Teacher Pages

TOMORROW I MAY BE FAR AWAY,
Romare Bearden 1967

Objectives:
Students will gain an understanding of the diversity of images, thoughts and feelings through studying a work of art, listening to and performing cultural, historical and stylistically diverse music.

ART

Introduce the visual to the students with special reference to the title and have them speculate on its possible meanings. Click on the biography of Romare Bearden .

Discuss Bearden's life and the strong musical thread that ran through it. Click on an audio link that plays music demonstrating Bearden's love of jazz.

Pre activity discussion period.

• Return to the discussion of the title of this work, and introduce the history of the migration of black Americans from the rural southern areas to the urban north.
• Immerse students in literature pertaining to that period (see resources) and have them understand Bearden's role in portraying the struggles
• In the music section, students will be introduced to the history of the blues, spirituals, freedom songs and African tribal music. They will understand how these threads run through the art of Romare Bearden. Show how Bearden's work often included the symbol of a train, and explain the role that the train played in the journey north, and how the rhythm of the train is reflected in several of the musical genre.
• Discuss the fact that this artwork is a collage. Explain the term - coming from the French word "coller- to stick" and have students click on the link to collage to learn about the history of the process, and discover other artists who used it - Picasso, Braque.
• Look carefully at the technique applied by Bearden in Tomorrow I may be Far away.
• Show students how carefully he has selected the fragments from magazines to create the mood and color scheme that he wants. Emphasise that he has not cut an entire face from a magazine, but instead has combined elements from different sources to create a unified whole.
• Discuss the scale of the figures in the work, and reference this back to the pre- Renaissance technique of making the most important figures in the painting the largest.

Studio Activity.(3 periods of 45 min. each)
Students will create a collage of their own to reflect a theme which has personal significance. Emphasise the fact that the theme must be relevant to them and should reflect an event in their lives that has impacted them significantly. (If some students have difficulty with this, then encourage them to address themes of a more global nature).

Have available a wide range of magazines and papers, but emphasise that they should develop a color scheme appropriate to the theme as they search out images. Students should plan the composition by sketching lightly on the backing paper, and glue nothing down until they have experimented and adjusted with the shapes. The final composition can be coated with a thin film of acrylic gloss or matt medium to ensure even adhering of the pieces.

Enrichment
Students develop a picture book for children using the collage technique for illustration. The story could pertain to the migration of people from the south, or they could use the lyrics of a spiritual or blues song to illustrate.

Assessment
Student work should be evaluated as to how successfully they have delivered their message in the collage.

They should demonstrate competency in handling the collage technique, and
their composition should be balanced, with an identifiable color scheme.

They should be assessed on the creativity they have demonstrated in their selection of materials for their collage.

MUSIC
Listening and Choral

Listening Units:
African Tribal Music Songs of Freedom Songs relating to trains Songs sung by Ella Fitzgerald (personal friend of Romare Bearden)

Songs:
"Freedom is coming." Collected by Anders Nyberg, S.A.B. a cappella arranged by Henry H. Leck published by Walton Music Corporation.

"My Lord What A Morning."
African American Spiritual
Unison/2part. Published by BriLee Music.

"It don't Mean A Thing" by Duke Ellington
S.A.T.B.
arranged by Louise Rose

Procedure:
Introduce the Listening units: Engage the students in dancing to the African Tribal Music Discuss the historical context in relation to the "Songs of Freedom" and the "Songs relating to Trains."

Introduce the choral works:
Engage the students in:
Chanting the rhythmic phrases
Sight reading and memorizing each vocal line
Work on dynamics breathing and diction
Performing the choral works in a school concert

Assessment:
Have students compare a song from their culture with a song that has been studied and performed in the unit. Comment on the form and structural elements and the thoughts and feelings that have been evoked from each song.

Students will research and present a report that will make a reference to the historical periods and cultural contexts of the listening units.