Laurie Spigel's
Art History Class:
Romare Bearden Workshop

Jazz was playing as the children arrived, and we played the Exquisite Corpse game to warm up. Collage and concrete poetry were defined, and we looked at examples that combined the two. We read "They Knew What They Wanted", a collage poem by John Ashbery, composed entirely of movie titles.

Then we examined the work of Romare Bearden, the great African-American artist: lush watercolor collages of musicians and scenes in the south, vibrant collages of Harlem, and depictions of jazz. We examined posters showing the entire six panels of The Block, which hangs in the Metropolitan Museum (the website has activities for kids). This work was originally exhibited with recorded sounds of the street, a form of spontaneous music.

During class we listened to the CD by the Branford Marsalis Quartet entitled "Romare Bearden Revealed", with music that deeply influenced the artist, including selections by Duke Ellington, Jelly-Roll Morton, and a composition by Bearden himself. Students cut out images and words from magazines and newspapers and worked on panels of foam board, using glue sticks and diluted liquid white glue applied with a brush. As they worked, their collages evolved. They are shown here in various stages.
See Classes & Lectures for more information on this and other art history classes.

Students at work

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Works in progress and finished works

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