In collaboration with their research on the Harlem Renaissance in Language Arts class, seventh graders created collages inspired by or dedicated to writers, artists, and musicians who came to prominence during the Harlem Renaissance.
The piece I created includes an image of Countee Cullen, surrounded by African pattern-inspired prints because of his ancestry. I also included fragments of his poems. I created it by tearing up the printed papers and gluing them around the photo of Countee Cullen. Then I tore the poems and glued them fading from his head to the side of the page. My goal for my artwork was to show the African heritage of Countee Cullen with the African pattern-inspired paper for the background. His passion for poetry is shown with the fragments of his poetry surrounding him.
My collage is inspired by Marcus Garvey. My collage shows Garvey standing in front of a crowd of people to represent the Universal Negro Improvement Association, the association Garvey started. There is a newspaper on the side of the piece to show the newspaper that he founded and for which he wrote. On the opposite side of the piece is his poem “Go & Win.” It shows a line of the poem on the sheet of paper on which it is written. At the top of the page, there is an MG for his initials. The background is blue to represent the marches that the association held outside.
My college is based on Zora Neale Hurston. She was a writer during the Harlem Renaissance. She wrote four novels as well as other writing pieces like newspaper articles. In the middle of my collage, I created an image of Zora. She is wearing a hat and her clothes are mostly black and white. There is a famous picture of her wearing a hat and I thought it would be nice to include. I used mostly different kinds of paper to create my project, but I used yarn to make hair so it would stand out a bit more. I used a newspaper for the book in the center because I thought it would fit as well as a border with the names of her four novels. My piece highlights how Zora Neale Hurston spent almost all her life. I tried to show more of a happy, but somewhat controlled, environment.
My artwork, “Everybody's Journey is Individual.” is made up of designs and patterns. These either relate to James Baldwin or the Harlem Renaissance. The elements that are most noticeable are the collaged papers and bright colors. I also wrote one of James Baldwin’s quotes and a movie title.
Baldwin’s interests and struggles really inspired me to create this piece. My work expresses the personal struggle that he had to overcome. I tried to show sadness and sorrow in my artwork. My goal was to make the people seeing my artwork feel something.
I made this project in honor of Claude Mckay. Claude Mckay was an important part of the Harlem Renaissance. He was a poet and wrote poems about his life in Jamaica and the segregation he experienced. My artwork consists of a book that contains one of Claude Mckay’s famous quotes from a poem about slavery. The background of my collage is a combustion of many words. Also, there are different types of chains spread out in the background. To me, this artwork represents the idea that when Claude Mckay got his poems out into the world, it was one way of exposing slavery.
My goals as an artist are to inspire others and help them find new perspectives through my art. I feel that this project definitely helped me get closer to my goal as an artist because people are able to take on a new perspective while viewing my art.
This is a piece about a bird breaking from stereotypes and dreaming. In Langston Hughes’ poem “Dreams,” he wrote about what happens if you do not dream. This collage is inspired by the line, “For if dreams die/Life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” The bird has a bandage on its wing because it is still broken, but it is pursuing its dreams. The flowers and vines around the bird are mainly for decoration, but it also symbolizes how good things come once you start dreaming. My goal for this piece was to show that the bird was breaking free. I think I reached my goal because you see the bandage and the bird flying.
My intentions for my art project were to create a project that shows how the writer I researched, Countee Cullen, feels sometimes, and to show some of the personality I thought my writer carries. My inspiration was some of the poems I have read by Cullen. The poems I have read from him were very simple but had a lot of meaning. I tried to mirror this to my artwork. I used materials such as paper, CD’s, printed words, and tissue paper. Most of the paper is covered with tissue paper but I also made a replica of Countee Cullen. I also have one of his poems printed out and spread out along the paper. Even though the poem is not readable, I still like that I included it and I think it looks good.
My collage is a green field with ripped-up pieces of paper. Colin Kaepernick is kneeling to protest. I printed out the photo of him. I made this artwork to connect with the art of Aaron Douglas, who I researched in Language Arts. Douglas made artwork about equal rights for African Americans. Kaepernick was kneeling during the National Anthem because he wanted equal rights. After he did this, he got cut and has not played another snap in the NFL since. My goal was to make a connection to football because I like it and Aaron Douglas. I like my artwork because I like football.
