Identity
Ivette Loza, Jeff Stauter, Katie LaBombard
Little Village Academy
7th/8th Grade Advisory and Language Arts
Jamie Wyeth
Kalounna in Frogtown, 1986
Oil on canvas, 36 x 50 1/8 in. (91.4 x 127.3 cm)
Terra Foundation for American Art 1992.163
Key information and Ideas about the
Artwork:
 The subject, Kalounna, is a Laotian immigrant
that worked on the artist’s farm in rural
Pennsylvania.
Work of art painted during a time when Laotian
immigrants were settling in America as refugees
of a civil war
 References to icons of American life
throughout the painting
Goals for Lesson
Analyze an artist’s portrayal of
setting and character to convey a
theme
Interpret how American artists use
of American icons convey identity
Connect themes to students’ lives
A few major learning activities:
•Activate prior knowledge and
experience works of art through
a Field Trip to the Art Institute
Compare and contrast
portrayals of identity in different
works of American art
A few major learning activities:
Create a work of art and writing piece that
reflects their identity
Our Identity
Projects
From One-line
Practice to
Masterpiece
From
Kalounna’s
Hands to My
Hands
Civil War Art
Jeff Stauter
Social Studies
-Students chose an
artwork to research.
-Created an artwork
that reflected the
same themes.
represented in the art
work.
Ivette Loza
After school Program
Language Arts
Students chose an
artwork or an artist to
learn research.
-Students summarized
their learning and
highlighted what drew
them to the artwork or
artist.
-They compared and
contrasted pieces they
had seen at the Art
Institute.
-They recreated the
artwork of their choice.
-
Katie LaBombard
One Point Perspective
Math
-Students analyzed
works of art specifically
looking at line and
shape.
-They created one point
perspective. drawings
and derived the
equations for the major
perspective lines in their
works of art.
What our students learned:
”I learned how to express my feelings in pictures.”
”There’s always a story behind the art.”
”Every little detail in artwork has big meaning.”
”Now when I look at I try to make a story with the details.”
What we learned:
•Analyzing themes in art is a great exercise in getting
kids to analyze themes in literature
•Enforcing the “Close Read” strategy is a fantastic way
to model to students different levels of analysis
•Seeing the artwork we used as examples in class at
the Art Institute gave students a better appreciation for
the value of such texts, the wealth of knowledge they
have to offer, and the importance of their preservation