Picture This: People Getting Along Together
Artist: Charles Alston
Artworks: The Family of Man and Equal Justice Under the Law, 1976, tile mosaics
Location: Family Court Building/Criminal Court Building, 215 East 161st St.
Grades: 4-6
About the Art: Alston’s mosaic murals are found in separate lobbies: Equal Justice Under the Law is in the entry of the Criminal Court and The Family of Man is in the first floor lobby of Family Court. Equal Justice consists of five circles, each representing one of the races, on a blue background. Their advantage is that people can go up on the mezzanine of the lobby and touch them. The Family depicts abstract human figures of various sizes and colors. In addition to the murals, there are textile works representing virtually a Who’s Who of contemporary artists active in the mid-1970’s. Tapestries by Stamos and Lichtenstein are in the 2nd floor lobby of the Criminal Court and wall hangings by Goodnough, Calder and Chermayeff are in the 7th floor lobby of Family Court.
Questions for Discussion: What do you notice about the Family of Man mosaic? How many ways can you show "a family of people?" How are the people arranged in this mosaic to show they are a family?
Sample Art Activity: Create a painting or oil crayon drawing that shows how people get along with each other.
Purpose: To demonstrate awareness of the ways that art expresses relationships between people.
Materials: 12 x 18" or larger colored background paper, 9" x 12" white paper, paints and brushes or oil crayons, scissors, glue.
Teaching Strategies: In groups of five, have children arrange themselves to represent the figures in the mosaic. Have them describe and discuss how one child stands in relation to the others. Ask them how it feels to be in the middle, and on the ends. Read Leo Lionni’s book Little Blue and Little Yellow. While it is for young readers, it is an example of an art book that presents profound values on several levels.
Have children individually invent shapes with paper that stand for a person (even a simple circle will do, but it can be more complicated and personal). They draw or paint the shape in different colors on white paper. Who is next to whom? How do they decide in what order the shapes should be glued? As a journal entry or writing project, they should write about this decision process.
Closure: Display the writing with the drawings during a school event that has multicultural significance.
Extensions: For visual learning: Introduce paper mosaics by having children translate their drawing or painting into this medium. Cut up magazine pages on a paper cutter and sort by general color. For logical and verbal learning: Research contemporary mosaic artists on the Internet or mosaic artists from art history such as the ancient Romans. Create a display for the class to interact with and lead the activity with them, so that they use colors or shapes from the artist you researched.
National Art Education Learning Standards:
- Understanding and applying media, techniques and processes
- Using knowledge of structures and functions
- Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols and ideas
- Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures
- Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others
- Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines
