Urban Animals - Art Gallery of Alberta
Urban Animals - Art Gallery of Alberta
Urban Animals - Art Gallery of Alberta
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Interpretive Guide & Hands-on Activities<br />
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s<br />
Travelling Exhibition Program 2013-2015<br />
<strong>Urban</strong> <strong>Animals</strong><br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
The Interpretive Guide<br />
The <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong> is pleased to present your community with a selection from its<br />
Travelling Exhibition Program. This is one <strong>of</strong> several exhibitions distributed by The <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong> as part <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program. This<br />
Interpretive Guide has been specifically designed to complement the exhibition you are now<br />
hosting. The suggested topics for discussion and accompanying activities can act as a guide to<br />
increase your viewers’ enjoyment and to assist you in developing programs to complement the<br />
exhibition. Questions and activities have been included at both elementary and advanced levels<br />
for younger and older visitors.<br />
At the Elementary School Level the <strong>Alberta</strong> <strong>Art</strong> Curriculum includes four components to provide<br />
students with a variety <strong>of</strong> experiences. These are:<br />
Reflection: Responses to visual forms in nature, designed objects and artworks<br />
Depiction: Development <strong>of</strong> imagery based on notions <strong>of</strong> realism<br />
Composition: Organization <strong>of</strong> images and their qualities in the creation <strong>of</strong> visual art<br />
Expression: Use <strong>of</strong> art materials as a vehicle for expressing statements<br />
The Secondary Level focuses on three major components <strong>of</strong> visual learning. These are:<br />
Drawings: Examining the ways we record visual information and discoveries<br />
Encounters: Meeting and responding to visual imagery<br />
Composition: Analyzing the ways images are put together to create meaning<br />
The activities in the Interpretive Guide address one or more <strong>of</strong> the above components and are<br />
generally suited for adaptation to a range <strong>of</strong> grade levels. As well, this guide contains coloured<br />
images <strong>of</strong> the artworks in the exhibition which can be used for review and discussion at any time.<br />
Please be aware that copyright restrictions apply to unauthorized use or reproduction <strong>of</strong> artists’<br />
images.<br />
The Travelling Exhibition Program, funded by the <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s, is designed to<br />
bring you closer to <strong>Alberta</strong>’s artists and collections. We welcome your comments and<br />
suggestions and invite you to contact:<br />
Shane Golby, Manager/Curator<br />
Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Ph: 780.428.3830; Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
Email: shane.golby@youraga.ca<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479 youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Table <strong>of</strong> Contents<br />
This package contains:<br />
Curatorial Statement<br />
Visual Inventory - list <strong>of</strong> works<br />
Visual Inventory - images<br />
<strong>Art</strong>ist and Curator Biographies/Statements<br />
A Brief Interview with Jason Carter<br />
Talking <strong>Art</strong><br />
Curriculum Connections/<strong>Art</strong> Across the Curriculum<br />
<strong>Animals</strong> in Mythology and Symbolism<br />
<strong>Animals</strong>: First Nations Beliefs and Stories<br />
<strong>Animals</strong>: Scientific Studies<br />
<strong>Animals</strong> in <strong>Art</strong>/<strong>Art</strong> Movements<br />
<strong>Animals</strong> in <strong>Alberta</strong> <strong>Art</strong><br />
An <strong>Urban</strong> Animal Story - news report<br />
Visual Learning and Hands-on Projects<br />
What is Visual Learning?<br />
Elements and Principles <strong>of</strong> Design Tour<br />
Reading Pictures Tour<br />
Perusing Paintings: An <strong>Art</strong>-full Scavenger Hunt<br />
Exhibition Related <strong>Art</strong> Projects<br />
Glossary<br />
Credits<br />
Syncrude Canada Ltd., the <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s, the <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong><br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479 youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Curatorial Statement<br />
<strong>Urban</strong> <strong>Animals</strong><br />
into the minds <strong>of</strong> these rural animals now<br />
living in an urban world.<br />
Jason Carter’s fascination with urbanization<br />
started at a young age. Prairie dogs, moose,<br />
brown and/or black bear (amongst others) were<br />
not uncommon to come face to face with across<br />
the prairies <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong> as towns and cities<br />
expanded. This development encroached upon<br />
land that had already been occupied not so<br />
much by man, but by animals. These animals<br />
would roam freely and, more importantly, safely<br />
through a land that provided them with food,<br />
shelter, and very <strong>of</strong>ten a sense <strong>of</strong> family and<br />
belonging. We as humans understand what it<br />
is like to have a home, a neighborhood, a ro<strong>of</strong><br />
over our head…but imagine if all that changed<br />
and you came home one day to find that your<br />
home had been moved, compromised or worse,<br />
eradicated?<br />
Jason’s latest series <strong>of</strong> 18 paintings intends to<br />
illustrate just that. He uses a modified<br />
triptych (three paintings) for each animal to tell<br />
the story. He uses the term ‘modified’ because<br />
normally a triptych consists <strong>of</strong> three paintings<br />
forming one image; here, there are three<br />
paintings forming one story. The first painting in<br />
the triptych is dedicated to the animal with<br />
nothing to distract from it except the colour<br />
and colour only enhances the animal. Jason<br />
<strong>of</strong>ten treats the colour in his paintings as the<br />
second subject, <strong>of</strong>ten equally as important as<br />
the main subject. Colour can be emotional or<br />
inspirational and has a subtext <strong>of</strong> it’s own. The<br />
colour established in the first painting is carried<br />
through to the second painting, where these<br />
animals are shown in their natural habitat: the<br />
prairies, the mountains, the river valley and so<br />
on. It is Jason’s intention to evoke a sense <strong>of</strong><br />
the beauty and expansiveness <strong>of</strong> each <strong>of</strong> these<br />
animal’s natural habitats. Finally, the last<br />
painting in the triptych suggests what the<br />
‘natural habitat’ may look like now. It is not<br />
meant to shame or discourage expansion or<br />
industrialization: rather it is a fun exploration<br />
We can learn a lot from these animals about<br />
adaptation and resilience as we move<br />
forward in this ever-evolving world. It is<br />
Jason’s hope that this latest series will create<br />
a new consciousness and continue the<br />
dialogue regarding the land we live on and<br />
who or what we share it with!<br />
Bridget Ryan<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The City Moose, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
The exhibition <strong>Urban</strong> <strong>Animals</strong> was curated by<br />
Bridget Ryan and Jaret Sinclair-Gibson and<br />
organized by the <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong> for the<br />
<strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling<br />
Exhibition Program. The AFA Travelling Exhibition<br />
program is supported by the <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation<br />
for the <strong>Art</strong>s.<br />
The exhibition <strong>Urban</strong> <strong>Animals</strong> was made<br />
possible through generous sponsorship from<br />
Syncrude Canada Ltd.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Visual Inventory - List <strong>of</strong> Works<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Mother Bear and her Cub, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
20 inches X 30 inches<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Mother Bear and her cub in the backcountry <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Alberta</strong>, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
20 inches X 30 inches<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Mother Bear and her cub in the back alleys <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Alberta</strong>, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
20 inches X 30 inches<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Beaver, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
20 inches X 30 inches<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Habitat for a Beaver, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
20 inches X 30 inches<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Habitat for Humanity, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
20 inches X 30 inches<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Moose, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
20 inches X 30 inches<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Country Moose, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
20 inches X 30 inches<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The City Moose, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
20 inches X 30 inches<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Prairie Dogs, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
20 inches X 30 inches<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Prairie Dogs on the Open Prairie, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
20 inches X 30 inches<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Prairie Dogs on the Open Road, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
20 inches X 30 inches<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Rabbit, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
20 inches X 30 inches<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Rabbit Hole, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
20 inches X 30 inches<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Visual Inventory - List <strong>of</strong> Works<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Man Hole, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
20 inches X 30 inches<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Wolf, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
20 inches X 30 inches<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Wolf and the Moon, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
20 inches X 30 inches<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Wolf and Oil, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
20 inches X 30 inches<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Total Images: 18 2D works<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Visual Inventory - Images<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Mother Bear and her Cub, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Mother Bear and her cub in the<br />
backcountry <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong>, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Mother Bear and her cub in the back<br />
alleys <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong>, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Beaver, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Visual Inventory - Images<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Habitat for a Beaver, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Habitat for Humanity, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Moose, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Country Moose, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Visual Inventory - Images<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The City Moose, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Prairie Dogs, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Prairie Dogs on the open prairie,<br />
2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Prairie Dogs on the open road,<br />
2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Visual Inventory - Images<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Rabbit, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Rabbit Hole, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Man Hole, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Wolf, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Visual Inventory - Images<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Wolf and Moon, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Wolf and Oil, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
<strong>Art</strong>ist and Curator Biographies/Statements<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Jason Carter is one <strong>of</strong> Canada’s most exciting and accomplished visual artists. At the age <strong>of</strong> 31<br />
he was the only artist in <strong>Alberta</strong> to have had a feature showing at <strong>Alberta</strong> House on <strong>Alberta</strong> Day<br />
at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, and as such, was publicly acknowledged by the<br />
Honorable Lindsay Blackett at an International Press Conference kicking <strong>of</strong>f the event. Jason<br />
has had three solo shows in the past two years and has been commissioned by the Winter Light<br />
Festival two years in a row to design a billboard for their promotional campaign. His work can<br />
be found in dozens <strong>of</strong> private collections (Mayor Stephen Mandel, Edmonton; the <strong>Alberta</strong><br />
Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s collection; Alice Major; and Rogers Media to name a few) as well as<br />
several exciting public collections, including the Edmonton International Airport where he<br />
created a mural which resides above the International Departures Gate. On April 16, 2011,<br />
Jason launched his first children’s book, ‘Who Is Boo: The Curious Tales <strong>of</strong> One Trickster Rabbit’<br />
(based on the character inspiraton <strong>of</strong> Nanabozho) at the Royal <strong>Alberta</strong> Museum. Recent<br />
exhibitions included Jasper: The Canvas and Stone Series in Jasper, <strong>Alberta</strong> (2011), as well as<br />
A Year <strong>of</strong> the Rabbit (2011) in Edmonton. His work is currently represented by The Bearclaw<br />
<strong>Gallery</strong>, Edmonton; Nativeart <strong>Gallery</strong>, Oakville, Ontario; and The Carter-Ryan <strong>Gallery</strong>,<br />
Canmore, <strong>Alberta</strong>. Jason Carter lives and works in Edmonton and is a member <strong>of</strong> the Little<br />
Red River Cree Nation.<br />
Jason Carter: <strong>Art</strong>ist’s Statement<br />
Being an artist who divides their time equally between painting and carving, I have been gifted<br />
with the opportunity to express myself through two mediums, stone and canvas, and both I<br />
approach with humor and optimism. In the world we live in, there is much to be cynical about,<br />
but I have found an outlet that I, myself, gather much joy and light, and am so fortunae to be<br />
able to pass that joy on. As an Aboriginal man from the Little Red River Cree Nation, I gather<br />
much inspiration from the stories passed on by elders within my community, stories that have<br />
evolved and changed, some documented, some not, but the essence <strong>of</strong> these characters are<br />
passed on through the years. As an artist, I am inspired by the essence <strong>of</strong> some <strong>of</strong> these<br />
characters and then, in keeping with the tradition <strong>of</strong> my indigenous roots, create new stories<br />
filled with wonder and morals, and bring them to life through my chosen medium, canvas and<br />
stone with written word.<br />
As a contemporary Aboriginal artist in pursuit <strong>of</strong> becoming my true authentic self (in this ever<br />
evolving culture), I am aware that much <strong>of</strong> my craft comes from an innate ability that I have been<br />
