artist wore men's clothing.
• Move to the front of the room if your artist did something new or innovative.
• Move to the back of the room if your artist got in trouble for her artwork.
• Move to the right of the room if your artist liked to make art about animals.
• Move to the left of the room if your artist worked in textiles.
• Move to the front of the room if your artist made portraits of people.
• Move to the back of the room if your artist worked with cut paper.
• Move to the right of the room if your artist worked for women's rights.
• Move to the left of the room if your artist worked with clay.
• Move to the front of the room if your artist made artwork that told a story.
• Move to the back of the room if your artist helped others.
• Move to the right of the room if your artist is of African-American descent.
• Move to the left of the room if your artist is of Native American descent.
• Move to the front of the room if your artist was attacked.
• Move to the back of the room if your artist's work was attributed to another artist.
• Move to the right of the room if your artist was kept from exhibiting her work.
• Move to the left of the room if your artist was honored in some way.

Have everyone return to her or his desk, and ask whether anyone wants to know more about a particular artist from the exercise.

Independent Practice: Give each student a copy of the Great Women Artists in History sheet. Ask students to spend a few minutes deciding on an artist that they will be researching and making art about. Once students have chosen an artist, ask them to write a few sentences describing the reason for their choice, and three questions they have about their chosen artist.

Closure: Have volunteers share their choice of artist with the rest of the class.

Evaluating Students: Did students participate actively and contribute to the discussion? Were students able to choose an artist to research further?

Evaluating Lesson: Were students engaged by the lesson? Did students appear to gain a better understanding of the social context of women artists?

Materials: Great Women Artists in History cut into slips--one for each artist; Great Women Artists in History printed in full as a handout for each student.

Cross-curricular Ideas:

• History - women's roles in history, who writes history, feminist historical perspectives
• Social Studies - women's role in culture, women's cultural contexts, the role of art in culture
• Language Arts/English - research of women artists who are also writers, writing a report/poem/story about a woman artist

TEKS Correlations: perception, historical and cultural heritage, critical evaluation

Next Lesson: Researching Your Artist