Meta Warrick FullerProgram
Danforth
Museum of Art
Educator Resources
How To Use This Packet
3
Family Photos
4
Biography of
Meta Warrick Fuller
Grade 3 Reading Level
5
About Meta Warrick
Fuller’s Art
Grade 3 Reading Level
11
Who was
Meta Warrick Fuller?
Classroom Activities
14
Graphic Organizers for
Classroom Activities
16
Art Lesson Plans
19
Bibliographies
24
Julia Brucker
Assistant Director of
Interpretive Programs
jbrucker@danforthmuseum.org
508.620.0050 ext. 23
Danforth
Museum of Art
Union Avenue
Framingham, MA 01702
www.danforthmuseum.org
508.620.0050
123
How To use This Packet
Meta Warrick Fuller was a local African-American sculptor of national importance.
She moved to Framingham with her husband Solomon in 1909. In the next 60 years,
she inspired the re-birth of African-American art – the Harlem Renaissance – and
changed the way her neighbors in Framingham saw race.
Included in this packet are a child-friendly biography of the artist, with translations in
Spanish and Portuguese. Ask students to read these as preparation for their field trip.
Framingham Public School teachers have also developed classroom activity ideas and
art lesson plans, for further integration into your curriculum. Further resources are
available in the bibliography. We hope you will adapt this packet to your curricular
needs, and inform us of its value and effectiveness.
Also see “Planning Your Visit” for more information about the
Meta Warrick Fuller tour and art program.
Join Us on Moodle! (Framingham Public Schools Only)
The museum created a course on Moodle called “Third Grade Meta Fuller Program”
for teacher and/or classroom use. The course includes resources like photographs,
websites, and letters copied from the museum’s own files. To help us provide the most
useful resources, please tell us what you used and how by commenting in the forums.
At present, the Moodle page is only accessible to Framingham teachers, but resources
are made available to other school systems upon request.
For more information or to schedule a field trip…
Please contact Julia Brucker, Assistant Director of Interpretive Programs
by email to jbrucker@danforthmuseum.org or phone at 508.620.0050 ext. 23
The Meta Fuller Program is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the
Sudbury Foundation, Target Foundation and the generosity of individual donors.
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 3
Family Photos
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 4
Biography of Meta Warrick Fuller
Who was Meta Warrick Fuller?
Meta Warrick Fuller was a famous, African American sculptor. She lived and worked
for most of her life in Framingham! Meta had great skill as a sculptor and her sculptures
depict many different emotions or feelings. It is not easy to make a sculpture look real,
but Meta could do it. It is very difficult to create emotion in a sculpture, but each one of
Meta’s sculptures did.
What do you think life was
like 133 years ago when
Meta Warrick Fuller
was born?
Q
Meta was born in Philadelphia in 1877. That was 133 years ago! She was very influenced by her family. Her dad was a barber and her mom was a hairdresser. They were both sculptors in their
own way. Her sister was her first art teacher.
She taught Meta how to paint in watercolor.
Her brother told spooky, ghost stories. You can see some of these “spooky” ideas in some of her work.
Meta had many wonderful opportunities as a young girl. She took dance lessons, rode
horses, and often went to the art museum. She went to school in the Philadelphia
Public Schools. Early on, her parents and her teachers saw that she was talented in art
and encouraged her as an artist. As a teenager, she was selected to attend an arts school
once a week.
How would you feel if you
were treated unfairly?
Q
Although Meta was given many wonderful opportunities, life was not always easy. During Meta’s life, African-Americans and women did not
have the same rights that they have now. For example, there were many places that Meta was not allowed to go because of the color of her skin.
Even though she was considered a “genius” by
many, she was not given the same attention and
fame as other sculptors because she was
an African-American and a woman.
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 5
After college, Meta got a very exciting opportunity to study and work in Paris, France.
Since Paris was across the ocean and very far away, Meta’s mother did not want to let
Meta go. But eventually, Meta’s mother was convinced to let her leave for Paris. It was
there that Meta met many famous artists and great thinkers. In Paris, Meta got much of
the attention and fame she deserved as a talented, hard-working sculptor.
After Meta returned from Paris, she met and married Dr. Solomon Fuller and moved
to Framingham, MA! Dr. Fuller was famous because he was the first African-American
psychiatrist in America.
At first, the neighbors were not happy that African-Americans were moving in next
door. They signed a petition to try to keep them out of the neighborhood. Little by little,
though, they got to know Meta and Solomon and they became friends.
Meta’s art was influenced
by her family. Who and
what influences you?
Q
Meta and Solomon had three sons. Her family was
very important to her and influenced her sculptures.
Meta was expected to give up her career as an artist
to be a full-time mother. Despite this, she found
ingenious ways to continue sculpting. She even had
her own studio built, and kept it secret from her husband until it was finished!
Meta died in 1968 (42 years ago). Her art was important to her throughout her life,
and her art continues to inspire and influence many people today.
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 6
biografía de Meta Warrick Fuller
¿Quién fue Meta Warrick Fuller?
Meta Warrick Fuller fue una escultora afro-americana famosa. ¡Vivió y trabajó
durante la mayor parte de su vida en Framingham! Meta tenía una gran habilidad para
la escultura y sus esculturas representan diferentes emociones o sentimientos. No es
fácil hacer que una escultura luzca real, pero Meta podía hacerlo. Es muy difícil crear
emociones en una escultura, pero cada una de las esculturas de Meta lo logra.
¿Cómo crees que era
la vida hace 133 años,
cuando Meta Warrick
Fuller nació?
Q
Meta nació en Filadelfia en el año1877. ¡Eso fue
hace 133 años! Ella se vio muy influenciada por
su familia. Su padre era barbero y su madre era
peluquera. Ambos eran escultores a su manera. Su
hermana fue su primera maestra de arte. Le enseñó a
Meta cómo pintar en acuarela. Su hermano contaba
historias espantosas de fantasmas. Se puede apreciar
algunas de estas “espeluznante” ideas en algunos
de sus trabajos.
Meta tuvo grandes oportunidades de niña. Tomó lecciones de baile, montaba a caballo,
y muchas veces iba al museo de arte. Ella asistió a las escuelas públicas de Filadelfia.
Al principio, sus padres y sus profesores vieron que Meta tenía talento para las artes y
la entusiasmaron para que fuera artista. Cuando era adolescente, fue seleccionada para
asistir a una escuela de arte una vez por semana.
¿Cómo te sentirías si fueras
tratado injustamente?
Q
Aunque a Meta le dieron muchas oportunidades,
su vida no siempre fue fácil. Durante la época en
que Meta vivía, los afro-americanos y las mujeres
no tenían los mismos derechos que tienen ahora.
Por ejemplo, había muchos lugares donde a Meta
no se le permitía ir por el color de su piel. A pesar
de que era considerada un “genio” por muchos, no
tuvo la misma atención y la fama que otros
escultores tuvieron por ser afro-americana y mujer.
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 7
Después de asistir a la universidad, a Meta le surge la gran oportunidad de estudiar
y trabajar en París, Francia. Ya que París se encuentra al otro lado del océano y muy
lejos, la madre de Meta no quería dejarla ir. Pero con el tiempo, la madre de Meta
se convenció de que debía dejarla partir para París. Fue allí donde Meta conoció a
muchos artistas famosos y a grandes pensadores. En París, Meta obtiene gran parte
de la atención y la fama que se merecía como escultora talentosa y trabajadora.
¡Después que Meta regresó de París, conoció y se casó con el Dr. Salomon Fuller y
se mudó a Framingham, MA! El Dr. Fuller fue famoso porque fue el primer psiquiatra
afro-americano en Estados Unidos.
Al principio, a los vecinos no les agradaba la idea de que unos afro-americanos se
mudaran cerca de sus casas. Ellos firmaron una petición para tratar de mantenerlos
fuera del vecindario. Sin embargo, poco a poco, fueron conociendo a Meta y a
Salomón y se hicieron amigos.
