Ties That Bind

African American Art and Artists for Grades 3–12
After the Visit Mini-Lesson

Allow time at the beginning of class for students to take turns talking about their visit to the Morris Museum of Art. “Whom did you meet? What did you see? What did you do? What did your docent talk to you about?” Lead the discussion into the African American tradition of storytelling and explain how you can tell stories through art.

George Andrews, This is the Andrews Family (Andrews Family Tree), 1991.
Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, Georgia
View a larger image of this artwork.

Activity: This Is My Family
In this activity, students define family, create a nontraditional family tree, and tell a story through pictures. See photographs for details. See example below.

Materials

• One sheet of 18 x 12 inch construction paper for each student
• Colored pencils, markers, or crayons
• Pencils

Preparation

• Cut white construction paper into an 18 x 12 inch rectangle.

Procedures

1. Tell the students to closely observe the painting to discover as much as they can about the Andrews family. Discuss George Andrews's This Is the Andrews Family (Andrews Family Tree). “What can you tell me about this family? How many children did George Andrews have? What were their names? You can create a story just by looking at the painting. We can tell that George Andrews was a farmer and that he had a mule named Nellie Bell. See him talking to the mule? Even though he did not go to school after the third grade, he was able to tell a rich story about his family through his painting.”
2. Talk about families. “A family is made up of people who look after your or who are very important to you. There are various kinds of families. Families mean different things to different people. Who is important to you?” Encourage students to create their own definitions. Write their answers on the board.
3. Explain to students that today's project is to create their family trees so that they can tell the story of their families. After they have finished drawing, they can add color with crayons or colored pencils.

Assessment

After students have completed their trees, hang them up and allow time for students to talk about the choices they made in their artwork.

Book Suggestions
Here are a few book suggestions that relate to storytelling in African American literature and nontraditional family trees:

God Bless the Child, by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr., illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. Harper Collins/Amistad, 2004.
Tar Beach, by Faith Ringgold. Crown Publishers, 1991.
Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, by Deborah Hopkinson. Alfred A. Knopf, 1993.
Who's Who in My Family? by Loreen Leedy. Holiday House, 1995.