"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 Two- Researching an Artist

Target Group: 6th-8th grade

Timing: 45-50 minutes

Objective: Students will use the Internet to conduct guided research about the artist they have chosen.

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: Look at students through a large magnifying glass as they enter the room. Tell them that today they are going to become artist detectives as they research their chosen artist.

Instructional Input: Confirm which students have chosen which artists for their research. Remind students that this research will help them to make an art project about their chosen artist. If more than one student has chosen the same artist, you may choose to allow them to conduct research as a team.

Guided Practice: Ask students for ways to tell a reliable Internet source from an unreliable one. Demonstrate using Google and/or sites about women artists from the resource page of this site to search for information and images for a chosen artist. Encourage them to look for websites with the extension ".edu" and ".org," as well as museum websites, for the most reliable information.

Independent Practice: As you circulate and provide feedback, allow students to research their artists, answering the following questions:

• What are the vital statistics of your artist (if known)? (dates of birth and death, nationality)
• How did your artist learn to create artwork?
• What media did your artist use? Which of these was the medium she is best known for?
• What artists influenced, or were influenced by, your artist?
• Was your artist a part of a larger movement in art? If so, what was it?
• What kinds of personal and social experiences influenced your artist's work?
• What inspired your artist?
• What struggles did your artist face during her life?
• Did your artist face discrimination in any way? If so, how?
• Did your find any sources that disagreed about information on your artist? If so, on what did they disagree?
• Why do you think it is important to know about this artist today?

Students should also capture and print these images during their search:

• An image of the artist, if available (possibly a photograph, self-portrait, or portrait by another artist).
• Images of at least three of the artist's works (two in the case of Harriet Powers, two or three images of the one work in the case of the Bayeux Tapestry artists), along with descriptions of measurements and media used.

Closure: Ask students what was most difficult about conducting this research. Have a few volunteers share a surprising thing they learned about their aritst.

Evaluating Students: Did students participate actively? Were students able to answer the questions given?

Evaluating Lesson: Were students engaged by the lesson? Did students appear to gain a better understanding of the life and work of their chosen artists?

Materials: magnifying glass, computers with Internet access, printers

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: Creating an Ofrenda