El arte de Meta fue
influenciado por su familia.
¿Quién y qué ejerce
influencia en ti?
Q
Meta y Salomón tenían tres hijos varones. Su familia
era muy importante para ella y le influenciaron en
sus esculturas. Se suponía que Meta iba a renunciar
a su carrera como artista para ser madre a tiempo
completo. A pesar de esto, Meta se las ingenió para
continuar creando esculturas. ¡Inclusive, construyo
su propio estudio y se lo ocultó a su esposo hasta
que estuvo terminado!
Meta murió en 1968 (hace 42 años). Su arte fue importante para ella durante toda su
vida; y su arte sigue inspirando e influenciando a muchas personas hoy en día.
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 8
biografia de Meta Warrick Fuller
Quem foi Meta Warrick Fuller?
Meta Warrick Fuller foi uma famosa escultora Afro-Americana. Ela morou e trabalhou
em Framingham por quase toda a sua vida! Meta era muito talentosa como escultora e
suas esculturas representavam diferentes emoções e sentimentos. Não é fácil fazer uma
escultura parecer real, mas Meta conseguia. É muito difícil criar uma emoção em uma
escultura, mas todas as esculturas de Meta mostravam uma emoção.
Como você acha que era
a vida há 133 anos atrás,
quando Meta Warrick
Fuller nasceu?
Q
Meta nasceu na Philadelphia em 1877. Isso foi
há 133 atrás! Ela foi muito influenciada por sua
família. Seu pai era um barbeiro e sua mãe, uma
cabeleireira. Os dois eram escultores, de certa
forma. Sua irmã foi sua primeira professora de arte. Ela ensinou Meta a pintar aquarelas. Seu irmão
contava assustadoras estórias de fantasmas. Você
pode ver um pouco dessas idéias “assustadoras”
em alguns de seus trabalhos.
Meta teve muitas oportunidades maravilhosas quando ela era criança. Ela fez aulas
de dança, aprendeu a andar a cavalo, e ia sempre ao museu de arte. Ela estudou nas
Escolas Públicas da Philadelphia. Desde cedo, seus pais e professores viram que ela
tinha talento para artes e a incentivaram a ser uma artista. Na adolescência, ela foi
escolhida para fazer aulas em uma escola de arte uma vez por semana.
Como você iria se sentir se
fosse tratada injustamente?
Q
Mesmo com todas essas oportunidades
maravilhosas, a vida de Meta não foi sempre fácil.
Naquela época, as pessoas Afro-Americanas e as
mulheres não tinham os mesmos direitos que têm
hoje. Por exemplo, Meta não podia ir a muitos
lugares por causa da cor de sua pele. Mesmo sendo
considerada um “gênio” por muitos, ela não recebia
a mesma atenção e fama que os outros escultores
porque era Afro-Americana e mulher.
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 9
Quando terminou a faculdade, Meta teve uma oportunidade incrível de estudar e
trabalhar em Paris, na França. Como Paris era do outro lado do oceano e muito longe,
a mãe de Meta não deixou ela ir. Mas depois, a mãe de Meta acabou concordando
que ela fosse para Paris. Foi lá que Meta conheceu muitos artistas famosos e grandes
pensadores. Em Paris, Meta recebeu a atenção e a fama que ela merecia como uma
talentosa e dedicada escultora.
Quando Meta voltou de Paris, ela conheceu e se casou com o Dr. Solomon Fuller e
eles se mudaram para Framingham, MA! Dr. Fuller era famoso porque foi o primeiro
psiquiatra Afro-Americano da America.
No início, os vizinhos não ficaram felizes porque o casal Afro-Americano estava se
mudando para a vizinhança. Eles assinaram um documento para tentar mantê-los longe
da vizinhança. Aos poucos, eles conheceram Meta e Solomon e se tornaram amigos.
A arte de Meta foi
influenciada por sua
família. Quem e o que
influencia você?