born with, and believe this to be a blessing and a responsibility, both <strong>of</strong> which I take very<br />
seriously. I am continuously using my gift to create new stories inspired from traditional<br />
characters with my stone and canvas. I seek inspiration from the past as I create a bold and<br />
colourful future.<br />
I have fearlessly painted animals big and small. I am drawn to paint with colours that many<br />
would not. I believe in the empty space on canvas. I believe that colour can give us something<br />
image can not. Conversely, I enjoy breaking down the most complex animals to the very<br />
essence <strong>of</strong> their being. I have, to a certain degree, defined my paintings through these terms.<br />
Until now I have always wanted to paint a mountain. The inspiration I have found in the Rocky<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
<strong>Art</strong>ist and Curator Biographies/Statements<br />
Mountains as <strong>of</strong> late, the feeling <strong>of</strong> largeness and smallness at the same time, and always<br />
peaceful, has led me to a new place in my work. It was time to take the leap; combine essence<br />
with certainty, blends with bold and move forward. People have commented that they find a<br />
certain ‘happiness’ with my work. I truly hope you can feel the joy in it as well.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
<strong>Art</strong>ist and Curator Biographies/Statements<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
<strong>Art</strong>ist and Curator Biographies/Statements<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
<strong>Art</strong>ist and Curator Biographies/Statements<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
<strong>Art</strong>ist and Curator Biographies/Statements<br />
Bridget Ryan<br />
Bridget Ryan is an actor, singer, playwright, director and television host in Edmonton, <strong>Alberta</strong>,<br />
Canada. She graduated from MacEwan University as well as from the University <strong>of</strong> Cincinnati’s<br />
College Conservatory <strong>of</strong> Music with a BFA in Musical Theatre. She has performed in several<br />
national tours before getting <strong>of</strong>f the stage to work alongside producers Richard Frankel, Marc<br />
Routh, Darryl Roth and Scott Rudin.<br />
Bridget has performed at theatres all over Canada and written four full length musicals including<br />
The Winters Tale Project and Wedlocked: The Musical (both with Chris Wynters) and plays<br />
Myles, The HypoAllergenic Superhero and His Superhero Friends, Counting Americans (with<br />
Dave Horak) and has been published by the Playwrights Guild <strong>of</strong> Canada. She returned to<br />
Edmonton in 2002, where she became, and currently is, Co-Host <strong>of</strong> CityTV’s Breakfast<br />
Television.<br />
Bridget’s artistic relationship with Jason Carter began in 2008 when she curated his first solo<br />
art show Nanabozho: The Trickster Rabbit. She has since curated three more <strong>of</strong> his shows and<br />
then in 2001 Bridget and Jason wrote their first children’s book WHO IS BOO: THE CURIOUS<br />
TALES OF ONE TRICKSTER RABBIT. This book was launched at the Royal <strong>Alberta</strong> Museum<br />
in Edmonton, <strong>Alberta</strong>, where thousands <strong>of</strong> children took in the show over it’s 3 month run. The<br />
book is currently being developed into a Children’s Television series as well as, working with a<br />
writing team from NYC, being developed into full scale musical premiering Fall 2014. In the<br />
winter <strong>of</strong> 2012 Bridget and Jason opened up The Carter-Ryan <strong>Gallery</strong> and Live <strong>Art</strong> Venue in<br />
Canmore <strong>Alberta</strong> on Main Street, a place where art and live performance exist happily under<br />
the same ro<strong>of</strong>. Jason Carter and Bridget Ryan continue a prolific and exciting partnership with<br />
Rabbit In The Yard Productions, a multi-media production company that produces short films,<br />
promotional videos as well as music videos. In 2010 Bridget was named Woman <strong>of</strong> the Year by<br />
the Consumer Choice Awards in Edmonton.<br />
ABOUT BOO<br />
Who Is Boo: The Terrific Tales <strong>of</strong> One Trickster Rabbit is a 66-page illustrated children’s book<br />
written by Bridget Ryan and illustrated by Jason Carter that chronicles a perpetually curious<br />
rabbit who is in a continual race around the world with his brother, because ‘frankly, they forgot<br />
where they put the finish line’! Along the way Boo meets many animals. This fleet-footed rabbit,<br />
‘Boo’, inspired by Nanabozho, a trickster figure in Ojibwe mythology, is about curiosity that leads<br />
to wonderment that leads to helpfulness! In a world that runs the risk <strong>of</strong> become more<br />
disconnected (even though there is an abundance <strong>of</strong> social networking), it’s about stopping,<br />
connecting, and helping those we meet on our way. Watch out for the The Book <strong>of</strong> Boo: The<br />
Continued Tales <strong>of</strong> That Trickster Rabbit.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
<strong>Art</strong>ist and Curator Biographies/Statements<br />
Cover and book pages from Who is Boo? The Terrific Tales <strong>of</strong> One Trickster Rabbit, written<br />
by Bridget Ryan and iIllustrated by Jason Carter. Published in 2011, this first book by Ryan and<br />
Carter tells the story <strong>of</strong> one hilarious rabbit named Boo. In a constant race around the world with<br />
his Brother, Boo meets some curious characters and helps them solve a multitude <strong>of</strong> issues. As<br />
described by the artists, ‘Boo’s race around the world has no end, only adventures!’ The story<br />
and illustrations were inspired by Nanabozho and Trickster characters everywhere.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
<strong>Art</strong>ist and Curator Biographies/Statements<br />
Jaret Sinclair-Gibson<br />
Jaret Sinclair-Gibson is a Métis artist from Slave Lake, <strong>Alberta</strong> who now makes Edmonton his<br />
home. In 1999, he opened Sun & Moon Visionaries Aboriginal <strong>Art</strong>isan <strong>Gallery</strong> & Studio with the<br />
assistance <strong>of</strong> nine other Aboriginal artists. As a founding member <strong>of</strong> this Aboriginal-owned and<br />
operated business, Jaret has worked hard to build a staff base <strong>of</strong> 10 art administrators, artist<br />
instructors, and Elders, <strong>of</strong>fering art and traditional cultural programming to Edmonton’s<br />
Aboriginal youth, families, schools and community agencies, as well as hosting numerous art<br />
receptions, shows and exhibits in support <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong>’s Aboriginal artists and artisans.<br />
Jaret has served two terms as the Youth Representative on the Board <strong>of</strong> the Canadian Native<br />
Friendship Centre, three years on the <strong>Alberta</strong> Friendship Centre Association Youth Council and<br />
one year as the National Association <strong>of</strong> Friendship Centre - <strong>Alberta</strong> Representative. Jaret’s<br />
service to his community has earned him many accolades including the Aboriginal Role Models<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong> <strong>Art</strong> Award in 2008.<br />
Sun & Moon Visionaries Aboriginal <strong>Art</strong>isans Society<br />
Sun & Moon Visionaries is a not-for-pr<strong>of</strong>it organization that has been delivering successful<br />
community-based arts and culture programming to urban Aboriginal youth and artisans since<br />
1999. It is a sacred space in which to receive traditional ancestral teachings and to create<br />
opportunities for the intergenerational sharing <strong>of</strong> knowledge, wisdom and culture, as well as a<br />
place for self expression and participation in cultural ceremonies.<br />
Sun & Moon Visionaries is commitment to supporting the growth and development <strong>of</strong><br />
Aboriginal art and artists in <strong>Alberta</strong>, with specific emphasis on providing Aboriginal youth, artists<br />
and artisans with opportunities to develop as pr<strong>of</strong>essional artists, recognized for their cultural<br />
knowledge, artistic skills and performance abilities.<br />
We believe in the importance <strong>of</strong> culturally relevant and appropriate barrier-free programming that<br />
addresses issues <strong>of</strong> peer mentoring, role modelling, traditional leadership training, and one-onone<br />
support. Our programs include the Aboriginal Cultural <strong>Art</strong> Development Program for<br />
Emerging <strong>Art</strong>ists, the Sacred Self Master <strong>Art</strong>ists Mentoring Program, the Sacred Self Visual <strong>Art</strong><br />
Training Series, Music Recording and Mentorship.<br />
The intent <strong>of</strong> all Sun & Moon Visionaries programming is to improve the economic, social and<br />
personal prospects <strong>of</strong> urban Aboriginal youth and artisans, to provide accessible, communitybased,<br />
culturally relevant support to our urban Aboriginal community, as well as to honour the<br />
voices <strong>of</strong> our Elders, youth and artisan community.<br />
Jaret Sinclair-Gibson<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
An interview with Jason Carter<br />
According to Jason Carter, art ‘chose’ him. While he took art in high school, it wasn’t until<br />
many years after graduation that he became really aware <strong>of</strong> his artistic gifts. One year he was<br />
given a piece <strong>of</strong> soapsone for Christmas and one night, years later, he picked it up and carved a<br />
raven...and he has never stopped working since.<br />
Carter focused on carving for three to four years when, in preparation for an exhibition <strong>of</strong> his<br />
carvings at Sun and Moon Visionaries: Aboriginal <strong>Art</strong>ists Society in Edmonton, he decided to do<br />
some paintings based on his sculptural work as he felt he needed something on the wall. His<br />
painting career has evolved from this first step and has also led to literary works, such as the<br />
children’s book Who is Boo? The Terrific Tales <strong>of</strong> one Trickster Rabbit, created in collaboration<br />
with Bridget Ryan.<br />
While raised in urban environments, Carter has always been drawn to the subject <strong>of</strong> rabbits and<br />
to nature. For the artist, art is a way to learn about what he doesn’t know - such as the natural<br />
world - and a means to teach himself the ‘process <strong>of</strong> doing’.<br />
Carter explains that his art style fits into the mold <strong>of</strong> aboriginal art and the Euro-American art<br />
styles <strong>of</strong> abstraction and Pop <strong>Art</strong>. He has always been drawn to blocks <strong>of</strong> colour, even as an<br />
art student in school, and this concern is readily apparent in his work. In his colour choices he<br />
swings between personal taste and symbolic uses. In the paintings concerning rabbits in the<br />
exhibition <strong>Urban</strong> <strong>Animals</strong>, for example, Carter uses orange because it is his favorite colour<br />
and rabbits his favourite animal. For the prairie dog works, on the other hand, the yellow is<br />
symbolic <strong>of</strong> wheat fields where prairie dogs can be found.<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Rabbit, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
In describing his Pop <strong>Art</strong> and Modernist sensibilities and his artistic intent in the series <strong>of</strong> works<br />
created for the exhibition <strong>Urban</strong> <strong>Animals</strong> Carter states<br />
I paint because I love colour, simply love it. The feeling, the emotion that one can get just from<br />
standing next to a large canvas that is painted in a rather brilliant colour, like an orange or a<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
An interview with Jason Carter<br />
red, is unparalleled in my opinion. We underestimate the power <strong>of</strong> colour. As a result, I try and<br />
minimize anything that might get in the way <strong>of</strong> colour, like an image; an image <strong>of</strong> an animal for<br />
example. Some people refer to it as the use <strong>of</strong> ‘negative space’- I find that term to be rather<br />
ironic, considering I feel such positivity coming from the colour. When I create a piece, I am<br />
aware that the image in the painting and the colour share the canvas. I hope people take in the<br />
colour <strong>of</strong> the piece as much as they take in the image on the colour, because in my opinion, they<br />
are one in the same. The Rabbit on Orange. The Beaver on Green. The Moose on Grey. The<br />
colour in each one <strong>of</strong> these paintings plays just as much <strong>of</strong> a part as the ‘character’ in the<br />
painting when experiencing the piece. The designs in the paintings are actually inspired by my<br />
carvings. I try and use the least amount <strong>of</strong> lines to convey and conjure the image, trying to find<br />
‘the essence’ <strong>of</strong> the animal.<br />
I love this series (‘<strong>Urban</strong> <strong>Animals</strong>) for the simple fact that it takes the ‘audience’ on a very clear<br />
journey as to what once ‘was’ to what it now ‘is’. You see a beaver on green. All you are aware<br />
<strong>of</strong> is the Beaver. You can consider the beaver: take in the beaver tail, it’s teeth and see the<br />
beaver, by it’s home, near the river. Finally though, the third painting in each series gives you a<br />
different perspective - the beaver is still there, but just by a much different ‘home’ and certainly<br />
not one belonging to the beaver. My hope is that it creates an awareness in the ‘audience’ that<br />
we are truly on a shared land and to value it as such. It’s not so much the evolution <strong>of</strong> the<br />
animal in this series <strong>of</strong> triptics, but rather the evolution <strong>of</strong> man on the animals’ land. It is my hope<br />
that we can begin that discussion. How common it is for highways and roads to have animals<br />
beside it - we point from our cars and yell ‘get outta the way!!!” But if a prairie dog could speak,<br />
the dialogue it might have with speeding vehicles through the prairies. Consider what a mother<br />
bear with her cub might say to all the developers encroaching upon their forests and mountains.<br />
Development is inevitable, but awareness is key in creating consideration and a certain<br />
‘mindfullness’ when sharing this land. I truly hope this series gives pause to celebrate the ‘paws’<br />
that went before us!<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Talking <strong>Art</strong><br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Wolf and Moon, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
CONTENTS:<br />
- Curriculum Connections<br />
- <strong>Animals</strong> in Mythology and Symbolism: A Survey<br />
- <strong>Animals</strong>/Birds: First Nations Beliefs and Stories<br />
Scientific Studies:<br />
Bear<br />
Beaver<br />
Moose<br />
Prairie Dog<br />
Rabbit<br />
Wolf<br />
- <strong>Animals</strong> in <strong>Art</strong>/<strong>Art</strong> Styles - Abstraction/The History <strong>of</strong> Abstraction<br />
- Modernism<br />
- Post-painterly Abstraction<br />
- Colour Field Painting<br />
- Pop <strong>Art</strong><br />
- Postmodernism in <strong>Art</strong><br />
- The Woodland Style<br />
- <strong>Animals</strong> in <strong>Alberta</strong> <strong>Art</strong>: A Survey<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
<strong>Art</strong> Curriculum Connections<br />
The following curricular connections taken from the <strong>Alberta</strong> Learning Program <strong>of</strong> Studies<br />
provide a brief overview <strong>of</strong> the key topics that can be addressed through viewing and<br />
discussing the exhibition <strong>Urban</strong> <strong>Animals</strong>. Through the art projects included in this<br />
exhibition guide students will be provided the opportunity for a variety <strong>of</strong> learning<br />
experiences.<br />
<strong>Art</strong> Connections K-6<br />
REFLECTION<br />
