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Lesson Plans

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O'Keeffe-Inspired Art

Students will learn about the benefits of native plants and draw a flower native to your community in the style of Georgia O'Keeffe.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

Steps

  • Step 1

    Native plants offer many advantages to a region. They are adapted to the needs of native pollinators, many have deep root systems so they can help reduce erosion, they're low-maintenance, they're good for the environment because they're better at sequestering carbon than non-native plants, they serve as habitats for regional wildlife, and provide other advantages. Have students learn about and look at images of plants that are native to their region and find out what pollinators might be attracted to them. Ask them to choose one to illustrate.

  • Step 2

    Next have students look at some of the floral works done by artist Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986), an American modernist painter whose career spanned seven decades. Her use of negative space and a close-up point of view are signatures of her work. She has said that she viewed miniature and forgotten objects around her and made them visible. Have students note the characteristics of her work - the organic forms and shapes of nature, the simplified shapes and rounded edges, the use of color, the positive and negative space, etc.

  • Step 3

    Ask students to draw the native flower they chose in the style of Georgia O'Keeffe. Have them ponder O'Keeffe's words as they paint: "When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment." When their art is done, have them present it to the class and discuss the type of flower it is and the type of pollinators it might attract.

Standards

ARTS: Speculate about processes an artist uses to create a work of art. 

ARTS: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.  

SCI: Use evidence to support the concept that behaviors can be influenced by the environment and the environment is impacted by behavior. 

Adaptations

Invite a local botanist, landscape architect, or plant nursery worker to talk to the class about native plants and their importance to the region and the environment.

Northern New Mexico greatly inspired Georgia O'Keeffe, and she maintained two homes there. Have students look at images of some of these works, such as "Ranchos Church, New Mexico" (1930-31), "From the White Place" (1940), or "Cliffs Beyond Abiquiu, Dry Waterfall" (1943). Have them learn about the Indigenous people of the area.