Q
Meta and Solomon tiveram três filhos. Sua família
era muito importante para ela e influenciou suas
esculturas. Era esperado que Meta desistisse de sua
carreira como artista para ser uma mãe em tempo
integral. Apesar disso, ela encontrou um jeito de
continuar esculpindo. Ela construiu o seu próprio
estúdio em segredo, e só contou para seu marido
quando o estúdio ficou pronto!
Meta morreu em 1968 (42 anos atrás). Sua arte foi importante para ela durante toda a
sua vida, e continua a inspirar e influenciar muitas pessoas até hoje.
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 10
About Meta Warrick Fuller’s Art
Meta Warrick Fuller created some of her most famous sculptures after she moved to
Framingham! Meta found inspiration in her environment – her family and her culture
(the African-American community).
African-Americans went through many struggles. Meta spoke out about these struggles
through her art. Many of her sculptures show how hard life was for African-Americans.
She also made sculptures inspired by African-American music and poetry.
Maxwell Nicy Haysen, painted plaster
Q
This is a sculpture of an
African American poet.
What do you think
he is thinking?
Water Boy, painted plaster, 1930
Q
This is a sculpture we
believe was influenced
by an important AfricanAmerican work song.
Can you guess what this
figure is doing?
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 11
Sobre el Arte de Meta Warrick Fuller
¡Meta Warrick Fuller realizó algunas de sus esculturas más famosas después de que
se mudó al pueblo de Framingham! Meta encuentra la inspiración en su entorno - su
familia y su cultura (la comunidad afro-americana).
Los afro-americanos tuvieron que luchar mucho. Meta expresó estas luchas a
través de su arte. Muchas de sus esculturas muestran lo dura que fue la vida
para los afro-americanos. Ella también realizó esculturas inspiradas en la música
y en la poesía afro-americana.
Maxwell Nicy Haysen, yeso pintado
Q
Este es una escultura de un
poeta afro-americano.
¿En que crees
que está pensando?
Water Boy, yeso pintado, 1930
Q
Esta es una escultura que
creemos fue influenciada
por una canción afroamericana importante.
¿Puedes adivinar que
la figura hace?
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 12
Sobre a Arte de Meta Warrick Fuller
Meta Warrick Fuller criou algumas de suas esculturas mais famosas depois que
mudou-se para Framingham! Meta encontrou inspiraão em sua família e sua cultura
(a comunidade Afro-Americana).
As pessoas de origem Afro-Americana passaram por muitas dificuldades. Meta falou
sobre essas dificuldades através de sua arte. Muitas de suas esculturas mostram como
a vida das pessoas Afro-Americanas era dura. Ela também fez esculturas inspiradas na
música e poesia Afro-Americana.
Maxwell Nicy Haysen,
escultura pintada en gesso
Q
Water Boy, escultura pintada
en gesso, 1930
Essa é uma escultura de um
poeta Afro-Americano.
O que você acha que
ele está pensando?
Q
Acreditamos que essa
escultura foi influenciada
por uma importante canção
de trabalho Afro-Americana.
Pode você adivinhar que isto
a figura está fazendo?
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 13
Who was Meta Warrick Fuller?
Classroom Activities
Lesson and Graphic Organizers designed by Rebecca Lepow
Lesson Objective
Students will read a brief biography about Meta Warrick Fuller and identify the
important events from her life.
MA Curriculum Frameworks Addressed
Social Studies
Standard 3.7: After reading a biography of a person from Massachusetts in one of
the following categories (the arts), summarize the person’s life and
achievements (H, C)
Reading and Literature Strand
Standard 8: Students will identify the basic facts and main ideas in an
informational text and use them as the basis for interpretation
Materials
Meta Warrick Fuller biography
Graphic organizer of your choice (puzzle, main idea, movie strip)
Lesson
The teacher will introduce the students to Meta Warrick Fuller by showing some
pictures of Meta Warrick Fuller and her family. The teacher will explain that Meta
Warrick Fuller was a famous artist who lived in Framingham with her family. He/She
will explain that at the time Meta Warrick Fuller was living in Framingham, it was
difficult to be a minority. Many African Americans were not recognized for their talents
and this was true for Meta Warrick Fuller. The teacher will explain that the students are
going to read a biography about Meta’s life to learn more about the famous person that
once lived in Framingham. The teacher will also explain the graphic organizer that he/
she chooses to use with the class.
