Contemporary Native American Artist, Kay Walkingstick with Upper Elementary Students

The 4th and 5th Grade classes started the year off learning about contemporary Native American artist, Kay Walkingstick. This lesson was created by my colleague, Victoria Ford and is part of a tub of resources on contemporary Native American artists. It is available for checkout at Krannert Art Museum, but if you can't make it there to check it out, there is a website that has lesson plans, samples of previous student's work and powerpoints about each artist.

Walkingstick's artwork usually centers around to opposites, because she is biracial and she feels that she embodies a duality by being born of two cutures. The students brainstormed a list of opposites that they embody.


Next, each student picked the best pair of opposites and found a picture for one of the words and drew an abstract representation of the second word.

They redrew the sketch on larger paper and painted one side of the diptych and used oil pastels on the other side to once again carry on this theme of opposites even in how the artwork was made.



more examples coming soon!

lesson+plans art kids painting native+america