I wondered how I could update my unit to address contemporary concerns and foster empathy in students for people experiencing environmental catastrophes. I began the unit with conversations about recent events involving natural disasters and focused on students’ experiences with large-scale weather emergencies. We made a chart of all the natural disasters we could name and distinguished between tragedies caused by humankind and those caused by natural weather-related events—although the lines that separate them are sometimes blurry. Afterward, I showed the class works of art depicting natural disasters, leading them to realize that such catastrophes have shaped human experience throughout time.
Visual response from fifth-grade student Rachel B.Visual responses from fifth-grade students Tania A. (left) and Miguel V. (right).Visual response from fifth-grade student Denis R.Edith Irvine, 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Courtesy of L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.John Steuart Curry (American, 1897–1946), Tornado Over Kansas, oil on canvas, 1929. Collection of the Muskegon Museum of Art, Hackley Picture Fund Purchase, 1935.4. Kiechel Fine Art, Lincoln, NE, The John Steuart Curry Estate.
Last year, the school where I work temporarily ceased operations, and I took shelter with my family in preparation for the landfall of Hurricane Idalia. During the same semester that Idalia wreaked havoc on North Florida, other communities across the globe experienced devastation from a variety of natural disasters: Morocco was hit with a deadly earthquake, wildfires ravaged Hawaii, parts of Libya were overwhelmed with flooding, and citizens of Iceland evacuated in preparation for a volcanic eruption.
Having experienced multiple hurricanes while residing in Florida, I knew that these communities required sustained care, but I suspected that the rapid news cycle would quickly shift its attention to new headline-grabbing incidents elsewhere. This spurred me to recall an elementary art unit that I taught years ago on the topic of natural disasters. I wondered how I could update my unit to address contemporary concerns and foster empathy in students for people experiencing environmental catastrophes.
Reflecting on Current Events
I began the unit with conversations about recent events involving natural disasters and focused on students’ experiences with large-scale weather emergencies. We made a chart of all the natural disasters we could name and distinguished between tragedies caused by humankind and those caused by natural weather events—although the lines that separate them are sometimes blurry.
Afterward, I showed the class works of art depicting natural disasters, leading them to realize that such catastrophes have shaped human experience throughout time. Students identified the disaster portrayed in each artwork and added new entries to our chart when appropriate.
I attempted to provide students with diverse visual examples, including Kara Walker’s 2007 cover for the New Yorker, Post Katrina-Adrift; Edith Irvine’s photographs of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake; John Steuart Curry’s Tornado over Kansas (1929); and Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa (1829–1833). I encourage readers to update this starter list, particularly with contemporary artists from underrepresented groups.
Activating Connections
I asked students to identify other commonalities in the artworks selected. Students noticed that each artwork depicted at least one human, leading to a discussion on how natural disasters impact lives in very real ways.
I asked students to name emotions that the people in the artworks might be experiencing. I added a second column to our chart and recorded students’ responses, which included educated inferences related to fear, desperation, courage, and resignation.
For each response, I asked students to find a figure in the artworks that might be experiencing that particular emotion and identify a visual cue the artist used to portray that feeling. Common observations included how artists depicted facial expressions and posed bodies, as well as how they used line qualities and color. These responses were added to a third column on our chart under a heading related to visual portrayals of emotion.
Creating Visual Responses
Students were then challenged to create visual responses that depicted natural disasters in ways that evoke empathy for those experiencing weather-related catastrophes. Collectively, we decided to keep assessment criteria for this project broad and guided by a general checklist of requirements: (a) each student must depict a natural disaster; (b) each work must show at least one human; (c) the human(s) must portray an emotion; and (d) students must use visual cues to depict these emotions.
Students completed thumbnail sketches and a planning worksheet that addressed the above criteria before beginning their final response. The unit concluded with discussions about the resulting works of art and a display in the public-school space.
Adaptations
Secondary art teachers could use the premise above as a jumping-off point for developing similar lessons, as I believe that caring for others is an important theme for any age. In modifying the unit, secondary teachers could include artworks that are more interpretively challenging and facilitate deeper conversations on methods that artists use to portray emotion. Such discussions could also spur students to consider a wider range of media for creating visual responses.
Extensions
In hindsight, the lesson that I originally taught was ripe for connections to social justice issues, and I missed opportunities for considering how economically marginalized people living in communities of color are disproportionately impacted by disasters and less likely to receive timely and adequate relief.
For teachers interested in exploring this topic further, I suggest using information associated with Kara Walker’s 2006 exhibition After the Deluge as a springboard for discussion. This unit could also serve as a catalyst for participation in service-learning projects that provide relief for communities impacted by natural disasters. If volunteer opportunities are not locally available, teachers could coordinate fundraising relief efforts through online platforms that facilitate the sale of products featuring students’ artwork.
Jeff Broome is an associate professor in the department of art education at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. JBroome@FSU.edu
National Standard
Connecting: Relate artistic ideas and work with personal meaning and external context.
Art teachers use nature to inspire students to become more in tune with themselves and the world around them. Young students take a mindful approach as they collage an imaginary place in which they feel calm, elementary students create visual responses that evoke empathy for those experiencing environmental disasters, middle-school students collaborate to create a sustainable felted planter for a community garden, high-school students build custom birdhouses for residents at a local retirement village, and more.
