By Mary Erickson, Ph.D. with Arizona art teacher Laurie Eldridge, Ph.D.

Western POP is a unit plan designed in conjunction with the Western POP exhibition at the Gallery at Tempe Center for the Arts.

Western POP Exhibition Preview PowerPoint
Printer-friendly version of the Overview PDF

Themes

• Theme in Life: Things are not always black and white.
• Theme in Art: Art can explore how opposites mix.

Key Questions

Lessons approach the themes through three key questions.

	1. How can I use different values (black, white and gray) in my artwork?
	2. How are artists inspired by their culture?
	3. How can an art exhibition focus on a theme or idea?

Community Connections

Of the last 48 contiguous states Arizona was the last to become a state in 1912. More than one hundred years later cattle still graze on range land. Herders still tend their sheep. Travelers still visit great pine forests, spectacular canyons and vast deserts. A few miles outside of cities and towns coyotes, roadrunners and jackrabbits still roam free in landscapes that look much as they did a century ago. At the same time, eight-lane freeways and light rail routes cross the Valley of the Sun. Hundreds of commercial and military jets carry people and cargo across the country and around the world. Skyscrapers tower into the sky. Arizona celebrates its western landscape with cacti and mountains on its license plate.

Lesson 1: Stories of the Old West (PDF)

Resources and supplies

Stories of the Old West PowerPoint (Lesson One)
Western POP Exhibition Preview PowerPoint

Lesson Two

Lesson 2: Exploring the Influence of Popular Culture at the Tempe Center for the Arts (PDF)

Resources and supplies

Exploring the Influence of Popular Culture at the Tempe Center for the Arts (pdf)
Western POP Exhibition Preview PowerPoint

Lesson Three

Lesson 3: Old West Vs New West (PDF)

Resources and supplies

Old West Vs New West PowerPoint
Western POP Exhibition PowerPoint
Value Scales; Shading using an Eraser worksheet (PDF)
sketch paper
drawing paper
graphite pencils
colored pencils
white erasers
OPTIONAL popular culture images and items with a western theme (such as a vintage Lone Ranger comic book, Magnificent Seven or Lone Ranger movie advertisement or DVD cover).

Lesson Four

Lesson 4: The West: Black, White and In Between (PDF)

Resources and supplies

Western POP Exhibition Preview PowerPoint
The West: Black, White and In Between PowerPoint
drawing paper
graphite pencils
white erasers
OPTIONAL: sample sheets of black, white and gray paper
OPTIONAL: Photographs or printouts with subject matter associated with the west (perhaps from old issues of Arizona Highways) such as cowboys, Native Americans, vaqueros (Hispanic cowboys) cattle, sheep, horses, ranches, rodeos, mines, hogans, Native American jewelry, weavings, baskets, mountain, deserts, plains, cactus, sequoia tree, yucca, pronghorn antelope, bear, deer, elk, coyotes, jackrabbits, gila monsters, roadrunners, etc.
OPTIONAL: popular culture items with a western theme (such as a fringed vest, vintage Lone Ranger comic book, Magnificant Seven movie advertisement, Toy Story products showing Sheriff Woody, Jessie, or Bullseye, toy figurine horses, cattle, deer, etc.)

A Note about Standards

This unit was designed to address CREATING, PRESENTING, RESPONDING, and PRESENTING standards for eighth grade (Lesson 3) and second grade (Lesson 2). You may wish to adapt objectives and activities to other grade levels or emphasize, de-emphasize, delete or add, objectives and activities as appropriate for your own curriculum.

Credit

Russell Erickson

Estimated Time

Lesson One = 20 minutes
Lesson Two = Field Trip
Lesson Three = 270 minutes (six 45 minute sessions)

Secondary Arizona Visual Arts Standards

VA.CR.2.7c:  Apply visual organizational strategies to design and produce artwork of art, design, or media that clearly communicates information or ideas. (Lesson Three)
VA.PR.5.7:  Based on criteria analyze and evaluate methods for preparing and presenting artworks in an exhibition. (Lesson Three)
VA.RE.8.7:  Cite specific evidence from an artwork and relevant evidence from the context to support an interpretation of the mood, message or meaning of that artwork. (Lesson Two)
VA.CN.10.7:  Make art inspired by community art and/or by art made by local artists. (Lesson Three)

Elementary Arizona Visual Arts Standards

VA.CR.1.5a: Combine ideas to generate an innovative idea for art-making. (Lesson Four)
VA.PR.6.5: Cite evidence about how an exhibition in a museum or other venue presents ideas and provides information about a specific concept or topic. (Lesson Four)
VA.RE.7.5b: Identify and analyze cultural associations suggested by visual imagery. (Lesson Four)
VA.CN.11.5:  Identify how art is used to inform or change beliefs, values, or behaviors of an individual or society. (Lesson Two)

Common Core Standards (primarily addressed in Lesson Two)

ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R4 : Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.4: Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 6–8 texts and topics.
ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 9–10 texts and topics.
ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R1: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.
ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions.
ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.9: Analyze how two or more texts [artworks] address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
ELA-Literacy.6-8.RH.9: Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same topic.
ELA-Literacy.9-10.RH.9. Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.
ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.2f: Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.
ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.2f: Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).

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