Grade 6/7Investigating Human Rights Through Street Art
Core Competency Questions:
- How can I generate ideas that impact my community?
- How can art communicate my ideas and values?
The Context:
Through the lens of human rights, we examined complex global issues and their impact, both locally and globally. We studied the impact of street artists through news articles, TED talks, and following prominent street artists online. Students were challenged to collaborate with each other to identify an issue that was meaningful to them and design a piece of symbolic art inspired by the street art style. All students participated in a “Street Art Festival” and were challenged to create a unique piece of art over the course of one day.
Teacher
“A lot of students reflected on this process and thought it was the one of the best experiences of the term. The experience gave them a lot of freedom to express their ideas throughout the whole process. They had so much autonomy over their message that they were engaged in the day. They were genuinely interested in their peer’s art and what their messages were. The takeaways were long lasting.” -Tricia Yurkowski
Student
“For my inquiry art project I did a piece about racial and gender equality. The main part of the art was the two girls from different backgrounds holding hands and making a heart with their arms. The heart was my hidden symbol. The materials we used was a thick black sharpie, pencils to sketch, paint, paint brushes, and sponges for texture.” -Amelia
How do human rights influence our view of global issues? Investigating through the lens of the United Nations.
What stories do street artists tell? Collecting inspirations from global street artists.
How do we transform people’s beliefs through art? Creating street art.
Curricular Competencies
- Social Studies 6: Develop a plan of action to address a selected problem or issue (Human Rights)
- Arts Education 6: Interpret and communicate ideas using symbols and elements to express meaning through the arts
- Language Arts 6: Synthesize ideas from a variety of sources to build understanding
ADST connections
- ADST6- Reflect on their design thinking and processes, and their ability to work effectively both as individuals and collaboratively in a group, including their ability to share and maintain a co-operative work space
- ADST7-Generate potential ideas and add to others’ ideas
