Culturally Responsive & Place-Based k-5 Art Curriculum
Critical Race Theory Investigations
Baltimore, MD
Shimoyama’s “The Abduction of Ganymede” (2019)
“I tend to use unconventional materials, specifically in my paintings, and often borrow from drag culture and the glamorous black women I’ve known. I’m thinking about the spaces where we celebrate identity and construct different fantasies on top of our bodies — there’s a sort of peacocking associated with wearing one’s Sunday best, for instance. “Grandmother’s Blessing” (2019) shows my own grandmother, with pieces of costume jewelry affixed to the canvas for her eyes and a blouse made of a beaded brocade. Whenever I move into a new place, she makes a point of coming out to visit and bless it, which sort of completes the space for us both. “The Abduction of Ganymede” leans more toward fantasy, a driving force in my work that allows me to create a brighter alternate reality. In the Greek myth, Zeus either sends his eagle or turns into an eagle and then abducts the most beautiful boy. My take is about self-love, about being able to embrace the narrative that you, with your black body, are beautiful.”
Devan Shimoyama, “Grandmother’s Blessing” (2019)
Oil, color pencil, Flashe, rhinestones, acrylic, collage and glitter on canvas stretched over panel
72 x 60 in
Devan Shimoyama, “Toto Getting Ready”, 2018
Oil, color pencil, collage, glitter, acrylic, sequins, jewelry on canvas stretched over panel
Devan Shimoyama, “Smoke and Sage,” (2019)
Oil, color pencil, Flashe, rhinestones, acrylic, collage and glitter on canvas stretched over panel
72 x 84 x 2 in
“Devan Shimoyama’s work showcases the relationship between celebration and silence in queer culture. His compositions are inspired by the work of classical painters such as Caravaggio and Francisco Goya, while adding a more contemporary expression. With the use of a variety of lustrous materials such as jewels, black glitter, rhinestones, and sequins, Shimoyama creates works that capture the beauty and alienation of the Black queer body.”
- NY Times
“But the paintings are not just images of the house’s residents—they’re also meant as portraits of the abode itself. “I tend to name objects or spaces that are significant to me, and it felt like a classic older woman,” Shimoyama said. “It reminded me a lot of my great-grandmother and women from that generation.”
Moments of maternal love have always appeared in Shimoyama’s paintings, most frequently by way of cut-out photographs of eyes that he collages onto painted faces; these mysterious orbs belong to his female relatives. For this show, he created a tribute to his grandmother, whom he views as a role-model homeowner and hostess. Grandmother’s Blessing (2019) captures her in Shimoyama’s kitchen, quietly praying. “Wherever I’ve moved, she visits with holy water and a bible and does a prayer in every room,” he said. “I respect and value that so much—[she’s] somebody caring so intimately about a space.””
- Clair Voon: ARTnews
Devan Shimoyama, “Auntie’s Ribs and Macaroni Salad”
(2019)
Mixed media on canvas stretched over panel
48 x 36 x 2 in
Devan Shimoyama,“Wrong Fit,” 2019
Oil, collage, color pencil, sequins, jewelry, rhinestones and Flashe on canvas stretched over panel
40 x 30 x 2 in
Devan Shimoyama, “Cookie,” 2018
COOKIE, 2018
Oil, color pencil, and mixed media on canvas stretched over panel
48 x 38 in
Understanding & Investigating Your Origins, Culture, and Identity
Questions to Pose To Students As Warm-ups for class to build an understanding and Scaffold their art making content and processes:
Where were you born?
What does your family/neighborhood/community celebrate (holidays, successes, people, places, things, events, etc.)?
Is there anything that you feel you cannot discuss or talk about with your family that is important to you or curious about?
What are your favorite parts of your identity? (Define “identity” and give Identity Graphic Map Organizer to students so that they may find out ways in which they identify.)
What do you find to be beautiful in this world or in your life (people, places, and/or things)?
What are some of your struggles that you experience or feel strongly about?
What are some objects from your childhood that you think are beautiful or special (ie. teddy bear, blanket, etc.)
What are some things that are luxurious, glamorous, decadent, extravagant, or fancy to you and your family? (Give definitions of all adjectives being used in this sentence.)
What are some things such as places, events and traditions that you go to or do outside of school that you do regularly with your family? (ie. the barbershop, Chinese New Year, cooking, bbq’s, reading, grocery shopping, etc.)
Do you feel as though you and your family or members of your communities are respected and treated fairly? (Define “communities”) …If not what do you feel should be treated differently?
What parts of your identity do you feel are not being respected or understood by others, if any?
Think about your family, guardians, role models, and/or elders (people who you look up to) …Who are they? What do they value? What objects, materials, and/or things that they wear (ie. jewelry) are glamorous or really cool to you? (Define “glamorous”)
What types of spaces do you find yourself in with your family/role models/guardians/elders (ie. “On Sunday’s we go to church.” “On Saturday’s we have dim sum at a restaurant in Chinatown.”)
Who is someone who loves you who you also love, that takes care of you and treats yo with care, love, respect, and dignity? (Define “dignity”) What do they enjoy doing that you also enjoy doing with them?
maryland state fine arts-visual arts standards for grades 3-5
(within this Specific learning unit)
ANCHOR STANDARD 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
ARTISTIC PROCESS:
Creating
ENDURING UNDERSTANDING:
Creativity and innovative thinking are essential life skills that can be developed. Artists and designers shape artistic investigations, following or breaking with tradition in pursuit of creative art-making goals.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
What conditions, attitudes, and behaviors support creativity and innovative thinking?
What factors prevent or encourage people to take creative risks?
How does collaboration expand the creative process?
How does knowing the contexts of histories, and traditions of forms help us create works of art and design?
Why do artists follow or break from established traditions?
How do artists determine what resources and criteria are needed to formulate artistic investigations?
EXPLORATION (Indicators):
I:3-5:1: Act on creative ideas to develop personally meaningful compositions through observation, imagination, or memory.
EXPLORATION (Expectations):
E:3-5:2: Analyze and demonstrate diverse methods of artistic investigation to choose an approach for making an artwork.
ANCHOR STANDARD 2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
ARTISTIC PROCESS:
Creating
ENDURING UNDERSTANDING:
Artists and designers experiment with forms, structures, materials, concepts, media, and art-making approaches. Artists and designers balance experimentation and safety, freedom and responsibility while developing and creating artworks. People create and interact with objects, places, and design that define, shape, enhance and empower their lives.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
How do artists work?
How do artists and designers learn from trial and error in a safe and healthy environment?
What responsibilities come with the freedom to create?
How do objects, places, and design shape lives and communities?
How do artists and designers determine goals for designing and redesigning objects, places or systems effectively?
EXPLORATION (Indicators):
3-5:1: Develop and experiment in the creation and design of artworks.
I:3-5:2: Investigate a variety of ways that artists and designers develop ideas in response to personal meaning.
EXPLORATION (Expectations):
E:3-5:1: Through guided practice, experiment and develop skills in multiple art-making methods to demonstrate quality craftsmanship.
E:3-5:2: Identify, describe and visually represent places and/or objects that are personally meaningful.
E:3-5:2: Identify, describe and visually represent places and/or objects that are personally meaningful.
ANCHOR STANDARD 3: Refine and complete artistic work.
ARTISTIC PROCESS:
Creating
ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: Artists and designers develop excellence through practice and constructive critique, reflecting on, revising, and refining work over time to strive for mastery.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
What role does persistence play in revising, refining and developing work?
How do artists grow and become accomplished in art forms?
How does collaboratively reflecting on a work help us experience it more completely?