Students will notice commonalities within classes <strong>of</strong> natural objects or forms.<br />
i. Natural forms have common physical attributes according to the class in which they belong.<br />
ii. Natural forms are related to the environment from which they originate.<br />
iii. Natural forms have different surface qualities in colour, texture and tone.<br />
iv. Natural forms display patterns and make patterns.<br />
DEPICTION<br />
Students will perfect forms and develop more realistic treatments.<br />
i. Images can be portrayed in varying degrees <strong>of</strong> realism.<br />
Students will learn the shapes <strong>of</strong> things as well as develop decorative styles.<br />
i. <strong>Animals</strong> and plants can be represented in terms <strong>of</strong> their proportions.<br />
Students will increase the range <strong>of</strong> actions and viewpoints depicted.<br />
Students will represent and refine surface qualities <strong>of</strong> objects or forms.<br />
i. Texture is a surface quality that can be captured by rubbings or markings.<br />
ii. Colour can be lightened to make tints or darkened to make shades.<br />
iii. Gradations <strong>of</strong> tone are useful to show depth or the effect <strong>of</strong> light on objects.<br />
iv. By increasing details in the foreground the illusion <strong>of</strong> depth and reality can be enhanced.<br />
COMPOSITION<br />
Students will create unity through density and rhythm.<br />
i. Families <strong>of</strong> shapes, and shapes inside or beside shapes, create harmony.<br />
ii. Overlapping forms help to unify a composition.<br />
iii. Repetition <strong>of</strong> qualities such as colour, texture and tone produce rhythm and balance.<br />
EXPRESSION<br />
Students will use media and techniques, with an emphasis on exploration and direct methods in<br />
drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, fabric arts, photography and technographic arts.<br />
i. Use a variety <strong>of</strong> drawing media in an exploratory way to see how each one has its own<br />
characteristics. Use frottage (texture rubbings).<br />
Students will decorate items personally created.<br />
i. Details, patterns or textures can be added to two-dimensional works.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
<strong>Art</strong> Curriculum Connections continued<br />
<strong>Art</strong> Connections 7-9<br />
DRAWING<br />
Students will examine and simplify basic shapes and spaces.<br />
i. Shapes may be organic or geometric.<br />
ii. Geometric and organic shapes can be used to create positive and negative spaces.<br />
Students will employ space, proportion and relationships for image making.<br />
i. The size <strong>of</strong> depicted figures or objects locates those objects in relationship to the ground or<br />
picture plane.<br />
ii. Overlapping figures or objects create an illusion <strong>of</strong> space in two-dimensional works.<br />
iii. The amount <strong>of</strong> detail depicted creates spatial depth in two-dimensional works.<br />
iv. Proportion can be analyzed by using a basic unit <strong>of</strong> a subject as a measuring tool.<br />
COMPOSITION<br />
Students will experiment with value, light, atmosphere and colour selection to reflect mood in<br />
composition.<br />
i. Mood in composition can be affected by proximity or similarity <strong>of</strong> selected figures or units.<br />
ii. Mood in composition can be enhanced by the intensity <strong>of</strong> the light source and the value <strong>of</strong> the<br />
rendered shading.<br />
ENCOUNTERS<br />
Students will consider the natural environment as a source <strong>of</strong> imagery through time and across<br />
cultures.<br />
i. Images <strong>of</strong> nature change through time and across cultures.<br />
Students will identify similarities and differences in expressions <strong>of</strong> selected cultural groups.<br />
i. Symbolic meanings are expressed in different ways by different cultural groups.<br />
ART CONNECTIONS 10-20-30<br />
DRAWINGS<br />
Students will develop and refine drawing skills and styles.<br />
i. Control <strong>of</strong> proportion and perspective enhances the realism <strong>of</strong> subject matter in drawing.<br />
COMPOSITIONS<br />
Students will use the vocabulary and techniques <strong>of</strong> art criticism to analyze and evaluate their<br />
own works in relation to the works <strong>of</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essional artists.<br />
i. Criteria such as originality, organization, technique, function and clarity <strong>of</strong> meaning may be<br />
applied in evaluating works <strong>of</strong> art.<br />
ii. <strong>Art</strong>works may be analyzed for personal, social, historic or artistic significance.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Curriculum Connections continued<br />
ENCOUNTERS<br />
Students will investigate the process <strong>of</strong> abstracting from a source in order to create objects and<br />
images.<br />
i. <strong>Art</strong>ists simplify, exaggerate and rearrange parts <strong>of</strong> objects in their depictions <strong>of</strong> images.<br />
Students will recognize that while the sources <strong>of</strong> images are universal, the formation <strong>of</strong> an<br />
image is influenced by the artist’s choice <strong>of</strong> medium, the time and the culture.<br />
i. Different periods <strong>of</strong> history yield different interpretations <strong>of</strong> the same subject or theme.<br />
ii. <strong>Art</strong>ists and craftspeople use the possibilities and limitations <strong>of</strong> different materials to develop<br />
imagery.<br />
iii. Different cultures exhibit different preferences for forms, colours and materials in their<br />
artifacts.<br />
This exhibition is an excellent source for using art as a means <strong>of</strong> investigating topics<br />
addressed in other subject areas. The theme <strong>of</strong> the exhibition, and the works within it,<br />
are especially relevant as a spring-board for addressing aspects <strong>of</strong> the Science and<br />
Language <strong>Art</strong>s program <strong>of</strong> studies. The following is an overview <strong>of</strong> cross-curricular<br />
connections which may be addressed through viewing and discussing the exhibition.<br />
ELEMENTARY SCIENCE<br />
1–5 Students will identify and evaluate methods for creating colour and for applying colours to<br />
different materials.<br />
i. Identify colours in a variety <strong>of</strong> natural and manufactured objects.<br />
ii. Compare and contrast colours, using terms such as lighter than, darker than, more blue,<br />
brighter than.<br />
iii. Order a group <strong>of</strong> coloured objects, based on a given colour criterion.<br />
iv. Predict and describe changes in colour that result from the mixing <strong>of</strong> primary colours and<br />
from mixing a primary colour with white or with black.<br />
v. Create a colour that matches a given sample, by mixing the appropriate amounts <strong>of</strong> two<br />
primary colours.<br />
vi. Distinguish colours that are transparent from those that are not. Students should recognize<br />
that some coloured liquids and gels can be seen through and are thus transparent and that<br />
other colours are opaque.<br />
vii. Compare the effect <strong>of</strong> different thicknesses <strong>of</strong> paint. Students should recognize that a very<br />
thin layer <strong>of</strong> paint, or a paint that has been watered down, may be partly transparent.<br />
viii. Compare the adherence <strong>of</strong> a paint to different surfaces; e.g., different forms <strong>of</strong> papers,<br />
fabrics and plastics.<br />
1–11 Describe some common living things, and identify needs <strong>of</strong> those living things.<br />
3–10 Describe the appearances and life cycles <strong>of</strong> some common animals, and identify their<br />
adaptations to different environments.<br />
6.10 Describe kinds <strong>of</strong> plants and animals found living on, under and among trees; and identify<br />
how trees affect and are affected by those living things as part <strong>of</strong> a forest ecosystem.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Curriculum Connections continued<br />
JUNI0R HIGH SCIENCE<br />
SCIENCE 7 Unit A: Interactions and Ecosystems<br />
Students will:<br />
1. Investigate and describe relationships between humans and their environments<br />
- describe examples <strong>of</strong> interaction and interdependency within an ecosystem<br />
- identify example <strong>of</strong> human impacts on ecosystems, and investigate and analyze the link<br />
between these impacts and the human wants and needs that give rise to them<br />
- analyze personal and public decisions that involve consideration <strong>of</strong> environmental impacts,<br />
and identfy needs for scientific knowledge that can inform those decisions<br />
2. Trace and interpret the flow <strong>of</strong> energy and materials within an ecosystem<br />
- analyze ecosystems to identify producers, consumers, and decomposers; and describe how<br />
energy is supplied to and flows through a food web<br />
3. Monitor a local environment and assess the impacts <strong>of</strong> environmental factors on the growth,<br />
health and reproduction <strong>of</strong> organisms in that environment<br />
- investigate a variety <strong>of</strong> habitats, and describe and interpret distribution patterns <strong>of</strong> living things<br />
found in those habitats<br />
- investigate and intepret evidence <strong>of</strong> interaction and change<br />
4. Describe the relationship among knowledge, decisions and actions in maintaining<br />
life-supporting environments<br />
- identify intended and unintended consequences <strong>of</strong> human activities within local and global<br />
environments<br />
SCIENCE 9<br />
Biological Diversity: Students will:<br />
–Investigate and interpret diversity among species and within species, and describe how<br />
diversity contributes to species survival.<br />
–Identify impacts <strong>of</strong> human action on species survival and variation within species, and analyze<br />
related issues for personal and public decision making.<br />
–Describe ongoing changes in biological diversity through extinction and extirpation <strong>of</strong> native<br />
species, and investigate the role <strong>of</strong> environmental factors in causing these changes. (e.g.,<br />
investigate the effect <strong>of</strong> changing land use on the survival <strong>of</strong> wolf or grizzly bear populations).<br />
BIOLOGY 20<br />
Students will explain the mechanisms involved in the change <strong>of</strong> populations over time.<br />
LANGUAGE ARTS<br />
K.4.3 Students will use drawings to illustrate ideas and information and talk about them.<br />
5.2.2 Experience oral, print and other media texts from a variety <strong>of</strong> cultural traditions and<br />
genres, such as historical fiction, myths, biographies, and poetry.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Curriculum Connections continued<br />
6.4.3 Demonstrate attentive listening and viewing. Students will identify the tone, mood and<br />
emotion conveyed in oral and visual presentations.<br />
9.2.2 Discuss how techniques, such as irony, symbolism, perspective and proportion,<br />
communicate meaning and enhance effect in oral, print and other media texts.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
<strong>Animals</strong> in Mythology and Symbolism<br />
The bond between humans and animals is as old as<br />
humankind itself. Until the development <strong>of</strong> agriculture<br />
around 10,000 years ago, animals were the primary<br />
source <strong>of</strong> both food and clothing for humans and<br />
maintained this standing for hunting and gathering<br />
societies around the world up until the nineteenth<br />
century. The economic importance <strong>of</strong> animals to humans<br />
was accompanied by the accordance <strong>of</strong> spiritual and<br />
ceremonial significance to many creatures and both<br />
the economic and sacred importance <strong>of</strong> animals were<br />
recorded visually very early in human history.<br />
George Weber<br />
Petroglyphs, Writing on Stone, <strong>Alberta</strong>,<br />
1963<br />
Silkscreen<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong><br />
Horse Painting, 17,000 years B.P.<br />
Lascaux Cave, Lascaux, France<br />
Since the beginning <strong>of</strong> time humans have developed myths and<br />
legends about animals and these stories have been expressed<br />
in both visual and literal works.<br />
In many myths animals were manifestations <strong>of</strong> divine power and<br />
the gods could take on animal form. The ancient Egyptians, for<br />
example, portrayed their gods as animals or as humans with the<br />
heads <strong>of</strong> animals. The God Horus, ancient Egypt’s national patron<br />
and God <strong>of</strong> the sky, war, and god <strong>of</strong> protection, for example, is <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
portrayed with the body <strong>of</strong> a man and the head <strong>of</strong> a falcon. A second<br />
and very important god in the Egyptian pantheon which shared this<br />
duality is the God Anubis. Anubis was the jackal-headed God<br />
associated with mummification and the protection <strong>of</strong> the dead in their<br />
journey to the afterlife.<br />
Horus, Standing<br />
http://en.ciwkipedia.org/wiki/<br />
Egyptian_gods<br />
Anubis attending the mummy<br />
<strong>of</strong> Sennendjem<br />
http://en.ciwkipedia.org/wiki/<br />
Anubis<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
<strong>Animals</strong> in Mythology and Symbolism<br />
continued<br />
In Greek and Roman myths the Gods could transform into animals in order to interact<br />
with humans. This is seen, for example, in the myth <strong>of</strong> Leda and the swan. According to this<br />
myth Zeus, King <strong>of</strong> the Gods, transformed into a swan in order to seduce the mortal queen Leda.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the children <strong>of</strong> their union was Helen <strong>of</strong> Troy, the most beautiful woman on earth. All<br />
mythological tricksters - such as the Norse God Loki or the Native American Coyote - also<br />
possessed this shape-shifting ability. <strong>Animals</strong> also functioned as symbols <strong>of</strong> the dieties. Owls,<br />
for example, were traditionally associated with wisdom. In Greek myths Athena, the goddess <strong>of</strong><br />
wisdom, is <strong>of</strong>ten portrayed with an owl.<br />
Leda and the Swan<br />
(Copy after Michelangelo)<br />
National <strong>Gallery</strong>, London<br />
image credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/<br />
Leda_and_the_Swan<br />
Paul Cezanne<br />
Leda and the Swan, 1880-1882(?)<br />
Barnes Foundation Collection<br />
Merion, Pennsylvania<br />
<strong>Animals</strong> are ascribed a variety <strong>of</strong> roles in the<br />
world’s mythologies. Many explain the part<br />
that animals played in creating the world or in<br />
bringing fire, tools, or farming skills to humans.<br />
In Asian and many Native North American<br />
traditions, for example, the earth is situated on<br />
the back <strong>of</strong> an enormous turtle. <strong>Animals</strong> are<br />
also linked to the creation <strong>of</strong> human beings. In<br />
Haida mythology the Raven found and freed<br />
some creatures trapped in a clam shell and<br />
these scared and timid beings were the first<br />
men. Raven later found and freed some female<br />
beings trapped in a mollusc and then brought<br />
the two sexes together.<br />
Bill Reid<br />
Raven and the First Men,<br />
University <strong>of</strong> British Columbia<br />
Museum <strong>of</strong> Anthropology<br />
Vancouver, BC<br />
image credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_<br />
Reid<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
<strong>Animals</strong> in Mythology and Symbolism<br />
continued<br />
Many Native American groups also believed that they were descended from a particular<br />
animal. This animal became the groups totem and a powerful symbol <strong>of</strong> its identity. Many also<br />