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 14
The activities are to be used as follows:
Movie Strip
Students will read the biography and identify the important events from Meta Warrick Fuller’s life. After identifying six events the
students will order them chronologically. They will write a
sentence about the first event in the first box of the strip, and
illustrate the event. They will continue to do this for all six events.
The finished product will show a “movie” of her life.
Puzzle
Students will read the biography about Meta Warrick Fuller.
They will then determine the main idea from each part of her life.
Students will write the main idea on the puzzle piece for that
time of her life and illustrate the main idea. The finished product
will show a complete puzzle of all the parts of Meta Warrick Fuller’s life.
Main Idea Activity
Students will read the biography about Meta Warrick Fuller. They
will then determine the main idea from the four parts of her life
identified. Students will write the main idea on for the part of her life identified and illustrate the main idea. The student will do this
for all four parts of her life. The finished product will show an
overview of all the parts of Meta Warrick Fuller’s life.
Main Idea Activity (advanced)
This activity can be used for students who may need more of a challenge.
The activity is more open-ended and requires students to determine the four most
important facts/events from Meta Warrick Fuller’s life. Once students identify four
events, they need to make a sentence that describes the main idea of the biography
about Meta Warrick Fuller.
After students have completed the activity, the class will gather back together and
students will share their activities. At this time the class can discuss the important
events from Meta Warrick Fuller’s life.
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 15
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 16
Me
ta
Th Warrick
f
o
e
f
i
e L Fuller
The End
By:___________________
The Movie of Meta Warrick Fuller’s Life
Name__________________________Date_________
The Pieces of
Meta Warrick Fuller’s Life
Childhood
Paris
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
Her inspirations
Starting a New Family
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 17
Name__________________________Date_________
The Main Ideas of
Meta Warrick Fuller’s Life
Important Event
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Important Event
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Main Idea
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Important Event
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Important Event
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 18
Art Lesson Plan 1: Meta Warrick Fuller
Lesson 1 by Linda Forman
Grade 3 and higher
Lesson Theme: Using an image or sculpture to express thoughts, feelings and ideas.
MA Curriculum Frameworks Addressed
Visual Arts
Standard 1: Methods, Materials and Techniques: Students will demonstrate
knowledge of the methods, materials and techniques unique to the visual arts
Standard 3: Students will demonstrate their powers of observation in a variety of
media, materials and techniques
Standard 5: Critical Response: Students will describe and analyze their own
work and the work of others using appropriate visual arts vocabulary. When
appropriate, students will connect their analysis to interpretation and evaluation.
Background Information
Why learn about Meta Warrick Fuller? Throughout her life, Meta experienced racism
and discrimination, but she persevered through these challenges to become one of the
pioneering African-American women in sculpture and visual art in America.
Although sometimes classified under the Harlem Renaissance, Meta actually did all of
her work in Paris, France; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Boston and Framingham,
Massachusetts. She was born in Philadelphia on June 9, 1877 and raised in an
African-American middle class neighborhood by her father, a barber, and her mother,
a wigmaker. They followed their primarily white clients to Atlantic City during the
summers. Since Atlantic City was segregated, the family was required to live outside of
the city. In order to swim with her white friends on ‘white only beaches’, Meta had to
wake up early in the morning, before the rules were enforced later in the day.
At 16 Meta received a three-year scholarship to study at the Pennsylvania School of
Industrial Art. From 1899-1902 she studied at the academies in Paris. When she first
arrived in Paris, her skin color prevented her from staying in American Girls’ Club, as
she had been planning. She had to search for other housing. While in Paris she met
African American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner and the famous French sculptor Auguste
Rodin. Meta had success in Paris, selling work in Parisian art galleries.
