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Carry on the Storytelling Tradition

Students will recount their stories and illustrate them in the style of folk artist Clementine Hunter.

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.

  • Paper

Steps

  • Step 1

    Discuss the life and works of Clementine Hunter, a self-taught Black folk artist born in either December 1886 or January 1887 who lived and worked on Melrose Plantation in Louisiana. She received very little formal education and never learned to read or write. She was called a "memory painter" because she documented Black Southern life through her paintings as she remembered it and pictured it in her head. She lived to be 101. Have students look at images of some of her paintings and ask them to imagine what plantation life might have been like for this granddaughter of a slave.

  • Step 2

    Ask students to remember some stories or important events in their life. Have them choose one and create a drawing in the style of Clementine Hunter, who used bold, bright colors in her art.

  • Step 3

    It was traditional to use oral storytelling to recount and pass down memories. Have students present their artwork to the class and tell a story about it.

Standards

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

ARTS: Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding.

LA: Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.

Adaptations

Clementine Hunter didn't start painting until her 50s. Anna Mary Robertson Moses - known as "Grandma Moses" was a famous artist who only began painting in her late 70s. Have students learn about her life, her work, and her artistic style.

Oral storytelling is a powerful way to convey knowledge and cultural traditions. Have students learn about some great storytellers from the past, such as Hans Christian Andersen or Scheherazade; or have them explore modern examples of oral storytelling, such as at a Passover Seder or the revival of the "hakawati" from the Lebanese word "hekaya" meaning "story."