The Dinner Party
Judy Chicago, 1974-1979
I decided to mix things up.
So I began observing a 6th grade class and a 7th grade class.
They are NOT like high school students. And they really, really like Justin Bieber. It is UNCOMFORTABLE.
Anyway. The middle school art teacher, Mr. E., is starting a new project with his 6th grade class based on Judy Chicago's famous installation piece The Dinner Party, a beautiful conceptual work meant to comment upon and remedy the absence of women in modern historical consciousness. The triangular table features 39 place settings--complete with personalized tablecloths and plates as well as silverware and a goblet for each guest. There are 13 settings on each side of the triangle and these sides are representative of different historical eras. The first side spans prehistory to the Roman Empire; the second spans the beginnings of Christianity to the Reformation; and the final spans the Age of Revolution. The students in Mr. E.'s class examine examples from Judy Chicago's piece and discuss the impact that her guests made on women's rights.
Here are some examples from the table:
Emily Dickinson
Virginia Woolf
Georgia O'Keefe
Then the students get to select their own guests and create a personalized plate and place setting for the new addition to the table. Students from past classes have invited women like Oprah Winfrey, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lady Gaga, and, the founder of the school, Florence Baldwin.
Who would you invite?
Judy Chicago, 1974-1979
I decided to mix things up.
So I began observing a 6th grade class and a 7th grade class.
They are NOT like high school students. And they really, really like Justin Bieber. It is UNCOMFORTABLE.
Anyway. The middle school art teacher, Mr. E., is starting a new project with his 6th grade class based on Judy Chicago's famous installation piece The Dinner Party, a beautiful conceptual work meant to comment upon and remedy the absence of women in modern historical consciousness. The triangular table features 39 place settings--complete with personalized tablecloths and plates as well as silverware and a goblet for each guest. There are 13 settings on each side of the triangle and these sides are representative of different historical eras. The first side spans prehistory to the Roman Empire; the second spans the beginnings of Christianity to the Reformation; and the final spans the Age of Revolution. The students in Mr. E.'s class examine examples from Judy Chicago's piece and discuss the impact that her guests made on women's rights.
Here are some examples from the table:
Emily Dickinson
Virginia Woolf
Georgia O'Keefe
Then the students get to select their own guests and create a personalized plate and place setting for the new addition to the table. Students from past classes have invited women like Oprah Winfrey, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lady Gaga, and, the founder of the school, Florence Baldwin.
Who would you invite?
Not the Bieber :)
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