When Meta returned to the USA she found that the Philadelphia Art Society was not
ready to embrace an African-American female artist. But she persevered in her talents
and passion for the arts. She was commissioned to create a diorama for the Jamestown
Tercentennial Exposition in 1907. The diorama depicted the progress of AfricanAmericans since the founding of Jamestown, VA in 1607. With this she became the first
African-American female artist to receive a federal commission for her work.
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 19
Soon after, Meta met Dr. Solomon Fuller, a West African immigrant who became
America’s first black psychiatrist. They married in 1909 and moved to Warren Road
in Framingham, within walking distance from the McCarthy School. Their neighbors
started a petition to prevent them from moving into the neighborhood, but they
moved in anyway. Every day, Meta took walks up and down the street.
Gradually, their neighbors changed their opinion.
A warehouse fire in Philadelphia destroyed 16 years worth of her artwork in 1910.
After recovering from the shock, Meta began to create sculptures celebrating AfricanAmerican stories and themes of social injustice. ‘Ethiopia Awakening,’ one of her
most celebrated pieces symbolized “the African American lineage to North Africa, the
bourgeoning of African American culture in mainstream society, and the call for African
Americans to recognize the intellectual and spiritual influence that Africa could have
on their ongoing formation in racist America.” (http://onemoreblackwoman.blogspot.
com/2009/11/pioneering-visual-arts-meta-fuller.html)
Meta’s sculptures that depicted African-Americans and their experience influenced
artists of the Harlem Renaissance and beyond, including Faith Ringgold. Meta died on
March 18, 1968 at age 90. Many of her descendants continue to live in Framingham.
Materials
They will vary depending upon what is available. Some possibilities are clay, paper
mache, cardboard tubes, boxes and optional recycling material.
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 20
Introduction
Have students look at a poster of the quilt made by Faith Ringgold that includes Meta
Warrick Fuller along with other important African-American women in history.
Solicit responses about what they see in the picture. What do these women have in
common? (All are famous African American artists.) Share some examples of artists’
works that show their concern for important ideas and times in history.
Eg.
Norman Rockwell, The Problem We All Live With (about Ruby Bridges)
Norman Rockwell, Negro in the Suburbs (about integration)
Pablo Picasso, Guernica (war)
Kara Walker, paper cut silhouettes (African American stereotypes and
injustices of slavery.)
Share some photos of Meta’s sculpture showing their theme of the African American
experience. Eg. Water Boy. Provide the students with some background information
about her life and how segregation affected it. Note the bold type in the
background information.
Students will create a 3D sculpture about a topic that they feel strongly about, dealing
with social issues. Generate a list of possible topics. Possible topics might be the
environment, human rights, the humane treatment of animals, creation a world where
all people have food, shelter and basic health care.
Students will write an artist statement to accompany their work.
Evaluation
There will be a group critique.
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 21
Art Lesson Plan 2: Illustrated Biography
Lesson 2 by Maria Grieci
Objectives for Learning
MA Curriculum Frameworks Addressed
Visual Arts
Learning Standard 1.1: Use a variety of materials and media, for example,
crayons, chalk, paint, clay, various kinds of papers, textiles, and yarns, and understand how to use them to produce different visual effects
Learning Standard 1.2: Create artwork in a variety of two- dimensional (2D) and
three- dimensional (3D) media, for example: 2D - drawing, painting, collage, printmaking, weaving; 3D - plastic (malleable) materials such as clay and paper, wood, or found objects for assemblage and construction
Learning Standard 3.3: Create 2D and 3D artwork from memory or imagination
to tell a story or embody an idea or fantasy
Learning Standard 4.1: Select a work or works created during the year and
discuss them with a parent, classmate, or teacher, explaining how the work was
made, and why it was chosen for discussion
Learning Standard 7.1: Investigate how artists create their work; read about, view
films about, or interview artists such as choreographers, dancers, composers, singers, instrumentalists, actors, storytellers, playwrights, illustrations, painters, sculptors, craftspeople, or architects
Learning Standard 10.1: Integrate knowledge of dance, music, theatre, and visual arts and apply the arts to learning other disciplines
English Language Arts
Speaking and Listening Standard 3.2: Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and
formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally
Language Standard 3.2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing
Reading Standards for Informational Text 3.7: Use information gained from
illustrations (e.g. maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate
understanding of the text (e.g. where, when, why and how key events occur
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 22
Content Objectives
Students will be able to...