believe that each person has a magical or spiritual connection to a particular animal that can act<br />
as a guardian, a source <strong>of</strong> wisdom, or an inspiration. <strong>Animals</strong> also helped shape human<br />
existence by acting as messengers to the gods.<br />
During the Middle Ages animals were an essential aspect <strong>of</strong> almost every facet <strong>of</strong> life.<br />
They formed the back-bone <strong>of</strong> an agrarian economy, served as instantly recognized visual<br />
symbols, and were imagined to be the fantastic inhabitants <strong>of</strong> unknown realms. In Christian art<br />
animals always occupied a place <strong>of</strong> great importance and representations <strong>of</strong> real and imagined<br />
beasts were found in monumental sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, tapestries, and stained<br />
glass windows. With the beginning <strong>of</strong> the thirteenth century, Gothic art affords the greatest<br />
number and best representations <strong>of</strong> animal forms. During this period ‘bestiaries’, popular<br />
treatises on natural history, were fully illustrated in the sculptural work in the great cathedrals.<br />
Medieval Manuscript Page<br />
Medieval Tapestry examples (Lion and Unicorn)<br />
The Cloisters<br />
Metropolitan Museum <strong>of</strong> <strong>Art</strong><br />
New York, New York<br />
<strong>Animals</strong> were either used as purely decorative elements in medieval artwork or served<br />
symbolic functions. Many Catholic saints, for example, are illustrated with animals that<br />
accompany them and represent certain <strong>of</strong> the saint’s qualities or aspects <strong>of</strong> the saint’s story. St.<br />
Hubert, for example, is <strong>of</strong>ten portrayed with a stag as, according to his story, it was an<br />
encounter with a stag with a crucifix between its antlers which led to his conversion to<br />
Christianity. St. Jerome, the great teacher <strong>of</strong> the early Church, is <strong>of</strong>ten portrayed with a lion,<br />
based on the story that he removed a thorn from its paw. The lion, in gratitude, remained<br />
Jerome’s faithful companion for the rest <strong>of</strong> its life.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
<strong>Animals</strong> in Mythology and Symbolism<br />
continued<br />
In both Christian and Native North American sources, animals were ascribed a number <strong>of</strong><br />
symbolic meanings. Among these are:<br />
Antelope - action<br />
Bear - strength, dreaming, introspection, power and protection, leadership<br />
Buffalo - prayer, abundance, survival needs, good fortune, healing<br />
Elephant - commitment, strength, astuteness<br />
Elk - stamina, pride, power, majesty, freedom<br />
Fox - cunning, intelligence, tricksters, shape-shifters<br />
Frog - symbolizes renewal, fertility and springtime; healing, health, honesty, purification. Also a<br />
guardian symbol: when strangers approached the croaking <strong>of</strong> the frog would serve as a warning.<br />
Giraffe - grounded vision<br />
Moose - self esteem and assertiveness<br />
Mountain Lion/Cougar - wisdom, leadership, swiftness<br />
Owl - deception, wisdom, clairvoyance, magic. Some Native American groups perceive the owl<br />
as a harbringer <strong>of</strong> death, while others see owls as guardians <strong>of</strong> both the home and the village.<br />
Rabbit - fear, fertility, magic, speed, swiftness, longevity<br />
Deer - graceful gentleness, sensitivity, compassion, kindness<br />
Wolf - teacher, A guide to the sacred<br />
Zebra - individuality<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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<strong>Animals</strong> in Mythology and Symbolism<br />
continued<br />
While animal iconography was extremely important in the early middle ages, by the 14th<br />
century the use <strong>of</strong> animals in art had become less frequent. In the fifteenth and sixteenth<br />
centuries animals were drawn more closely from life without any intention <strong>of</strong> symbolism and, by<br />
the Renaissance, they were nearly banished from visual representation except as an accessory<br />
to the human figure.<br />
Animal Images from the collection <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong><br />
Parr<br />
Untitled, 1962<br />
Wax Crayon on paper<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong><br />
Pierre Dorian<br />
Galleria Corsini (Prometheus), 1995<br />
Oil on linen<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong><br />
Paul Nash<br />
The Fish and Fowl (Genesis), 1924<br />
Wood engraving<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong><br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Moose, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
<strong>Animals</strong><br />
First Nations<br />
Beliefs and Stories<br />
and Scientific Studies<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
First Nations Beliefs<br />
As Aboriginal People we hold all life forms in great respect, understanding that each<br />
animal has a physical presence, a spiritual power and a life purpose. We believe that all<br />
life is interconnected and all beings are reliant on each other.<br />
First Nations Perspective <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Animals</strong>:<br />
Beaver:<br />
Moose:<br />
Bear:<br />
Prairie Dog:<br />
Respected as a hard worker, it was good to have a family <strong>of</strong> beavers near<br />
the community. Beavers kept the eco-system and wetlands healthy and<br />
vibrant, which in turn helped to provide a balanced landscape for an<br />
abundant harvest <strong>of</strong> medicines.<br />
Eaters <strong>of</strong> the willow, moose meat was rich with the bitter medicine. Like<br />
the buffalo, the moose provided the people with hide, meat, everything<br />
needed to live and survive, to this day. Buffalo was migratory, but the<br />
moose lived year round in bush country. The good waterways created by<br />
the beaver kept the moose nearby and thriving.<br />
Powerful with a real strong spirit, the Bear gave the people medicines.<br />
The bear had more natural power and knowledge. When you went to hunt<br />
the bear you would pray and give thanks for his sacrifice. The bear was a<br />
teacher <strong>of</strong> the medicines. The people would pray and ask the bear for help<br />
to find the bear root heart medicine and to show us where the berries were<br />
that were healthy to eat.<br />
When times were hard, the prairie dog kept the people fed. They were the<br />
root diggers, with their own medicines, teaching the people to live<br />
harmoniously together, such as they did within a communal society.<br />
All animals have lessons to teach us. Each animal has a life, has spirit, has a purpose, so when<br />
we had to kill one for food, we asked respectfully and with gratitude for their life.<br />
Mother Earth and all its beings are equal. The Human Race expects and deserves equal rights,<br />
so let us give the same respect to natures’ animals, and with understanding, harmoniously<br />
share our urban environment, seeing the nature amongst us as a gift that enriches and blesses<br />
all <strong>of</strong> us.<br />
Jaret Sinclair-Gibson<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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First Nations Beliefs continued<br />
Canada’s First Nations peoples value a history <strong>of</strong> oral tradition that accounts for each<br />
group’s origins, history, spirituality, lessons <strong>of</strong> morality and life skills. Stories bind a<br />
community with its past and future and oral traditions are passed from generation to<br />
generation.<br />
Native religions developed from anthropomorphism and animism philosophies. <strong>Animals</strong>,<br />
plants, trees, and inanimate objects are interpreted in human terms and their relation<br />
to the earth, sky and water. A cosmological order exists, within which humans live, that<br />
values balance and harmony with all <strong>of</strong> these forces. While the stories differ from tribe to<br />
tribe, all have stories concerning the origins <strong>of</strong> life on earth, the roles played by various<br />
life forms, and the relationships between humans, animals, and other life forms.<br />
Bear is a strong Native American symbol. Native American groups regarded the grizzly bear<br />
with awe and respect and the bear is a pr<strong>of</strong>ound symbol <strong>of</strong> majesty, freedom and power. Some<br />
tribes, such as the Cree, adopted the bear as a symbol <strong>of</strong> successful hunting due to its girth and<br />
amazingly effective teeth and claws. Symbolic traits associated with the bear include:<br />
- protection<br />
- childbearing<br />
- motherhood<br />
- freedom<br />
- discernment<br />
- courage<br />
- power<br />
- unpredictability<br />
Rabbit is a symbol in many differenct cultures <strong>of</strong> the world. Native American groups<br />
regarded the rabbit as a trickster. Natives have a special character known as Nanabozho. This is<br />
the character <strong>of</strong> the Great Hare and is considered to be a very powerful mythological character<br />
with many legends associated with it. Some tribes looked upon Nanabozho as a hero and even<br />
consider the Great Hare to be the creator <strong>of</strong> the Earth. Nanabozho is also regarded as being<br />
a supporter <strong>of</strong> humans and helps them out in many ways such as bringing fire and light. Some<br />
groups also believed that the Great Hare taught sacred rituals to the holy men amongst the<br />
Natives. In some tribes, however, Nanabozho is depicted as a clown, a predator and even a<br />
thief. Symbolic traits associated with the rabbit include:<br />
- fear<br />
- overcoming limiting beliefs<br />
- fear caller - the rabbit calls upon himself the things he fears the most<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
First Nations Beliefs continued<br />
Wolf Wolves figure prominently in the mythology <strong>of</strong> nearly every Native American tribe.<br />
Many North American tribes considered wolves closely related to humans and the origin stories<br />
<strong>of</strong> some Northwest Coast tribes tell <strong>of</strong> their first ancestors being transformed from wolves into<br />
men. In some cultures, such as the Shoshone, Wolf plays the orle <strong>of</strong> the noble Creator god,<br />
while in Anishinabe mythology a wolf character is the brother and true best friend <strong>of</strong> the culture<br />
hero. Symbolic traits associated with the wolf include:<br />
- courage<br />
- strength<br />
- loyalty<br />
- success in hunting<br />
- teacher <strong>of</strong> new ideas and wisdom<br />
- teaches cooperation, protectiveness and the value <strong>of</strong> extended families<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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First Nations Stories<br />
A Story about the Bear - How Bear Lost His Tail<br />
Back in the old days, Bear had a tail which was his proudest possession. It was long and black<br />
and glossy and Bear used to wave it around just so that people would look at it. Fox saw this.<br />
Fox, as everyone knows, is a trickster and likes nothing better than fooling others. So it was that<br />
he decided to play a trick on Bear.<br />
It was the time <strong>of</strong> year when Hatho, the Spirit <strong>of</strong> Frost, had swept across the land, covering<br />
the lakes with ice and pounding on the trees with his big hammer. Fox made a hole in the ice,<br />
right near a place where Bear liked to walk. By the time Bear came by, all around Fox, in a big<br />
circle, were big trout and fat perch. Just as Bear was about to ask Fox what he was doing, Fox<br />
twitched his tail which he had sticking through that hole in the ice and pulled out a huge trout.<br />
‘Greetings, Brother,’ said Fox. ‘How are you this fine day?’<br />
‘Greetings,’ answered Bear, looking at the big circle <strong>of</strong> fat fish. ‘I am well, Brother. But what are<br />
you doing?’<br />
‘I am fishing,’ answered Fox. ‘Would you like to try?’<br />
‘Oh, yes,’ said Bear, as he started to lumber over to Fox’s fishing hole.<br />
But Fox stopped him. ‘Wait, Brother,’ he said, ‘This place will not be good. As you can see, I<br />
have already caught all the fish. Let us make you a new fishing spot where you can catch many<br />
big trout.’<br />
Bear agreed and so he followed Fox to the new place, a place where, as Fox knew very well,<br />
the lake was too shallow to catch the winter fish - which always stay in the deepest water when<br />
Hatho has covered their ponds. Bear watched as Fox made the hole in the ice, already<br />
tasting the fine fish he would soon catch. ‘Now,’ Fox said, ‘you must do just as I tell you. Clear<br />
your mind <strong>of</strong> all thoughts <strong>of</strong> fish. Do not even think <strong>of</strong> a song or the fish will hear you. Turn your<br />
back to the hole and place your tail inside it. Soon a fish will come and grab your tail and you<br />
can pull him out.’<br />
‘But how will I know if a fish has grabbed my tail if my back is turned?’ asked Bear.<br />
‘I will hide over here where the fish cannot see me,’ said Fox. ‘ When a fish grabs your tail, I will<br />
shout. Then you must pull as hard as you can to catch your fish. But you must be very patient.<br />
Do not move at all until I tell you.’<br />
Bear nodded, ‘I willl do exactly as you say.’ He sat down next to the hole, placed his long<br />
beautiful black tail in the icy water and turned his back.<br />
Fox watched for a time to make sure that Bear was doing as he was told and then, very quietly,<br />
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First Nations Stories continued<br />
sneaked back to his own house and went to bed. The next morning he woke up and thought <strong>of</strong><br />
Bear. ‘I wonder if he is still there,’ Fox said to himself. ‘I’ll just go and check.’<br />
So Fox went back to the ice covered pond and what do you think he saw? He saw what looked<br />
like a little white hill in the middle <strong>of</strong> the ice. It had snowed during the night and covered Bear,<br />
who had fallen asleep while waiting for Fox to tell him to pull his tail and catch a fish. And Bear<br />
was snoring. His snores were so loud that the ice was shaking. It was so funny that Fox rolled<br />
with laughter. But when he was through laughing, he decided the time had come to wake up<br />
poor Bear. He crept very close to Bear’s ear, took a deep breath, and then shouted: ‘Now,<br />
Bear!!!’<br />
Bear woke up with a start and pulled his long tail hard as he could. But his tail had been caught<br />
in the ice which had frozen over during the night and as he pulled, it broke <strong>of</strong>f -- Whack! -- just<br />
like that. Bear turned around to look at the fish he had caught and instead saw his long lovely tail<br />
caught in the ice.<br />
‘Phhh,’ he moaned ‘ohhh Fox. I will get you for this.’ But Fox, even though he was laughing fit to<br />
kill, was faster than Bear and he leaped aside and was gone.<br />
So it is that even to this day Bears have short tails and no love at all for Fox. And if you ever<br />
hear a bear moaning, it is probably because he remembers the trick Fox played on him long ago<br />
and he is mourning for his lost tail.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
First Nations Stories continued<br />
A story about the Beaver - How the Beaver got his tail<br />
(An Ojibwa Legend)<br />
Once upon a time there was a beaver that loved to brag about his tail. One day while taking a<br />
walk, the beaver stopped to talk to a bird. The beaver said to the bird, “Don’t you love my fluffy<br />
tail?”<br />
“Why, yes I do little beaver” replied the bird.<br />
“Don’t you wish your feathers were as fluffy as my tail? Don’t you wish your feathers were as<br />
strong as my tail? Don’t you wish your feathers were just as beautiful as my tail?” the beaver<br />
asked.<br />
“Why do you think so much <strong>of</strong> your tail, little beaver?” asked the bird. This insulted the beaver<br />
and he walked away.<br />
After walking for a while, he stopped for a drink by the river and saw a muskrat. He walked to the<br />
muskrat and said, “Hello little muskrat. What do you think about my tail?”<br />
