Painting patriotic pride.

Patriotism is defined as the love and loyal support of one's country. My class discussed patriotism and how it can build a country's morale. Since we were all United States citizens, we discussed which symbols made us immediately think of our country--the flag, the bald eagle, soldiers fighting, the Statue of Liberty, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, Uncle Sam, and just the colors red, white, and blue,

"If you had to do a painting showing patriotism to your country using the U.S. flag with its wonderful red, white, and blue colors, how would you do this?" I asked.

Some students said they'd paint a flag on top of a building, at a cemetery, or on a town square.

"What about thinking more abstractly?" I asked.

After I explained, students started naming things like hot dogs, apple pie, and red, white, and blue ice cream.

"Your task for this project will require lots of decision making. You need to formulate an idea that conveys patriotism using ordinary subject matter, incorporating the use of the U.S. flag. You can draw your idea on scrap paper to get it formulated, and then show it to me."

These fifth graders really took off on this idea. After they had done their initial sketch, we were ready to deal with the design concept a little more thoroughly. Each student had to incorporate a theme and an arrangement of detail and form, so the design would be personal, not just a replica of the flag.

Next, I handed out 11 x 14" (28 x 36 cm) white paper and asked students to try filling the paper with the design they had chosen as large as possible. Stretching, turning, and rotating the design in space gave new looks to somewhat ordinary items such as glue bottles or slices of pizza. Then, they sketched in shapes representing the American flag.

With the sketches completed, students decided how to colorize them using crayons and tempera paints, Most students chose to use crayons for the subject matter--slice of pizza, airplane, snowman, etc.--and tempera paint for the background, Some students did the reverse of that; still others used a combination of the two processes.

I was amazed at how beautifully these paintings turned out! We had taken ordinary, everyday objects and transformed them into patriotic works of art! Students were pleased and proud of their finished pieces of art, and they had a better understanding of both design and patriotism.

These paintings were displayed in our auditorium area with a banner that read, "Show Your Patriotism with Pride." We had so many favorable responses from both kids and adults. One veteran from the area commented to me, "It's great seeing that our young people are learning about patriotism!" He made this comment to me with tears in his eyes as he stared at the paintings. This one response to this artwork was enough reason for me to repeat this art experience again!

Objectives

Students will:

* Become acquainted with design elements and their characteristics.

* Enrich their appreciation of good design and show how repeating patterns attain design units.

* Create a well-balanced arrangement.

* Be visually aware and sensitive to a successful solution to expressing themselves with design elements.

* Be able to define the terms "patriotism" and "abstract."

* Be able to recognize that forms and shapes can communicate descriptive qualities such as weakness, excitement, pride, strength, etc.

* Successfully form a combination wax crayon/tempera painting.

* Realize that artwork can elicit many emotional responses.

NATIONAL STANDARD

Students select and use subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning.

Karen Skophammer is an art instructor for Manson Northwest Webster Schools in Iowa.