identify Meta Warrick Fuller’s sculptures at the Danforth Museum of Art
work together to create an illustrated class biography of Meta Warrick Fuller’s life
Language Objectives
Students will be able to...
write simple sentences to describe her life
use content vocabulary appropriately
Content Vocabulary: sculptress, clay, sculpture, Meta Warrick Fuller, biography, illustrations, binding, cover, author, illustrator, chapters
General Procedures (activities and materials)
Student Artists will have already visited the Danforth Museum, viewed Meta Warrick Fuller’s sculpture and clay models, and have learned about her life
Artist Teacher will ask, “What did you learn about Meta Warrick Fuller? What do
you remember about her artwork? What do you remember about her life?”
Artist Teacher will reintroduce information about Meta Warrick Fuller’s life
Artist Teacher will divide class into groups: Childhood, Young Adult Life, and Adult Life which will make up the three chapters of the class-created biography
Each Student Artist will receive a piece of 9” X 12” 60 lb. white paper, pencils, colored pencils, markers and crayons, as well as sketch paper to practice
Each group will have resource materials for inspiration when creating their chapter of Meta Warrick Fuller’s biography
Student Artists discuss the order of events and collaborate to divide pages so each artist is responsible for one event (page) in Meta Warrick Fuller’s life
Student Artists write a sentence to describe the event and illustrate it using materials of their choice
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 23
Artist Teacher will walk around class and help students sort ideas and organize thoughts and illustrations, asking “What idea will you illustrate?”
By the end of Class 1, students should each have a sentence or two neatly written on their paper and a quick sketch of the illustration
During Class 2 the Student Artists will continue working on their illustrations
Student Artists can share their work with the class during Artist Share
By the end of Class 2, all pages should be in order, numbered, and ready to be bound
One or two Student Artists can be responsible for making a Table of Contents and a cover which all Student Artists will sign as Author-Illustrators
The Artist Teacher will laminate the pages back to back and bind the book, presenting it to the class for their library
Follow Through and Evaluation
Informal individual assessment during brainstorming, illustration
Artist Share as a whole group
Additional Information Helpful for Understanding the Lesson
Students activate background knowledge of sculpture,
author-illustrators, biography.
They have observed Meta Warrick Fuller’s sculpture at the Danforth Museum.
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 24
Bibliographies
Image Credits
“Framingham Honors a Legend.” Middlesex News [Framingham, MA] 5 Feb
1995. Courtesy of Framingham History Center.
Woman Glancing to Her Right, ca. 1915, polychromed cast plaster
(Collection of Danforth Museum of Art) Courtesy of Heather Swartz.
Meta and her sister Blanche. Photograph courtesy of Harriet Fuller.
Meta with her son Perry, 1917 Photograph courtesy of Solomon Fuller.
Family photograph courtesy of Pat West.
Negro Poet (Maxwell Nicy Haysen), before 1947, painted plaster.
(Collection of Danforth Museum of Art) Courtesy of Heather Swartz.
Print
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The African American National Biography
Black Women in America
Africana
Encyclopedia of African American History
Dictionary of Women Artists
Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America
Profiles of Negro Womanhood
Ater, Renee. “Making History: Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller’s Ethiopia.” American Art 17.3 (2003): 12-31. Print.
Bearden, Romare, and Harry Henderson. A History of African American Artists: From 1792 to the Present. New York: Pantheon, 1993. Print.
Biome, Albert. The Art of Exclusion: Representing Blacks in the Nineteenth Century.
Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institute Press, 1990. Print.
