#BlackHistoryMonth presents a wonderful opportunity to discuss & expose race, civil rights, artists, musicians, authors, food, public figures, & so on to celebrate the groundbreaking impact that #BlackHistory paved for so many. Educating children from a young age about the many achievements of Black History & how it has shaped cultures worldwide, provides for concrete learning experiences that permit children to build an understanding that will impact their learning, attitudes, & beliefs about diversity and multicultural education.
One of our Artists of the Month is @kehindewiley, who is an African-American painter best known for portraits that feature African Americans in the traditional settings of old paintings with naturalistic brightly colored flowery backgrounds. After talking about who he is and his artwork along with looking at what he has created, we invited the children to recreate his art with loose parts. We provided fake grass as the base, fake flowers, aquarium plants, fake succulents, & wooden peg dolls to make their own inspired 3-D versions of his art.
Most of us know that art is important for children. But beyond why it is important for them to create art it is just vital to expose children to famous artists. Art connects us all. It can take us through history, introduce us to other cultures, the world around us, & to ourselves. Therefore the more a child is exposed to the arts, the more techniques they are aware of, the more they can problem solve to think critically, the more they can creatively express themselves, the more accepting they are, & the more beauty they can see in the world around them. Art is one of the fundamental components of what makes us ALL uniquely human.
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