Name: _____________________________
Date: ___________________________
Essential and Non-essential Information
5W-How?
Directions: Read the following article, then add to the graphic organizer answering the 5W-H
questions. I have filled in some of the information for you to help you understand what to put
for each question.
Graffiti to Galleries
For today’s artists, the street can be a
launching pad to the art world
By Karina Hamalainen
but these artists are seeking to change that
view with work that combines technical skill
and fresh, innovative ideas. The art world
has taken notice.
Banksy has made work to hang in the
museums during the guerrilla art shows he
puts on. (Banksy, Soldier with Spray
Can (altered work), installed on March 13,
2005. Dimensions 2 ft. x 1½ ft.)
Anonymous Artist
One of the best-known urban artists goes
by the name Banksy. Not much is known
about him because he keeps his identity a
secret. Banksy’s street paintings, like the
seated painter, often feature a distinctive
style, created using stencils. Stenciling
speeds up painting time and helps the artist
create hard edges, which can be difficult to
do with freehand spray-painting.
In addition to stenciling, Banksy
often appropriates images from pop
culture or other artists. In the case
of Soldier With Spray Can, Banksy altered an
existing oil painting. Can you see what he
changed? As a prank, the artist put on a
disguise and hung the painting in the
Brooklyn Museum in New York City. It hung
in the museum for four hours.
“I don’t do
proper gallery
shows; I
prefer direct
communication
with the public.”
- Banksy
A concrete wall is a blank canvas to some of
today’s top artists. Graffiti and street art
have long been thought of as vandalism,
Bringing the Streets Indoors
Instead of bringing people to the streets to
see his art, Barry McGee re-creates the
chaos of the street indoors in installations. The centerpiece of One More Thing is a 30-foot-tall
pile of graffiti-covered vans, trucks, and cars. Dozens of televisions playing
videos are stacked inside the cars. The walls surrounding the pile-up are covered with
bright geometric patterns. All of these elements vie for the viewer’s attention in the same way
that the neon lights, signs, and traffic of busy city streets do.
Bridging East and West
Gajin Fujita grew up in a mostly Hispanic neighborhood of Los Angeles. His parents are
Japanese. Fujita’s art combines the street sensibility of the barrio with traditional Japanese
imagery.
In L.A. L.A. Land Fujita depicts the traditional bird and flowers behind the urban stylized
lettering often seen in street graffiti. The layering of images also reminds viewers that street art
is not permanent. Urban artists often paint over one another’s work.
This article originally appeared in the April/May 2011 edition of Art magazine. For more from
Art, click here.
Question
Who?
Answer
Urban Artists (list three of them)
What?
What are they doing?
When?
Are there any dates mentioned? Try to make an inference here too!
Where?
Where is this happening?
Why?
Why are they doing this?
How?
How do the following artists create their art?
Gansky made an oil painting that he added a can of spray paint and graffiti on the
blackboard behind the man in the painting. He also uses ___________ to create
clean lines.
Barry McGee
Gajin Fujita
More Practice!
Now that you have practiced the 5W-How? apply them to the first article you read in the
following graphic organizer. Skim over the article to get the information.
Graphic organizer to A Bear of a House Guest
Question
Answer
Who?
What?
What was the story about? (Don’t put all the details here because you still need
to fill in why and how!)
When?
Think about when the article was published/written.
Where?
Why?
Why do the officials have a problem with the Logars keeping Medo as a pet?
How?
How did all this happen?
Name: _____________________________
Date: ___________________________
Essential and Non-essential Information
5W-How? ANSWERS
Graffiti to Galleries
For today’s artists, the street can be a
launching pad to the art world
By Karina Hamalainen
Banksy has made work to hang in the
museums during the guerrilla art shows he
puts on. (Banksy, Soldier with Spray
Can (altered work), installed on March 13,
2005. Dimensions 2 ft. x 1½ ft.)
“I don’t do
proper gallery
shows; I
prefer direct
communication
with the public.”
- Banksy
A concrete wall is a blank canvas to some of
today’s top artists. Graffiti and street art
have long been thought of as vandalism,
but these artists are seeking to change that
foot-tall pile of graffiti-covered vans, trucks,
and cars. Dozens of televisions playing
view with work that combines technical skill
and fresh, innovative ideas. The art world
has taken notice.
Anonymous Artist
One of the best-known urban artists goes
by the name Banksy. Not much is known
about him because he keeps his identity a
secret. Banksy’s street paintings, like the
seated painter, often feature a distinctive
style, created using stencils. Stenciling
speeds up painting time and helps the artist
create hard edges, which can be difficult to
do with freehand spray-painting.
In addition to stenciling, Banksy
often appropriates images from pop
culture or other artists. In the case
of Soldier With Spray Can, Banksy altered an
existing oil painting. Can you see what he
changed? As a prank, the artist put on a
disguise and hung the painting in the
Brooklyn Museum in New York City. It hung
in the museum for four hours.
Bringing the Streets Indoors
Instead of bringing people to the streets to
see his art, Barry McGee re-creates the
chaos of the street indoors in installations.
The centerpiece of One More Thing is a 30-
videos are stacked inside the cars. The walls surrounding the pile-up are covered with
bright geometric patterns. All of these elements vie for the viewer’s attention in the same way
that the neon lights, signs, and traffic of busy city streets do.
Bridging East and West
Gajin Fujita grew up in a mostly Hispanic neighborhood of Los Angeles. His parents are
Japanese. Fujita’s art combines the street sensibility of the barrio with traditional Japanese
imagery.
In L.A. L.A. Land Fujita depicts the traditional bird and flowers behind the urban stylized
lettering often seen in street graffiti. The layering of images also reminds viewers that street art
is not permanent. Urban artists often paint over one another’s work.
This article originally appeared in the April/May 2011 edition of Art magazine. For more from
Art, click here.
Question
Who?
Answer
Urban Artists Gansky, Barry McGee and Gajin Fujita
What?
They are making graffiti and street art a part of art museums and the art world.
When?
March 2005 to present day.
Where?
On the street in cities and in art museums.
Why?
They see the technical skill and fresh ideas it takes to create this street art.
How?
Gansky made an oil painting that he added a can of spray paint and graffiti on the
blackboard behind the man in the painting. He also uses stencils to create clean
lines.
Barry McGee is taking the chaos of the street and re-creating it in art pieces to
hang in museums. He uses vans, cars and TVs stacked in an order and uses
geometric shapes on the walls to give more effects.
Gajin Fujita sprays traditional Japanese images on the street. He also layers
images to remind people that this art does not last forever because artists will
create over each other’s work.
Graphic organizer ANSWERS to A Bear of a House Guest
Question
Answer
Who?
Logar Family and brown bear cub, Medo
What?
Medo “visits” the Logar family and they take him in as a pet. Officials of wild like
preservation have an issue with this.
When?
June 10, 2011
Where?
The Logars live in a village called Podvrh in Slovenia, a country in eastern Europe.
Why?
Why do the officials have a problem with the Logars keeping Medo as a pet?
The brown bear is endangered in that area. Also, as the bear gets bigger, it will
be harder to manage and also dangerous.
How?
The bear wandered onto their property and the Logars loved him. They wanted
to keep him as a pet.