Reflecting on Joyfulness and Art from the Great Migration

In the classrooms of 3rd grade teachers Todd Carter, Foun Tang, and Charles Edwards, students’ annual study of the Great Migration and immigration gained a new addition this year: a visit to the University of Maryland’s (UMD) Driskell Center*, a creative incubator focused on Black artists. In addition to exposure to inspiring art, UMD art education students collaborated to provide experiential learning activities just for our GDS students.

An art aficionado and artist himself, Todd first conceived of this trip when he was looking for ways to add an element of art into the new curriculum designed by the third grade teachers with the help of Lower School Counselor and Department Chair Meryl Heyliger, and Lower/Middle School Librarian and Department Chair Lisa Fall.

“There was a speaker that we brought into the school, Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, who had us thinking about ways to infuse joy into our lessons,” he said, “In thinking about some of the violent history of Black people in the United States and the Great Migration, we really wanted to find ways to focus on joyfulness, and there's a lot of that in music and art; that's a place where it's reflected."

“I think David Driskell is kind of a local hero that I wish people knew more about.** He played a super important role in our area and for art in general,” he said. 

Todd knew about the Driskell Center, but at the time, the building was undergoing renovations.The thought stayed with him, and he monitored their progress from time to time. “Then we made contact with Abby last year,” he said, and he and Foun and Charles then connected with them via Zoom. 

Dr. Abby R. Eron, Ph.D., is the Assistant Director of Exhibitions and Programs at the Driskell Center. She, along with UMD’s Art Education Program Coordinator and Advisor, Dr. Margaret A. Walker, coordinated with Todd to create a day of interactive workshops with GDS’s 3rd graders and with the University’s Art Education undergraduates. 

The idea was to help the 3rd graders connect the artwork at the Center to their classroom study of migration and immigration, and to help them to understand the material more deeply through an experiential artistic process, while also giving the UMD students experience working with the younger students. 

“We have been building a collaborative relationship between the Driskell Center and [the UMD] art education program for about two years now where students in our program have been writing lessons using the Driskell’s collection and designing interactive arts programming for the gallery and the University of Maryland’s annual Maryland Day festival,” Dr. Walker explained. 

The UMD art education students circulated the young students through a series of three different activities designed to help them to better understand the Great Migration through viewing, discussing, and making art, and through a dramatization activity where they interpreted the meaning of works through characterization and bodily forms.

First, they viewed and discussed Augusta Savage’s*** “Baby Bonnet” sculpture, a work in the collection created by an artist connected to the Harlem Renaissance and the Great Migration. To stimulate curiosity and to encourage students to make thoughtful observations and interpretations, they focused on three questions: What do you see? What do you think about that? and What does it make you wonder?

For the second activity, they had the students create a collaborative collage of images of objects they would choose to take or leave behind should they find themselves migrating, in order to help them consider the emotionally profound decision making migrants and refugees are faced with. 

The project stimulated a lot of discussion amongst the students on what in their lives they value most, and what they thought they can and can’t live without. “I left behind my Xbox and brought a tank,” said Ben '34, though he admitted he should really have chosen to bring his pet guinea pigs. 

“I really liked this project best,” said Adrian '34 of the day’s activities, “I chose to take things that I have. I took my dog and video games with me.” The students often found it difficult to choose only one thing. 

Lastly, the 3rd graders participated in an improvisational activity: creating a living painting “tableau” in connection with pieces in the current exhibition. The UMD students demonstrated what they meant, pulling images from a particular work and mimicking the imagery with their hands and postures. Then small student groups chose a work in the collection in which they saw connections to the Great Migration, and then decided together how they would interpret the art. 

“Everyone brought unique interpretive perspectives to the art on display and infused the gallery with great energy,” said Dr. Eron. “The Driskell Center was thrilled to welcome the GDS 3rd graders. We are grateful to the UMD Art Education students who made this program possible by creating opportunities for different modes of engagement, and we appreciate the GDS teachers for reaching out to make this field trip happen.”

“For me, the trip was really satisfying because I’d been thinking about David Driskell for years, and it was a way to see this through and to bring some of my other passions to my teaching. And I love the idea of the undergrads working with our students, and just exposing them a little to a college campus,” said Todd.

View photo gallery >>

* The full name is: The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora

**David Driskell was an American artist, scholar and curator recognized for his work in establishing African-American Art as a distinct field of study.  According to the Driskell Center website, “David C. Driskell devoted his life to mentoring Black scholars and artists, and creating spaces for their work to be seen. We continue his legacy by using our collections, programming, and annual fellowships to cultivate and advance the work of researchers, scholars, and artists.” https://driskellcenter.umd.edu/about 

***Augusta Savage was a sculptor whose work celebrated African American culture; she was an arts educator, activist, and Harlem Renaissance leader who sought social change.