“Well, it is very beautiful and big and fluffy,” answered the muskrat. “Is it also a strong tail?”<br />
“Why, yes it is,” the beaver answered. “Do you wish you had a tail like mine?”<br />
“I didn’t say I wanted a tail like yours. I just asked if it was strong,” the muskrat replied with a<br />
disgusted voice.<br />
The beaver quickly turned and began walking back to his dam. He was angry because he felt<br />
that the animals were being rude to him. He was very upset and decided to take out his<br />
frustration by cutting down trees. After cutting down a couple <strong>of</strong> trees, he came to a very large<br />
one. He knew that it would be a great challenge for him. So he went to it. But as he was cutting,<br />
he kept thinking about his tail and didn’t notice that he was cutting at a bad angle. Before he<br />
knew what was happening, the tree began to fall toward him. He jumped to get out <strong>of</strong> the way,<br />
but he didn’t jump fast enough, and the huge tree fell on his beautiful tail! He tugged and pulled<br />
and finally dug away the earth to free himself. When he finally pulled his tail from under the tree,<br />
he was horrified to see that it was flat. The beaver was very sad and started to cry. As he was<br />
crying he heard a voice. It was the Creator.<br />
“Why are you crying?” asked the Creator.<br />
“A tree has crushed my beautiful tail,” the beaver cried. “Now no one will like me.”<br />
The Creator told him that a beaver is not liked for his tail but for his kindness and wisdom. He<br />
also told him how to use his flat tail. “Now your tail will help you swim rapidly,” the Creator said.<br />
“And when you want to signal a message to a friend, all you have to do is slap your tail on the<br />
water.”<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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First Nations Stories continued<br />
Hearing this made the beaver happy again. When the animals saw his flattened tail they were<br />
shocked! But the beaver said, “It’s better this way.”<br />
From that day on, the beaver never bragged about his tail, and all the animals liked him.<br />
That’s how the beaver got his flat tail.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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First Nations Stories continued<br />
A Story about the Moose - How the People Hunted the Moose<br />
One night a family <strong>of</strong> moose was sitting in the lodge. As they sat around the fire a strange thing<br />
happened. A pipe came floating in through the door. Sweet-smelling smoke came from the long<br />
pipe and it circled the lodge, passing close to each <strong>of</strong> the Moose People. The old bull moose<br />
saw the pipe but said nothing, and it passed him by. The cow moose said nothing, and the pipe<br />
passed her by also. So it passed by each <strong>of</strong> the Moose People until it reached the youngest <strong>of</strong><br />
the young bull moose near the door <strong>of</strong> the lodge.<br />
“You have come to me,” he said to the pipe. Then he reached out and took the pipe and started<br />
to smoke it.<br />
“My son,” the old moose said, ‘you have killed us. This is a pipe from the human beings. They<br />
are smoking this pipe now and asking for success in their hunt. Now, tomorrow, they will find us.<br />
Now, because you smoked their pipe, they will be able to get us.”<br />
“I am not afraid,’ said the young bull moose. ‘I can run faster than any <strong>of</strong> those people. They can<br />
not catch me.’ But the old bull moose said nothing more.<br />
When the morning came, the Moose People left their lodge. They went across the land looking<br />
for food. But as soon as they reached the edge <strong>of</strong> the forest, they caught the scent <strong>of</strong> the<br />
hunters. It was the time <strong>of</strong> the year when there is a thin crust on the snow and the moose found<br />
it hard to move quickly.<br />
‘These human hunters will catch us,’ said the old cow moose. “Their feet are feathered like those<br />
<strong>of</strong> the grouse. They can walk on top <strong>of</strong> the snow.”<br />
Then the Moose People began to run as the hunters followed them. The young bull moose who<br />
had taken the pipe ran <strong>of</strong>f from the others. He was still sure he could outrun the hunters. But the<br />
hunters were on snowshoes and the young moose’s feet sank into the snow. They followed him<br />
until he tired, and then they killed him. After they had killed him, they thanked him for smoking<br />
their pipe and giving himself to them so they could survive. They treated his body with care and<br />
they soothed his spirit.<br />
That night, the young bull moose woke up in his lodge among his people. Next to his bed was a<br />
present given him by the human hunters. He showed it to all <strong>of</strong> the others.<br />
“You see,” he said. “It was not a bad thing for me to accept the long pipe the human people sent<br />
to us. Those hunters treated me with respect. It is right for us to allow the human beings to catch<br />
us.”<br />
And so it is to this day. Those hunters who show respect to the moose are always the ones who<br />
are successful when they hunt.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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First Nations Stories continued<br />
A Story about the Rabbit (a Cree Legend) - Frog and Rabbit<br />
* please note: it is suggested that eduators critique/consider the following story before<br />
using in the classroom.<br />
Once, Rabbit lived with Frog. Rabbit ran around hunting. He found a Beaver lodge along a<br />
creek. He thought it was an evil cannibal emerging from the snow. Rabbit was really terrified. He<br />
ran home very frightened. Frog said to Rabbit, “Are you out <strong>of</strong> your mind? It was probably just a<br />
Beaver lodge.” She told him, “Let’s go over there.” She told him to take his ice chisel along. They<br />
left.<br />
Here was a Beaver lodge standing there. Frog told her husband, “Let’s try to kill the Beavers.”<br />
She told him, “Make a hole in the ice there.” Rabbit chiseled a hole in the ice. Frog ordered Rabbit<br />
to scoop out all the ice from the hole. Frog ran towards the hole and jumped in. Rabbit stood<br />
there and waited.<br />
Frog surfaced and said, “Break open your Beaver lodge now.” Rabbit broke open the lodge.<br />
Here were all the Beaver that were in the lodge that she had killed. Both Frog and Rabbit<br />
dragged their Beavers home.<br />
Rabbit skinned the Beaver and cooked them. After he had cooked them, he ate. Rabbit didn’t<br />
give any <strong>of</strong> the Beaver meat to his wife, Frog. She told him, “Feed me.” He didn’t. Frog got annoyed<br />
and threatened him by saying, “Hey, I’m going to tell Owl that you’re not feeding me.”<br />
Rabbit still didn’t feed Frog. Frog got angry and siad, “Owl, Rabbit isn’t feeding me his Beavers.”<br />
They could hear Owl hooting. Now, Rabbit was really frightened. He gave Frog the Beaver meat<br />
she was asking for. She said, “Owl, it’s OK. He is feeding me now.”<br />
After living together for a while, I guess they finished <strong>of</strong>f eating their Beavers. Rabbit went to look<br />
for food again. He saw the large tracks <strong>of</strong> someone. He was really frightened again. Rabbit ran<br />
home. That is also why rabbits are very cowardly today. He said, “I have seen the large tracks <strong>of</strong><br />
someone.” Frog said, “It must be a Moose because I had heard that a Moose is walking around.”<br />
She must have heard that a Moose was walking around. She said, “Let’s go track it.” They left.<br />
It was the tracks <strong>of</strong> a Moose. They tracked the Moose. Then they reached it standing there. Frog<br />
and Rabbit creeped towards the Moose. Frog told Rabbit, “Stand here.” Frog approached the<br />
Moose. When she got close to it, she burrowed into the snow. She emerged at the leg <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Moose. She carefully climbed up the leg and entered into the anus <strong>of</strong> the Moose. She went to<br />
the heart <strong>of</strong> the Moose and that was where she started biting and chewing at the heart.<br />
Rabbit was just watching the Moose standing there. Then the Moose, who just stood there not<br />
noticing anything, suddenly collapsed. Rabbit just stood there. Then Frog emerged from the<br />
nostrils <strong>of</strong> the Moose. They butchered it and took all the meat home. They had plenty <strong>of</strong> food.<br />
Then one night, they heard a cannibal screaming. They could hear the evil being coming closer.<br />
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First Nations Stories continued<br />
Frog and Rabbit, continued<br />
Then it reached them. Rabbit jumped into the food that was on the platform. That was where<br />
he hid. Frog jumped into the pot <strong>of</strong> blood. The evil cannibal barged into their lodge and began<br />
eating their food. Then Frog heard the cannibal enjoying itself as it ate her husband, Rabbit. The<br />
cannibal ate Rabbit.<br />
The monstrous cannibal turned over the pot <strong>of</strong> blood where Frog had jumped in. She burrowed<br />
into the boughs and burrowed into the ground. The evil creature didn’t find out about her. It didn’t<br />
know where she was. Frog couldn’t be killed. That is how long the legend is.<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Man Hole, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
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First Nations Stories continued<br />
A Story about the Wolf (a Cree story) - How the Indians obtained Dogs<br />
There lived alone one winter a hunter, his wife and thier only child, a little boy <strong>of</strong> four years.<br />
Deep snow covered the ground, and game was scarce. One day the hunter discovered the track<br />
<strong>of</strong> a buffalo and followed it but he failed to overtake the animal. Late at night he returned to his<br />
tipi and, before entering, stopped to scrape the snow from his moccasins. But as he stood outside<br />
in the snow, he heard his little boy crying from hunger within the tent, and the voice <strong>of</strong> his<br />
wife trying to comfort him.<br />
“Don’t cry, my son”, she said. “Perhaps your father has killed a buffalo. That may be why he is<br />
late in coming home.”<br />
Resolutely the man turned back into the night and prayed for help as he resumed his hunting.<br />
Just before dawn he came upon other buffalo tracks and followed them. Suddenly a wolf ran up<br />
to him, and said, “My son, why are you weeping?”<br />
“I am in sore need. My wife and child are starving.”<br />
“Hide behind these bushes here”, said the wolf, “and use my bow and arrows. I will drive the buffalo<br />
toward you. But be sure to use my bow and arrows, not your own.”<br />
The wolf disappeared, and the hunter examined the bow that had been given him. It was much<br />
smaller than his own, and seemingly much inferior. Yet he remembered the wolf’s instructions<br />
and when he heard it driving the buffalo toward him, he took up the small bow and shot six animals,<br />
one after another. When the seventh and last buffalo approached him, however, he took<br />
up his own bow and shot. The animal escaped. Now the wolf returned.<br />
“What luck did you have?” it asked.<br />
“I killed six with your bow and arrows. For the last one I used my own bow, and it escaped.”<br />
“I warned you not to use it”, the wolf said. “However, we have meat enough.”<br />
Together they butchered the animals, and at the wolf’s request the hunter set aside portions <strong>of</strong><br />
two buffalo for his companion’s children. He then carried as much meat as he could pack on his<br />
back to his starving wife and child.<br />
That same evening, after they had satisfied their hunger, they dismantled their tent and moved<br />
to where the carcasses lay. There the wolf joined them with all its family and lingered fearlessly<br />
around their camp. The woman fed the animals with waste cuts <strong>of</strong> meat until they became quite<br />
tame. They would even allow her to harness travois to thier backs. Thereafter they always<br />
remained with the Indians and became their dogs.<br />
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Animal Studies: Grizzly Bear<br />
The grizzly bear is a subspecies <strong>of</strong> brown<br />
bear that generally lives in the uplands <strong>of</strong><br />
western North America. It is thought to descend<br />
from Ussuri brown bears which crossed to Alaska<br />
from Eastern Russia 100,000 years ago, though<br />
they did not move south until 13,000 years ago.<br />
The word ‘grizzly’ refers to the ‘grizzled’ or grey<br />
hairs in the animals’ fur.<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Mother Bear and her cub in the backcountry <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Alberta</strong>, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Grizzly bears are North America’s second<br />
largest land carnivore, after the Polar bear.<br />
Size and weight varies greatly according to<br />
geographic location. The largest populations<br />
are found in coastal areas where weights are as<br />
much as 550 kg (1,200 lb). The females are on<br />
average 38% smaller than the males.<br />
On average grizzly bears stand about 1<br />
metre (3.3 ft.) at the shoulder when on all fours<br />
and 2 metres (6.6 ft.) on their hind legs.<br />
The grizzly bear’s colouring ranges widely<br />
depending on geographic areas, from white to<br />
almost black to all shades in between. Their fur is<br />
very thick to keep them warm in brutal, windy, and<br />
snowy winters. The grizzly also has a large hump<br />
over the shoulders which is a muscle mass used to<br />
power the forelimbs while digging.<br />
The muscles in the back legs are very powerful, providing enough strength for the bear to stand<br />
up and even walk short distances on its hind legs, giving it a better view <strong>of</strong> its surroundings.<br />
Despite their large size, grizzlies can run at speeds <strong>of</strong> up to 55 kilometres per hour.<br />
Grizzly bears have one <strong>of</strong> the lowest reproductive rates <strong>of</strong> all terrestrial mammals in North<br />
America. This is due to numerous ecological factors. First, grizzly bears do not reach sexual<br />
maturity until they are at least five years old. Once mated with a male in the summer, the female<br />
delays embryo implantation until hibernations, during which abortion can occur if the female<br />
does not receive the proper nutrients and caloric intake. On average, females produce two cubs<br />
in a litter and the mother cares for the cubs for up to two years. During this time the female will<br />
not mate and, even once the young leave, females may not produce another litter for three or<br />
more years depending on environmental conditions. Exacerbating all <strong>of</strong> this is the fact that male<br />
grizzly bears have large territories ranging up to 4,000 square kilomteres. This makes finding a<br />
female scent difficult in such low population densities.<br />
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Animal Studies: Grizzly Bear continued<br />
Grizzly bears are <strong>of</strong> the order Carnivora and<br />
have the digestive system <strong>of</strong> carnivores. In<br />
reality, however, they are omnivores as their<br />
diet consists <strong>of</strong> both plants and animals. They<br />
have been known to prey on large mammals such<br />
as moose, deer, sheep, elk, bison and even black<br />
bears. They also feed on fish such as salmon, trout<br />
and bass. Grizzly bears also readily scavenge food<br />
or carrion left behind by other animals.<br />
Despite the above, however, plants make up approximately 80-90% <strong>of</strong> a grizzly bears’ diet.<br />
They will also consume various types <strong>of</strong> insects, but only if these are available in sufficient<br />
quantities. Grizzly bears that have access to more protein-enriched diets, such as coastal bears,<br />
potentially grow larger than interior individuals. In preparations for winter bears can gain<br />
approximately 400 lb. (180 kg), during a period <strong>of</strong> hyperphagia before going into a state <strong>of</strong> false<br />