Brawley, Benjamin G. The Negro Genius: A New Appraisal of the Achievement of the
American Negro in Literature and the Fine Arts. Cheshire, C.T.: Biblo-Moser,
1966. Print.
Calacone, Donna. “The Sculpture of Meta Fuller and the African-American Experience.”
A.L.M. thesis. Harvard University, 1992.
Cederholm, Theresa Dickason. Afro-American Artists: A Bio-Bibliographical Directory.
Boston: Trustees of the Boston Public Library, 1973. Print.
Farrington, Lisa E. Creating Their Own Image: the History of African American Women
Artists. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.
Hoover, Velma G. “Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller: Her Life and Her Art.” Negro History
Bulletin 40.2 (1977): 678-81. Print.
Kaplan, Mary. Solomon Carter Fuller: Where My Caravan Has Rested. Lanham, M.D.:
University Press of America, 2005. Print.
Kerr, Judith Nina. “God-Given Work: The Life and Times of Sculptor Meta Vaux
Warrick Fuller, 1877-1968.” Ph.D. diss., University of Massachusetts Amherst,
1986.
King-Hammond, Leslie, and Tritobia Hayes Benjamin, eds. 3 Generations of African
American Women Sculptors: A Study in Paradox. Philadelphia, P.A.: Afro
American Historical and Cultural Museum, 1996. Print.
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 25
Leininger-Miller, Theresa. New Negro Artists in Paris: African American Painters and
Sculptors in the City of Light, 1922-1934. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers
University Press, 2001. Print.
Logan, Rayford W. “Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller.” Notable American Women: The
Modern Period. Ed. Barbara Sicherman and Carol Hurd Green. Cambridge,
M.A.: Harvard University Press, 1983. 255-256. Print.
Patterson, Lindsay. The Negro in Music and Art. New York: Publishers Co., 1968.
Print.
Perkins, Kathy A. “The Genius of Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller.” Black American
Literature Forum 24.1 (1990): 65-72. Print.
Porter, James A. Modern Negro Art. Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press, 1992.
Print.
Powell, Richard J. et al. Rhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance. London:
Hayward Gallery. 1997. Print.
Web
For Students
The African American Registry’s page on Meta Fuller includes a
brief biography and a photograph.
http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/meta-vw-fuller-sculptor-black-themes
This page is linked to the historical marker located at Fuller’s Philadelphia home.
You can find a comprehensive biography as well as images of Fuller’s work.
http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=606
For Teachers
Bridgewater State College’s Hall of Black Achievement’s page
discusses the significance of Fuller’s art.
http://www.bridgew.edu/HOBA/Fuller.cfm
Fuller’s Alma Mater, The University of the Arts, then known as the Pennsylvania Museum School
of Industrial Art, hosts this page on the artist’s life and work.
It includes an extensive list of books and articles for further reading.
http://library.uarts.edu/archives/alumni/warrickfuller.html
W.E.B. DuBois was one of Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller’s greatest supporters.
This user-friendly website, created by the W.E.B. DuBois Library at UMASS Amherst, provides
access to a variety of resources on his life and work.
http://www.library.umass.edu/spcoll/dubois/
Emancipation Proclamation had limited scope but was a milestone and symbolic victory for
freedom from slavery.
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/
Meta Warrick Fuller Program: Educator Resources 26
Copyright
© 2011
by Danforth
Museum of Art
All rights reserved.
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must cite the author and source
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Furthermore, copyright and other
proprietary rights may be held by
individuals or entities other than,
or in addition to, the Danforth Museum
of Art. In such cases, materials may not
be used in any form without the
permission of the holder of
the underlying copyright.
Written by Julia Brucker
Design by Maria Grazia Grieci
at Grazia Grafica
Julia Brucker
Assistant Director of
Interpretive Programs
jbrucker@danforthmuseum.org
508.620.0050 ext. 23
Danforth
Museum of Art
Avenue
Framingham, MA 01702
www.danforthmuseum.org
508.620.0050
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