Witnessing history

“This art might make people feel recognized.” 
- a seventh grader 

Seventh grade is at the Museum of Fine Arts today for an interdisciplinary lesson dreamed up by Ms. King and Ms. Paull that uses visual arts to give students a fresh angle on the American history in seventh grade humanities class.

The star attractions were Kehinde Wiley’s portrait of President Barack Obama and Amy Sherald’s portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama. Conversations explored the impact of Sherald and Wiley’s artist identities on their work, and the identities the Obamas brought to the White House. Students had a thoughtful discussion exploring the interplay of identity in artist, subject, and viewer in visual storytelling  

Students also explored their Arts of the Americas collection by teaming up in pairs to learn about different exhibits, then serving as a docent to present the exhibit to their classmates.