hibernation. In some areas where food is plentiful year round the bears will skip hibernation<br />
altogether.<br />
The grizzly bear has several relationships with its ecosystem. Bears are extremely<br />
important in the life cycle <strong>of</strong> fleshy-fruit bearing plants. After the grizzly consumes the fruit the<br />
seeds are dispersed and excreted in a germinable condition. This makes the grizzly an<br />
important seed distributor in their habitat. Also, while foraging for tree roots, plant bulbs or<br />
ground squirrels, bears stir up the soil. This process not only helps grizzlies access their food,<br />
but it also increases species richness in alpine ecosystems. Soil disturbance also causes<br />
nitrogen to be dug up from lower soil layers and makes nitrogen more available in the<br />
environment. Grizzlies also directly regulate prey populations and also help prevent overgrazing<br />
in forests by controlling the populations <strong>of</strong> other species in the food chain.<br />
Grizzly bears, while in competition with other animals for food, have no natural<br />
predators. Declines in the bear population, therefore, are solely the result <strong>of</strong> human-bear<br />
contact. Grizzly bears are found in Asia, Europe and North America, giving them one <strong>of</strong><br />
the widest ranges compared to other bear species. In North America grizzly bears used to<br />
range from Alaska to Mexico and as far east as the Hudson Bay area. In the United States the<br />
species is now found only in Alaska, south through much <strong>of</strong> western Canada, and into portions<br />
<strong>of</strong> the northwestern United States including Idaho, Montana, Washington and Wyoming,<br />
extending as far south as Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Its original range also<br />
included much <strong>of</strong> the Great Plains and the southwestern states, but it has been extirpated in<br />
most <strong>of</strong> those areas. Excluding Alaska, the United States has less than 1000 grizzly bears. In<br />
Canada there are approximately 25,000 grizzly bears occupying British Columbia, <strong>Alberta</strong>, the<br />
Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the northern part <strong>of</strong> Manitoba. In total there are<br />
approximately 55,000 wild grizzly bears located throughout North America.<br />
The grizzly bear is listed as threatened in the contiguous United States and endangered in parts<br />
<strong>of</strong> Canada. While all national parks, such as Banff National Park, Yellowstone and Grand Teton,<br />
and Theodore Roosevelt National Park have laws to protect the bears, grizzlies are regularly<br />
killed by trains as the bears scavenge for food along the tracks. Road kills on park roads are<br />
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Animal Studies: Grizzly Bear continued<br />
another problem. Outside <strong>of</strong> parks, in Alaska and parts <strong>of</strong> Canada, it is still legal for bears to be<br />
shot for sport by hunters. In 2002 in <strong>Alberta</strong> the Endangered Species Conservation Committee<br />
recommended that the <strong>Alberta</strong> grizzly bear population be designated as threatened due to<br />
estimates <strong>of</strong> grizzly bear mortality rates that indicated that the population was in decline. The<br />
Provincial government, however, has so far resisted efforts to designate its declining population<br />
<strong>of</strong> about 700 grizzlies as endangered.<br />
Grizzlies are considered by some to be the most aggressive bears. Aggressive behavior by<br />
bears is favored by numerous selection variables. Unlike the smaller black bears, adult grizzlies<br />
are too large to escape danger by climbing trees, so they respond to danger by standing their<br />
ground and warding <strong>of</strong>f their attackers. Increased aggressiveness also assists female grizzlies<br />
in better ensuring the survival <strong>of</strong> their young. Despite their reputation, however, grizzly bears<br />
normally avoid contact with humans. Most attacks which do occur result from a bear that has<br />
been surprised at very close range, especially if it has a supply <strong>of</strong> food or <strong>of</strong>fspring to protect.<br />
Increased human-bear interaction has created ‘problem bears’, which are bears that have<br />
become adapted to human activities or habitat. The B.C. government destroys approximately 50<br />
problem bears each year and overall spends more than one million dollars annually to address<br />
bear complaints, relocate bears and destroy them.<br />
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Animal Studies: Grizzly Bear continued<br />
Edmonton Journal article<br />
Friday, June 4, 2010<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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Animal Studies: Grizzly Bear continued<br />
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Animal Studies: Beaver<br />
The beaver is the second largest rodent<br />
in the world. Beavers are large, primarily<br />
nocturnal and semi-aquatic rodents.<br />
Beavers are closely related to squirrels<br />
and there are two living species: the North<br />
American Beaver and the Eurasian Beaver.<br />
The word beaver in English is probably<br />
either borrowed from the Old French bièvre<br />
or both came directly from the Celtic befros.<br />
The North American beaver population was<br />
once more than 60 million, but as <strong>of</strong> 1988<br />
was 6-12 million. This population decline is<br />
due to extensive hunting.<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Beaver, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Genetic research has shown that the European and North American beavers are distinct<br />
species and that hybridization is unlikely. Although superficially similar to each other, there<br />
are several important differences between the two. Eurasian beavers tend to be bigger, with<br />
larger, less rounded heads, longer, narrower muzzles, thinner, shorter, and lighter underfur,<br />
narrower and less oval-shaped tails, and shorter shin bones. Fur colour is also different. Overall,<br />
66 % <strong>of</strong> Eurasian beavers have pale brown or beige fur, 20 % have reddish brown fur, 8 % are<br />
brown, and only 4 % have blackish coats. In North American beavers, 50 % have pale brown fur,<br />
25 % are reddish brown, 20 % are brown, and 6 % are blackish. Finally, North American beavers<br />
have 40 chromosomes while Eurasian beavers have 48.<br />
Beavers have webbed hind-feet, and a broad, scaly tail. They have poor eyesight, but keen<br />
senses <strong>of</strong> hearing, smell, and touch. Beavers continue to grow throughout their lives. Adult<br />
specimens weighing over 25 kg (55 lb) are not uncommon. Females are as large or larger than<br />
males <strong>of</strong> the same age, which is uncommon among mammals. Beavers live up to 24 years <strong>of</strong><br />
age in the wild.<br />
Beavers are herbivores, and prefer the wood <strong>of</strong> quaking aspen, cottonwood, willow, alder, birch,<br />
maple and cherry trees. The North American beaver’s preferred food is the water-lily. Beavers<br />
also gnaw the bark <strong>of</strong> birch, poplar, and willow trees; but during the summer a more varied<br />
herbage, with the addition <strong>of</strong> berries, is consumed. A beaver’s teeth grow continuously so that<br />
they will not be worn down by chewing on wood. Their four incisors are composed <strong>of</strong> hard<br />
orange enamel on the front and a s<strong>of</strong>ter dentin on the back. The chisel-like ends <strong>of</strong> incisors are<br />
maintained by their self-sharpening wear pattern.<br />
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Animal Studies: Beaver continued<br />
The habitat <strong>of</strong> the beaver is the riparian zone, inclusive <strong>of</strong> stream beds. The actions <strong>of</strong><br />
beavers for hundreds <strong>of</strong> thousands <strong>of</strong> years in the Northern Hemisphere have kept these watery<br />
systems healthy and in good repair. The beaver works as a keystone species in an ecosystem<br />
by creating wetlands that are used by many other species. Next to humans, no other animal<br />
appears to do more to shape its landscape.<br />
Beavers fell trees for several reasons. They fell large, mature trees, usually in strategic<br />
locations, to form the basis <strong>of</strong> a dam. Beavers fell small trees, especially young second-growth<br />
trees, for food. Beaver dams are created as a protection against predators, such as coyotes,<br />
wolves and bears, and to provide easy access to food during winter. Beavers always work at<br />
night and are prolific builders, carrying mud and stones with their fore-paws and timber between<br />
their teeth. The ponds, created by well-maintained dams, help isolate the beavers’ homes.<br />
Beaver lodges are created from severed<br />
branches and mud. The beavers cover their<br />
lodges late every autumn with fresh mud,<br />
which freezes when the frost sets in. The<br />
mud becomes almost as hard as stone, and<br />
neither wolves nor wolverines can penetrate<br />
it. The lodge has underwater entrances to<br />
make entry nearly impossible for any other<br />
animals. A very small amount <strong>of</strong> the lodge is<br />
actually used as a living area.<br />
The basic social unit <strong>of</strong> beavers are families consisting <strong>of</strong> an adult male and adult female<br />
in a monogamous pair and their kits and yearlings. Beaver families can have as many as ten<br />
members in addition to the monogamous pair. Beaver pairs mate for life: however, if a beaver’s<br />
mate dies, it will partner with another one. In addition to being monogamous, both the male and<br />
female take part in raising <strong>of</strong>fspring. When young are born they spend their first month in the<br />
lodge and their mother is the primary caretaker while their father maintains the territory. After the<br />
young leave the lodge for the first time yearlings will help their parents build food caches in the<br />
fall and repair dams and lodges. Older <strong>of</strong>fspring, which are around two years old, may also live<br />
in families and help their parents. In addition to helping build food caches and repairing the dam,<br />
two-year olds will also help in feeding and grooming and guarding the younger <strong>of</strong>fspring.<br />
Beavers maintain and defend territories, which are areas for feeding, nesting and mating.<br />
They mark their territories by constructing scent mounds made <strong>of</strong> mud, debris and castoreum,<br />
a urine based substance excreted through the beaver’s castor sacs between the pelvis and the<br />
base <strong>of</strong> the tail. These scent mounds are established on the border <strong>of</strong> the territory. Because they<br />
invest so much energy in their territories beavers are intolerant <strong>of</strong> intruders and the holder <strong>of</strong> the<br />
territory is more likely to escalate an aggressive encounter.<br />
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Animal Studies: Beaver continued<br />
Beavers have been trapped for milennia and this<br />
continues to the present day. Once the early<br />
European explorers realized that Canada was not the<br />
spice-rich Orient, the main mercantile attraction was<br />
the beaver, then a population numbering in the millions.<br />
In the late 1600s and early 1700s the fashion <strong>of</strong> the<br />
day demanded fur top-hats, which were produced from<br />
beaver pelts as the most valuable part <strong>of</strong> the beaver is<br />
its inner fur whose many minute barbs make it excellent<br />
for felting. The trade in beaver pelts proved so lucrative<br />
that the Hudson’s Bay Company honoured the animal<br />
by putting it on the shield <strong>of</strong> its coat <strong>of</strong> arms in 1678, as<br />
seen at right.<br />
By the mid-19th century the beaver was close to extinction. There were an estimated six million<br />
beavers in Canada before the start <strong>of</strong> the fur trade. During the trade’s peak 100,000 pelts were<br />
being shipped to Europe each year. Eventually, however, the fur trade declined as Europeans<br />
changed their fashion sense, coming to appreciate silk hats instead, and the demand for beaver<br />
pelts all but disappeared.<br />
Beaver testicles and castoreum, a bitter-tasting secretion contained in the castor sacs <strong>of</strong> male<br />
and female beavers, were also articles <strong>of</strong> trade. These were used in traditional medicines and<br />
for the production <strong>of</strong> castoreum, which was used as an analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and<br />
antipyretic. Castoreum also continues to be used in perfume production. European beavers<br />
were eventually hunted nearly to extinction in part for the production <strong>of</strong> castoreum.<br />
The importance <strong>of</strong> the Beaver in the development <strong>of</strong> Canada through the fur trade led to<br />
its <strong>of</strong>ficial designation as the national animal in 1975. The beaver is also depicted on the<br />
Canadian five-cent piece and was on the first pictorial postage stamp issued in the Canadian<br />
colonies in 1849.<br />
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Animal Studies: Moose<br />
The moose (North America) or European elk<br />
(Europe) is the largest living species in the<br />
deer family. The word moose is a borrowing<br />
from one Algonquian language, with the possible<br />
meaning <strong>of</strong> ‘stripping <strong>of</strong>f’. The word moose first<br />
entered the English language in 1606 with<br />
Captain Thomas Hanham’s Mus. European rock<br />
drawings and cave paintings reveal that moose<br />
have been hunted since the Stone Age.<br />
Excavations in Sweden have yeilded elk antlers<br />
from 6,000 B.C.<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Moose, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
In North America the moose range<br />
includes almost all <strong>of</strong> Canada, most <strong>of</strong><br />
central and western Alaska, and much <strong>of</strong><br />
the eastern United States. Isolated moose<br />
populations have been verified as far south<br />
as the mountains <strong>of</strong> Utah and Colorado. In<br />
Europe moose are found in large numbers<br />
throughout the Eastern European nations<br />
<strong>of</strong> Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Baltic<br />
States. They are also widespread in Russia<br />
and can be found in Poland, Belarus and the<br />
Czech Republic.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the most distinguishing features <strong>of</strong> the<br />
moose are its antlers. The male’s antlers grow as<br />
cylindrical beams projecting on each side <strong>of</strong> the head<br />
at right angles to the midline <strong>of</strong> the skull, and then fork.<br />
The male will drop its antlers after the mating season<br />
and conserve energy for the winter. A new set <strong>of</strong><br />
antlers will then regrow in the spring. Antlers take three<br />
to five months to fully develop. They initially have a<br />
layer <strong>of</strong> skin, called ‘velvet’, which is shed once the<br />
antlers become fully grown.<br />
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Animal Studies: Moose continued<br />
The Moose is the second largest land animal in both North America and Europe. Only the<br />
American Bison is larger. On average an adult moose stands 1.8-2.1 m (6-7 feet) high at the<br />
shoulder. Males weigh 380-720 kg (850-1580 pounds) while females weigh 270-360 kg (600-<br />
800 pounds). The largest <strong>of</strong> all is the Alaskan subspecies which can stand over 2.1 m (7 feet) at<br />
the shoulder, has a span across the antlers <strong>of</strong> 1.8 m (6 feet) and averages 634.5 kg (1,396 lbs)<br />
in males and 478 kg (1,052 lbs) in females.<br />
Moose are generally solitary animals with the strongest bonds between mother and calf.<br />
Mating occurs in September and October. The males are polygamous and will seek several<br />
