InsideOut

Learning Opportunities Offered by the San Francisco Arts Commission Education Program

In Partnership with the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery

The San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery presents Make You Notice Curated by Patricia Maloney
March 27 through May 24, 2008
Open to the public
Wednesday – Saturday, 12:00 – 5:00pm
401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco

To schedule a guided fieldtrip to the SFAC Gallery, contact:
Keegan Finberg, Arts Education Program Assistant
San Francisco ArtsCommission
415.252.3298, artsedintern [at] sfgov [dot] org

Lesson Plan: An Exploration of Feminism Recommended for grades 9-12
Total Time: 60-90 minutesBased on the themes from the exhibition Make You Notice (no gallery visit required)

Summary of Lesson:

Students think critically about display of empowerment and powerlessness. They express their conclusions by designing powerful and powerless outfits, and then analyze their decisions through discussion. They learn about the history of feminism, and cement their learning with the Name That Wave card game. They then analyze historical feminism by writing a personal manifesto.

Lesson Outcomes:

Students learn about the history of feminism and how to differentiate its waves and movements. Students engage critical thinking skills to discuss and reflect on symbols of power and powerlessness. They express their ideas creatively through art and creative writing activities.

Materials Needed:

* Two design maquettes for every student (see additional materials).
* Playing cards for the Name That Wave Game (see additional materials).
* Photos of Lisa Auerbach’s clothing (see additional materials and her websites: www.lisaanneauerbach.com, www.stealthissweater.com)
* Drawing materials
* Writing materials

Lesson Plan: Hands on activity (Time: 10-20 minutes)

* Ask students to think about power and empowerment. How does power play into every day struggles? Pass out two design maquettes to every student.

* Ask students to design two outfits for themselves. The first one should be a “power outfit,” an outfit in which the student would be most powerful. The second outfit should be his or her “weak clothes.” Tell students to think about how their choices of what to wear present power to the world, and how they might feel wearing certain clothes. Ask them if there are any messages they want their clothes to carry. Encourage them to make their outfits as realistic or as supernatural as they’d like.

* For an example of how fashion design can be about politics, art, and empowerment, share the picture of Lisa Auerbach’s sweaters from her website stealthissweater.com. Auerbach is one of the artists in the SFAC Gallery’s exhibition, Make You Notice.

Discussion (Time: 5-10 minutes)

* Questions for discussion about empowerment and powerlessness:

· What choices did you make about your powerless clothes? Why?

· What choices did you make for your powerful outfit? Why?

· Do practical clothes give you power? More stylish clothes? Does this vary from individual to individual?

· Do you think it would be different if you were the opposite gender?


Learning About Feminism (Time: 5-10 minutes)

* Students learn about the history of feminism. Give a short lesson on the history of feminism and its movements (first, second and third waves). See Resources for all the information you need for a short lecture. Also enforce that feminists can be of both sexes, and of many different ambitions. Emphasize choice (to be a parent, a working professional, etc.), and safety in decisions as part of our current feminism. If you have access to a computer lab, students can do individual Internet research about the history of feminism and its waves; direct them to the resources provided.

Small Groups Activity: Name that Wave Game (Time: 10 minutes)

* Pass out one set of wave cards to each small group. Instruct students to categorize the cards in to first wave, second wave, and third wave piles. Walk around the classroom to listen to students’ discussion about the different movements in feminism.

* Go over the correct answers; you can do this game-show style with points for each group, or have groups present their answers on specific waves. Explain the answers if there is confusion.

Writing Activity: My own wave feminism (Time: 20-30 minutes)

* Instruct students write a manifesto about how feminism fits in to their every day life and personal beliefs. Tell them not just to produce concepts, but like the card game, to include examples of types of activities, triumphs or outfits that reflect their own ideas of feminism in the world today.

More resources for teachers: Resources for the Make You Notice exhibition:
www.sfacgallery.org
www.lisaanneauerbach.com
www.stealthissweater.com (Lisa Auerbach’s site of sweaters she designed) www.stealthissweater.blogspot.com (Lisa Auerbach’s blog about revolutionary knitting)
www.kategilmore.com
www.lauraswanson.com
www.wofflehouse.comResources on the history of feminism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-wave_feminism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-wave_feminism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-wave_feminism
http://www.utne.com/2008-03-01/Media/Shelf-Life-Feminism-2-0.aspx http://www.newint.org/issue227/simply.htm
Feminism is for Everybody, Bell Hooks

Make You Notice features video, photography and ephemera by four contemporary women artists who utilize performance in their diverse practices, seamlessly integrating collaboration, activism, irony, and optimism into their work. The exhibition title is taken from the chorus of “Brass in Pockets” by the ‘80s rock band The Pretenders, in which lead singer Chrissie Hynde recites a list of attributes at her disposal with which she might command one’s attention – arms, legs, smile, sidestep, and imagination. Similarly, the artists utilize their own bodies and lives to underscore the arbitrariness and absurdity of the social structures that govern our perceptions.
-- Patricia Maloney, curator of Make You Notice

California Standards Addressed: History-Social Science

Grades 9-12: Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills
Chronological and Spatial Thinking
Historical Research, Evidence, and Point of View
Historical Interpretation English Language Arts
Grades 9-10: Reading
3.0 Literary Response and Analysis
Grades 9-10: Writing
1.0 Writing Strategies
2.0 Writing Applications (Genres and Their Characteristics)
Grades 10-12: Reading
3.0 Literary Response and Analysis
Grades 10-12: Writing
1.0 Writing Strategies
2.0 Writing Applications (Genres and Their Characteristics) Visual and Performing Arts
Grades 9-12: Visual Arts Proficient
2.0 Creative Expression
5.0 Connections, Relationships, Applications

Lesson plan created by
Keegan Finberg