Diego Rivera’s Murals

As part of the 6 th grade Social Studies curriculum in World History, English/ Language Arts Expository Writing and a focus on Art/Art History, students learn about the arts of ancient civilizations through writing, research and multimedia digital presentation projects. This is lesson 1 of 3.

Why are the arts essential in understanding the past?

To increase students understanding of Art Criticism.

 National Educational Technology Standards: 6. technology operations and concepts: Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations.  Visual arts Gses: Enduring understanding 2c-cultural contexts-Visual art and design creatively expresses the values and ideas of human experiences, community and civilization. Describing the roles of the arts and artists in society to interpret events and cultures, to innovate and take risks while solving problems.  Reading/writing Gses: W-6-10 Students use pre writing, drafting, revising, editing, and critiquing to produce final drafts of written products.

 The student will: Through the use of this power point presentation;  Observe and practice steps involved in critiquing a work of art.  View and discuss examples of Diego Rivera’s murals  Form an opinion and organize thoughts about one of the murals on a graphic organizer based on the four steps of art criticism.  Using notes, sited sources, and the art criticism graphic organizer, create written rough draft on the class wiki of one of Diego Rivera’s murals in groups of four. Each student is responsible for one paragraph of the four steps.  work on editing checklist with peers for revising rough drafts.

 Diego Rivera was born to be a famous artist. He began drawing at an early age, painting murals on the walls in his house before he even attended school. As he grew older, he attended art classes after school. Before long, his dream of becoming a successful artist was within his reach.  Rivera attended art school in Mexico and Europe. He became famous for his murals in cities throughout Mexico. These murals told stories about the everyday life of Mexican people. He also painted murals in the United States, some of which also told stories of the Mexican people.  Today Rivera’s murals can still be seen in Mexico and the United States. They help tell the story of Mexican history and add to the beauty of the art world. Many artists and viewers continue to be inspired by Diego Rivera.

 The term Pre-Columbian is frequently used in art to refer to the indigenous art of Latin America in general, produced before Christopher Columbus 'arrival in the Americas.  Diego Rivera loved Pre-Columbian art and collected it long before its current popularity. Pre-Columbian objects often appear in his work.  Pre-Hispanic refers specifically to the indigenous cultures of the New World before the Spanish conquest.  Pre-Hispanic people and culture are frequently depicted in Diego Rivera’s work, especially the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru.  The Pre-Hispanic Aztec people are particularly significant in the history of Mexico. For instance, the Spanish built modern Mexico City on the remains of the old Aztec city of Tenochtitlan.  Rivera glorified Pre-Hispanic cultures in his work, and frequently depicted the Spanish as oppressive exploiters of the native population.

 Team 1 Team 1  Team 2 Team 2  Team 3 Team 3  Team 4 Team 4  Team 5 Team 5

Informative biography about Diego Rivera for kids More on Diego Rivera History of the Aztecs think quest Ancient Aztecs for kids More on the Ancient Aztecs