females to breed with. During this time both sexes will call to each other and males will fight<br />
other males for access to females. Female moose have an eight-month gestation period,<br />
usually bearing one calf, or twins if food is plentiful, in May or June. Newborn moose have fur<br />
with a reddish hue in contrast to the brown colouring <strong>of</strong> an adult. The young will stay with the<br />
mother until just before the next young are born.<br />
A full-grown moose has few enemies. Siberian Tigers, Brown Bears, American Black Bears,<br />
Cougars and Wolves, however, do pose threats to calves, juvenile moose, and sick animals.<br />
Moose are also hunted as game species in many <strong>of</strong> the countries in which they are found.<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The City Moose, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
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Animal Studies: Prairie Dog<br />
Prairie dogs are burrowing rodents native<br />
to the grasslands <strong>of</strong> North America. The five<br />
different species are: black-tailed, white-tailed,<br />
Gunnison’s, Utah and Mexican prairie dogs. They<br />
are a type <strong>of</strong> ground squirrel found in Canada,<br />
the United States, and Mexico.<br />
Prairie dogs are named for their habitat and<br />
warning call, which sounds similar to a dog’s<br />
bark. The name was in use at least as early as<br />
1774. The black-tailed prairie dog was first described<br />
by Lewis and Clark during their<br />
expedition <strong>of</strong> 1804. Lewis described it in more<br />
detail in 1806, calling it the ‘barking squirrel’.<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Prairie Dog, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Prairie dogs are chiefly herbivorous, though they eat some insects. They feed primarily on<br />
grasses. They also will eat roots, seeds, fruit and buds. Grasses <strong>of</strong> various species are eaten.<br />
On average these rodents will grow between 30 and 40 centimetres (12 to 16 inches) long and<br />
weigh between 1 and 3 pounds.<br />
Prairie dogs mainly live in altitudes ranging from 2,000 to 10,000 feet above sea level. The<br />
areas in which they live can get as warm as 100 degrees F in summer and as cold as -35<br />
degrees F in winter. Their regions are also prone to environmental threats such as hailstorms,<br />
blizzards, and floods as well as drought and prairie fires. Their burrows are thus very important<br />
in providing protection for the animals. Prairie dog burrows are 5-10m (16-33 feet) long and<br />
2-3m (6-10 feet) below the ground. The entrance holes are generally 10-30 cm (4-12 inches) in<br />
diameter. There can be up to six entrances which can be simply flat holes in the ground or<br />
can be surrounded by mounds <strong>of</strong> dirt that are either left as piles or packed down hard. Some<br />
mounds, known as dome craters, can be as high as 8-12 inches above ground. Others, known<br />
as rim craters, can be as high as 1 meter. Dome and rim craters serve as observation posts<br />
which the animals use to watch out for predators. They also function to protect the burrows from<br />
flooding. Prairie dog burrows contain chambers to provide certain functions. They have nursery<br />
chambers for thier young, chambers for night and chambers for the winter. They also contain air<br />
chambers that may function to protect the burrow from flooding and a listening post for<br />
predators.<br />
Prairie dogs are highly social and live in large colonies or ‘towns’ which can span<br />
hundreds <strong>of</strong> acres. The prairie dog family groups are the most basic units <strong>of</strong> its society.<br />
Members <strong>of</strong> a family group inhabit the same territory and a prairie dog town may contain 15-26<br />
family goups. The average prairie dog territory takes up 0.05-1.01 hectares. Territories have well<br />
established borders that coincide with physical barriers like rocks and trees.<br />
Most prairie dog family groups are made up <strong>of</strong> one adult breeding male, two to three adult<br />
females and one to two male <strong>of</strong>fspring and one to two female <strong>of</strong>fspring.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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Animal Studies: Prairie Dog continued<br />
For black-tailed prairie dogs, the resident male <strong>of</strong> the family<br />
group fathers all the <strong>of</strong>fspring. Mother prairie dogs do most<br />
<strong>of</strong> the care for the young. In addition to nursing the young,<br />
the mother also defends the nursery chamber and collects<br />
grass for the nest. Males play their part by defending the<br />
territories and maintaining the burrows. The young spend<br />
their first six weeks below the ground being nursed. They<br />
are then weaned and begin to surface from the burrow. By<br />
five months they are fully grown.<br />
Prairie dogs showing affection<br />
Females remain in their natal groups for life and are thus<br />
the source <strong>of</strong> stability in the groups. Males leave their natal<br />
groups when they mature to find another family group to<br />
defend and breed in.<br />
Juvenile prairie dogs<br />
The prairie dog is well adapted to predators. Using its dichromatic colour vision, it can<br />
detect predators from a far distance and then alert other prarie dogs to the danger with a<br />
special, high-pitched call. Some scientists believe that prairie dogs use a sophisticated system<br />
<strong>of</strong> vocal communication to describe specific predators.<br />
Ecologists consider the prairie dog to be a keystone species. Prairie dog tunnel systems<br />
help channel rainwater into the water table to prevent run<strong>of</strong>f and erosion, and can also serve to<br />
change the composition <strong>of</strong> the soil in a region by reversing soil compaction that can be a result<br />
<strong>of</strong> cattle grazing. Prairie dogs are an important prey species, being the primary diet in prairie<br />
species such as the black-footed ferret, swift fox, golden eagle, American badger, and<br />
ferruginous hawk. Other species also rely on prairie dog burrows for nesting areas. Despite this,<br />
prairie dogs are <strong>of</strong>ten identified as pests and exterminated from agricultural properties because<br />
they are capable <strong>of</strong> damaging crops. As a result, prairie dog habitat has been impacted by direct<br />
removal by ranchers and farmers, as well as the more obvious encroachment <strong>of</strong> urban<br />
development which has greatly reduced their populations.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Animal Studies: Rabbit<br />
Rabbits are small mammals in the family<br />
Leporidae. There are eight different genera in<br />
the family classified as rabbits, including the<br />
European rabbit, cottontail rabbits, and the<br />
Amami rabbit. There are many other<br />
species <strong>of</strong> rabbit and these, along with pikas<br />
and hares, make up the order Lagomorpha.<br />
Rabbits are found in many parts <strong>of</strong> the<br />
world. Their habitats include meadows,<br />
woods, forests, grasslands, deserts and wetlands.<br />
More than half the world’s rabbit populations<br />
resides in North America. Rabbits live<br />
in groups, and the best known species, the<br />
European rabbit, lives in underground burrows<br />
or rabbit holes. A group <strong>of</strong> burrows is called a<br />
warren.<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Rabbit, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Rabbits are perfectly suited for their environments. The rabbit’s long ears, which can be<br />
more than 4 inches long, are probably an adaptation for detecting predators. They also have<br />
large, powerful hind legs. The two front paws have 5 toes while the hind feet have 4 toes. Their<br />
size can range anywhere from 8 inches in length and .4kg in weight to 20 inches in length and<br />
more than 2 kg. The fur is most commonly long and s<strong>of</strong>t, with colors such as shades <strong>of</strong> brown,<br />
gray, and buff. Rabbits have two sets <strong>of</strong> incisor teeth, one behind the other. This way they can<br />
be distinguished from rodents.<br />
Rabbits are hervibores. They feed by grazing on grass, forbs, and leafy weeds. In<br />
consequence their diet contains large amounts <strong>of</strong> cellulose which is hard to digest. Rabbits<br />
graze heavily and rapidly for roughly the first half hour <strong>of</strong> a grazing period - usually in the late<br />
afternoon - followed by about half an hour <strong>of</strong> more selective feeding. Rabbits are hindgut<br />
digesters. This means that most <strong>of</strong> their digestion takes place in their large intestine and<br />
cecum. This is a secondary chamber between the large and small intestine containing large<br />
quantities <strong>of</strong> symbiotic bacteria that help with the digestion <strong>of</strong> cellulose and also produce certain<br />
B vitamins. The unique musculature <strong>of</strong> the cecum allows the intestinal tract <strong>of</strong> the rabbit to<br />
separate fibrous material from more digestible material: the fibrous material is passed as feces,<br />
while the more nutritious material is encased in a mucous lining as a cecotrope. Cecotropes,<br />
sometimes called ‘night feces’, are high in minerals, vitamins and proteins that are necessary to<br />
the rabbit’s health. Rabbits eat these to meet their nutritional requirements.<br />
Rabbits are prey animals and are constantly aware <strong>of</strong> their surroundings. If confronted by<br />
a potential threat, a rabbit may freeze and observe then warn others in the warren with powerful<br />
thumps on the ground. Rabbits have a remarkably wide field <strong>of</strong> vision, and a good deal <strong>of</strong> it is<br />
devoted to overhead scanning. They survive predation by burrowing, hopping away in a zig-zag<br />
motion and, if captured, delivering powerful kicks with their hind legs or by biting.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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Animal Studies: Rabbit continued<br />
Rabbits have a very rapid reproductive rate. The<br />
breeding season for most rabbits lasts 9 months, from<br />
February to October. Normal gestation is about 30 days.<br />
The average size <strong>of</strong> the litter varies but is usually between<br />
4 and 12 babies, called kittens or kits. A kit can be weaned<br />
at about 4 to 5 weeks <strong>of</strong> age. This means in one season a<br />
single female rabbit can produce as many as 800 children,<br />
grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. A female rabbit or<br />
doe is ready to breed at about 6 months <strong>of</strong> age and a male<br />
or buck at about 7 months.<br />
Kits are altricial, which means they are born blind, naked, and helpless. Due to the<br />
nutritious nature <strong>of</strong> rabbit milk, kits only need to be nursed for a few minutes once or twice a<br />
day. At 10 to 11 days after birth the baby rabbits’ eyes open and they start eating on their own at<br />
around 14 days old. Although born naked, they form a s<strong>of</strong>t baby coat <strong>of</strong> hair within a few days.<br />
At about 5 to 6 weeks old, the s<strong>of</strong>t baby coat is replaced with a pre-adult coat. A about 6 to 8<br />
months <strong>of</strong> age this intermediate coat is replaced by the final adult coat, which is shed twice a<br />
year there after. The expected lifespan <strong>of</strong> rabbits is about 9 to 12 years.<br />
Mankind uses rabbits in many ways. Domestic<br />
rabbits can be kept as pets in a backyard hutch<br />
indoors. European rabbits and hares are also a food<br />
meat, especially in Europe, South America, North<br />
America and some parts <strong>of</strong> the Middle East. When<br />
used for food rabbits are both hunted and bred.<br />
Rabbit meat is source <strong>of</strong> high quality protein. It can be<br />
used in most ways chicken meat is used. Rabbit meat<br />
is also leaner than beef, pork, and chicken meat.<br />
Rabbit pelts are sometimes used for clothing and<br />
accessories, such as scarves or hats.<br />
Rabbits are also very good producers <strong>of</strong> manure. Additionally, their urine, high in nitrogen,<br />
makes some tree species, such as lemon trees, very productive. Despite their uses, however,<br />
rabbits have also been a source <strong>of</strong> environmental problems. As a result <strong>of</strong> their appetites, and<br />
the rate at which they breed, feral rabbit depredation can be problematic for agriculture.<br />
Rabbits appear in the culture and literature <strong>of</strong> many civilizations. Rabbits are <strong>of</strong>ten used as<br />
a symbol <strong>of</strong> fertility or rebirth, and have long been associated with spring and Easter as the<br />
Easter bunny. The species’ role as a prey animal also lends itself as a symbol <strong>of</strong> innocence,<br />
another Easter connotation. Additionally rabbits are <strong>of</strong>ten used as symbols <strong>of</strong> playful sexuality<br />
due to its reputation as a prolific breeder.<br />
The rabbit <strong>of</strong>ten appears in folklore as the trickster archetype as he uses his cunning to<br />
outwit his enemies. As a trickster he appears in American popular culture in the character <strong>of</strong><br />
Br’er Rabbit from African-American folktales and Disney animation; and the Warner Bros.<br />
cartoon character Bugs Bunny. Anthropomorphized rabbits appear in such works as Lewis<br />
Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and the novels Watership Down by Richard Adams.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Animal Facts: Wolf<br />
The gray wolf is the largest wild member <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Canidae family. It is an ice age survivor<br />
originating during the Late Pleistocene era. The<br />
gray wolf migrated into North America from the Old<br />
World, via the Bering land bridge, around 400,000<br />
years ago. They did not become widespread,<br />
however, until around 12,000 years ago. A member<br />
<strong>of</strong> the genus Canis, which comprises between 7<br />
and 10 species, the wolf was once abundant over<br />
much <strong>of</strong> Eurasia and North America. It now<br />
inhabits a very small portion <strong>of</strong> its former range<br />
because <strong>of</strong> widespread destruction <strong>of</strong> its territory,<br />
human encroachment, and the resulting humanwolf<br />
encounters that sparked broad extirpation.<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Wolf, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Wolf weight and size can vary greatly<br />
worldwide, tending to increase<br />
proportionally with latitude. In<br />
general, height varies from 24 to 37<br />
inches at the shoulder. Wolf weight also<br />
varies geographically: on average,<br />
European wolves may weigh up to 85<br />
lb., North American wolves up to 79 lbs,<br />
and Indian and Arabian wolves up to 55<br />
lbs. Females in any given wolf<br />
population typically weigh 20% less than<br />
the males. Females also have narrower<br />
muzzles and foreheads; slightly shorter,<br />
smoother furred legs; and less massive<br />
shoulders.<br />
Wolves have bulky coats consisting <strong>of</strong> two layers. The first is made up <strong>of</strong> tough guard hairs<br />
that repel water and dirt. The second is a dense, water-resistant undercoat that insulates. The<br />
undercoat is shed in the form <strong>of</strong> large tufts <strong>of</strong> fur in late spring or early summer. Fur<br />
colouration varies greatly, running from gray to gray-brown, all the way through the canine<br />
spectrum <strong>of</strong> white, red, brown and black. These colours tend to mix in many populations to form<br />
predominantly blended individuals, though it is not uncommon for an individual or entire<br />
population to be entirely one colour. Fur colour sometimes corresponds with a given wolf<br />
population’s environment; for example, all-white wolves are much more common in areas with<br />
perennial snow cover. At birth wolf pups tend to have darker fur and blue irises that will change<br />
