Ideas for Teachers
Murals That Fit
Artists: Ben Shahn and Bernarda Bryson Shahn
Artwork: Resources of America, 1939, 13 fresco panels, egg tempera on plaster mural
Size: approximately 18 feet high
Location: Bronx General Post Office, 588 Grand Concourse and 149th Street
Grades: 4-6
About the Art: A series of thirteen murals, almost eighteen feet high, depict laborers, men and women, black and white, working throughout the country in the 1930's. They show workers in cotton and wheat fields, textile factories and steel mills. There are images of a hydroelectric dam, an industrial blast furnace and workers reading blue prints at a construction site. The murals are painted directly on the walls and fill the entire ground floor lobby of the Post Office.
Questions for Discussion: How is a mural different from a painting? Why draw a plan (cartoon) before working on the actual murals? If you could give your own title to these murals, what would it be? If you were given the assignment to design murals for the lobby or first floor of your school, what would you show?
Art Activity: Students design and paint murals for different sites in their school.
Purpose: To demonstrate an understanding of the concept of murals and how they are designed for specific sites.
Materials: cardboard for the walls, drawing paper for plans, heavy paper for murals, tempera paint, glue to adhere murals to cardboard.
Teaching Strategies:
- Discuss the different areas of the school where murals can be installed such as the lobby, first floor, gym, and lunchroom.
- Divide the class into groups of 3 or 4, with each group selecting a site.
- Visit each place, discuss the dimensions of the area and the concept of scale.
- Each group determines the theme for their site and the number and size of the murals.
- Stress the fact that although each mural shows a different aspect of the theme, there must be a relationship between those designed for a specific area.
- Students plan their murals beginning with a sketch (cartoon).
- The final murals are painted, glued to the cardboard and attached to the walls.
Closure: Have students discuss their murals and working process. Focus on the theme, why it was chosen and how it was interpreted for each mural.
Extensions: Visit several public building sites in the school neighborhood, such as a library, post office, hospital, or office building. Discuss the functions of each site and appropriate themes for each. Have students write proposals for design of the murals accompanied by sketches.
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
- Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines
