Intro to Art History for High School IV (Indigenous North and South America)

In this class, students will explore the development of artistic production of the Indigenous Americas throughout history over the course of ten weeks, starting with South and Central American communities and moving to North American tribes in the latter weeks of the course. This class is designed for students aged 13-18 as a way of exploring art histories that they may not encounter in traditional introductory courses that tend to be Eurocentric in nature. Students will be able to identify key historical events that shaped the history of various Indigenous traditions, different art techniques and styles, and the cultural significance of each style of art, such as religious or political factors. Students will look at arts from the ancient period through the contemporary period in this course. Each week, students will attend a 50-minute lecture and participate in a class discussion in the classroom message boards on the given topic for the week. Students will participate in two writing assignments over the course of the semester to invite students to think critically about artworks that interest them. 

While this is "Part IV" in the Introduction to Art History Series, it is not necessary to take them in order! Students interested in the arts of the Americas are welcome to join this course without taking Parts I, II, or III first!

The class schedule can be found in the syllabus section below! 

Sources used include: Imagining Identity in New Spain: Race, Lineage, and the Colonial Body in Portraiture and Casta Paintings by Magali M. Carrera, A Culture of Stone: Inka Perspectives on Rock by Carolyn Dean, The Art of Professing in Bourbon Mexico: Crowned-Nun Portraits and Reform in the Convent by James Cordova, Possessions: Indigenous Art/Colonial Culture by Nicholas Thomas, and a variety of sources from the National Museum of the American Indian, Templo Mayor Museum, New Mexico Museum of Art, the Denver Art Museum, National Geographic, and more.

Week 10: Contemporary Indigenous Artists

In our final class, first, students will have the opportunity to share what they researched for their final paper should they like to discuss it with their peers. We will wrap up our class with a discussion of contemporary Indigenous artists operating today, highlighting how these communities are thriving and incorporating art practices we have discussed with a contemporary spin. We will discuss performance artists James Luna, Kent Monkman, and Gregg Deal, and how they expose injustices committed upon Native American communities and stereotyping, We will also discuss well-known artists like Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and how they incorporated their indigenous heritage into their works. Further, we will discuss the political works of artists like Alfredo Jaar, Doris Salcedo, and Rodrigo Matheus.