to a yellow-gold or orange colour when the pups are between 8 and 16 weeks old. The<br />
undercoat <strong>of</strong> fur is usually gray regardless <strong>of</strong> the outer coat’s appearance.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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Animal Facts: Wolf continued<br />
Generally mating occurs between January<br />
and April. The higher the latitude, however,<br />
the later mating occurs. A pack usually<br />
produces a single litter unless the breeding<br />
male mates with one or more subordinate<br />
females. When the breeding female goes into<br />
estrus (which occurs once per year and lasts<br />
5-14 days), she and her mate will spend an<br />
extended time in seclusion. The gestation<br />
period lasts betwen 60 and 63 days. The pups,<br />
which weigh about 1 lb. at birth, are born blind,<br />
deaf, and completely dependent on their http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wold<br />
mother. The average litter size is 5-6 pups. The<br />
pups reside in the den for about two months.<br />
Eventually they become more independent and<br />
will begin to explore the area immediately<br />
outside the den before gradually roaming up to a mile away from it at around five weeks <strong>of</strong> age.<br />
During the first weeks <strong>of</strong> development the mother usually stays with her litter alone, but eventually<br />
most members <strong>of</strong> the pack will contribute to the rearing <strong>of</strong> the pups in some way. After two<br />
months the restless pups will be moved to a rendezvous site where they can stay safely while<br />
most <strong>of</strong> the adults go out to hunt. After a few weeks the pups are permitted to join the adults if<br />
they are able and will receive priority on anything killed despite their low rank in the pack.<br />
Wolves typically reach sexual maturity after two or three years, at which point many <strong>of</strong><br />
them will be compelled to leave their birth packs and seek out mates and territories <strong>of</strong><br />
their own. Normally a wolf pack consists <strong>of</strong> a male, a female, and their <strong>of</strong>fspring, essentially<br />
making the pack a nuclear family. The size <strong>of</strong> the pack may change over time and is controlled<br />
by several factors, including habitat, personalities <strong>of</strong> individual wolves within a pack, and food<br />
supply. Packs can contain between 2 and 20 wolves, though 8 is a more typical size. In<br />
literature wolf packs are commonly portrayed as having a dominant breeding ‘alpha pair’, a<br />
group <strong>of</strong> subordinant ‘beta’ individuals, and the ‘omega wolf’ on the lowest end <strong>of</strong> the<br />
hierarchy. These descriptions, however, are based on research on captive wolf packs composed<br />
<strong>of</strong> unrelated animals and so cannot be extrapolated to wild wolf packs. According to wolf<br />
biologist L.David Mech:<br />
Calling a wolf an ‘alpha’ is usually no more approriate than referring to a human parent or a doe<br />
deer as an alpha. Any parent is dominant to its <strong>of</strong>fspring so ‘alpha’ adds no information.(Gray<br />
Wolf - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf, pg. 6)<br />
Offspring <strong>of</strong> the breeding pair tend to stay with the pack for some portion <strong>of</strong> their adulthood.<br />
These ‘subordinate’ wolves play a number <strong>of</strong> important roles in the pack, including participating<br />
in hunts, enforcing discipline and raising pups. This behavior is achieved, in part, by an<br />
active suppression <strong>of</strong> reproduction in subordinate wolves by the breeding pair. While they<br />
remain members <strong>of</strong> the pack the subordinate wolves are unable to reproduce, even if there are<br />
other subordinate unrelated wolves in the pack.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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Animal Facts: Wolf continued<br />
Wolves are territorial animals. The average<br />
size <strong>of</strong> a wolf pack’s territory is close to 200<br />
square kilometers. Wolf packs travel constantly<br />
in search <strong>of</strong> prey. The core <strong>of</strong> their territory is,<br />
on average, 35 square kilometers, in which they<br />
spend 50% <strong>of</strong> their time. Wolves tend to avoid<br />
hunting in the fringes <strong>of</strong> their territory, even<br />
though prey density tends to be higher there,<br />
due to the possibility <strong>of</strong> fatal encounters with<br />
neighbouring packs.<br />
Wolves feed primarily on medium to large<br />
sized ungulates. However, like most predators,<br />
they are opportunistic feeders and will<br />
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf<br />
generally eat any meat that is available. Wolf<br />
packs above 2 individuals show little strategic<br />
cooperation in hunting large prey. Wolves typically attempt to conceal themselves as they<br />
approach their prey. If the prey animal stands its ground or confronts the pack the wolves will<br />
approach and threaten it but eventually leave if their prey does not run. Usually it is the<br />
dominant pair in a pack that works the hardest in killing the pack’s prey. During feeding this<br />
status is reinforced. The breeding pair usually eats first. Wolves <strong>of</strong> intermediate rank will prevent<br />
lower ranking pack members from feeding until the dominant pair finishes eating. Wolves<br />
supplement their diet with vegetation and, after eating, will drink large quantities <strong>of</strong> water to<br />
prevent uremic poisoning.<br />
Wolves communicate with each other in a variety <strong>of</strong> ways. They can communicate visually<br />
through a variety <strong>of</strong> expressions and moods ranging from subtle signals, such as a slight shift in<br />
weight, to more obvious ones, such as rolling on their backs to indicate complete submission.<br />
Howling is also extremely important. Howling helps pack members keep in touch, allowing them<br />
to communicate effectively in thickly forested areas or over great distances. Howling also helps<br />
to call pack members to a specific location and serves as a declaration <strong>of</strong> territory. Wolves will<br />
also howl for communal reasons. Some scientists speculate that such group sessions<br />
strengthen the wolves’ social bonds and camaraderie. Observations <strong>of</strong> wolf packs suggest that<br />
howling occurs most <strong>of</strong>ten during the twilight hours, preceding the adults’ departure for or return<br />
from a hunt. Wolves also howl more frequently during the breeding season and rearing process.<br />
A wolf’s howl may be heard from up to 16 kilometers (10 miles) away depending on weather<br />
conditions.<br />
Humans have had a complex and varied viewpoint <strong>of</strong> wolves. In many parts <strong>of</strong> the world<br />
and in many cultures wolves were respected and revered whereas in others they have been<br />
feared and held in distaste. Humans dislike <strong>of</strong> wolves has resulted in a great reduction in the<br />
wolfs’ former range and, from 1982 to 1994, the gray wolf was listed as vulnerable to extinction<br />
by the International Union for Conservation <strong>of</strong> Nature. Changes in legal protections, land-use<br />
and population shifts to urban areas, and recolonization and reintroduction programs have<br />
increased wolf populations in western Europe and the western United States. As a result, the<br />
risk status <strong>of</strong> the wolf has been reduced to being <strong>of</strong> least concern.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
<strong>Animals</strong> in <strong>Art</strong> and <strong>Art</strong> Movements<br />
Like all subjects investigated by visual artists, the treatment <strong>of</strong> animals in the visual arts<br />
has been influenced by the art style(s) in vogue at the time the work was created. While<br />
all periods <strong>of</strong> history have witnessed aspects <strong>of</strong> innovation in various realms, no period<br />
has witnessed such pr<strong>of</strong>ound and rapid change in a multitude <strong>of</strong> areas as the late<br />
nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These centuries witnessed major technological<br />
advancements, changes in political and social systems, and changes in how mankind<br />
actually perceived the world, changes which continue to impact the world into the 21st<br />
century. The art realm was one segment <strong>of</strong> society which was dramatically affected by<br />
changes in all these areas. In art these changes were expressed through the use <strong>of</strong> new<br />
means <strong>of</strong> art production and new and challenging methods <strong>of</strong> art expression.<br />
Jason Carter describes his painting style as Abstract Contemporary Aboriginal Pop <strong>Art</strong><br />
and the influences <strong>of</strong> both Abstraction and Pop <strong>Art</strong> are clearly evidenced in his paintings<br />
in the exhibition <strong>Urban</strong> <strong>Animals</strong>. As seen in his paintings, the bright colours and<br />
simplicity <strong>of</strong> shapes as utilised in Pop <strong>Art</strong>, and the simplification <strong>of</strong> ‘real’ forms, a feature<br />
<strong>of</strong> abstraction, are primary features <strong>of</strong> Carter’s style.<br />
The following analysis examines the history <strong>of</strong> modernism/abstraction in the visual arts<br />
as well as the art movements <strong>of</strong> Pop <strong>Art</strong>, Post-Modernism and the Woodland School <strong>of</strong><br />
First Nations <strong>Art</strong> as these movements are relevant to the artistic expressions <strong>of</strong> Jason<br />
Carter.<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Prairie Dogs on the open road, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
<strong>Animals</strong> in <strong>Art</strong> and <strong>Art</strong> Styles: Abstraction<br />
Of all the arts, abstract painting is the most difficult. It demands that you know how to draw well,<br />
that you have a heightened sensitivity for composition and for colours, and that you be a true<br />
poet. This last is essential.<br />
Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944)<br />
Abstract <strong>Art</strong> is a term applied to 20th century<br />
styles in reaction against the traditional European<br />
view <strong>of</strong> art as the imitation <strong>of</strong> nature. Abstraction<br />
stresses the formal or elemental structure <strong>of</strong> a<br />
work and has been expressed in all genres or<br />
subjects <strong>of</strong> visual expression.<br />
Like all painting, abstract painting is not a<br />
unified practice. Rather, the term ‘abstraction’<br />
covers two main, distinct tendencies. The first<br />
involves the reduction <strong>of</strong> natural appearances<br />
to simplified forms. Reduction may lead to the<br />
depiction <strong>of</strong> the essential or generic forms <strong>of</strong> things<br />
by eliminating particular and accidental variations.<br />
Reduction can also involve the creation <strong>of</strong> art which<br />
works away from the individual and particular with<br />
a view to creating an independent construct <strong>of</strong><br />
shapes and colours having aesthetic appeal in their<br />
own right.<br />
Illingworth Kerr<br />
Untitled - Mountain Goats, n.d.<br />
Pastel on paper<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s<br />
The second tendency in abstraction involves the construction <strong>of</strong> art objects from nonrepresentational<br />
basic forms. These objects are not created by abstracting from natural<br />
appearances but by building up with non-representational shapes and patterns. In other<br />
words, in this mode, abstract works are ones without a recognisable subject and do not relate<br />
to anything external or try to ‘look like something’. Instead, the colour and form (and <strong>of</strong>ten the<br />
materials and support) are the subject <strong>of</strong> the abstract painting.<br />
Whatever the tendency in abstraction, it is characteristic <strong>of</strong> most modes <strong>of</strong> abstraction that they<br />
abandon or subordinate the traditional function <strong>of</strong> art to portray perceptible reality and<br />
emphasize its function to create a new reality for the viewer’s perception. As described by Roald<br />
Nasgaard in his work Abstract Painting in Canada:<br />
The first message <strong>of</strong> an abstract work is the immediate reality <strong>of</strong> our perception <strong>of</strong> it as an actual<br />
object in and <strong>of</strong> themselves, like other things in the world, except that they are uniquely made<br />
for concentrated aesthetic experience. (pg. 11)<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
The History <strong>of</strong> Abstraction: A Survey<br />
Bison Painting, 18,000 - 13,000 years B.P.<br />
Altimira Cave, Spain<br />
Clay Jaguar<br />
200 BC - 600 AD<br />
Monte Alban, Mesoamerica<br />
Antelope Mask<br />
Bamileke Tribe, Cameroon, Africa<br />
It is generally stated that abstraction in art was developed in the early decades <strong>of</strong> the<br />
20th century. The practice <strong>of</strong> abstracting from reality, however, is virtually as old as<br />
mankind itself. Early hunters and gatherers, as seen in the cave painting image above,<br />
created marvelous simplified or stylized images <strong>of</strong> the animals they depended on, both<br />
spiritually and in terms <strong>of</strong> sustenance, in caves throughout the world.<br />
The artworks produced by non-European cultures, as seen in the two examples above<br />
and whether pre-historic or contemporary in nature, also provide examples <strong>of</strong> various<br />
degrees <strong>of</strong> abstraction in both two and three dimensional forms. The development <strong>of</strong><br />
abstraction in European art in the early 20th century was, in fact, fostered by the study <strong>of</strong><br />
such artworks by European artists such as Pablo Picasso.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
The History <strong>of</strong> Abstraction: A Survey con’t<br />
Abstraction in European <strong>Art</strong> History<br />
Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) is usually credited<br />
with making the first entirely non-representational<br />
painting in 1910. The history <strong>of</strong> abstraction in<br />
European art, however, begins before<br />
Kandinsky in the later decades <strong>of</strong> the 19th<br />
century with the work <strong>of</strong> the French<br />
Impressionist artists such as Claude Monet, Paul<br />
Cézanne and Georges Seurat. While the work <strong>of</strong><br />
these artists was grounded in visible reality, their<br />
methods <strong>of</strong> working and artistic concerns began the<br />
process <strong>of</strong> breaking down the academic restrictions<br />
concerning what was acceptable subject matter in<br />
art, how artworks were produced and, most<br />
importantly, challenged the perception <strong>of</strong> what a<br />
painting actually was.<br />
Wassily Kandinsky<br />
Composition VII, 1913<br />
The Tretyalov <strong>Gallery</strong>, Moscow<br />
Paul Cézanne<br />
Maison Arbies, 1890-1894<br />
The Tretyalov <strong>Gallery</strong>, Moscow<br />
Claude Monet<br />
Haystacks (sunset), 1890-1891<br />
Museum <strong>of</strong> Fine <strong>Art</strong>s, Boston<br />
George Seurat<br />
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island <strong>of</strong> La<br />
Grande Jatte, 1884-1886<br />
Radicals in their time, early Impressionists broke the rules <strong>of</strong> academic painting. They began<br />
by giving colours, freely brushed, primacy over line. They also took the act <strong>of</strong> painting out <strong>of</strong> the<br />
studio and into the modern world. Painting realistic scenes <strong>of</strong> modern life, they portrayed overall<br />
visual effects instead <strong>of</strong> details. They used short “broken” brush strokes <strong>of</strong> mixed and pure<br />
unmixed colour, not smoothly blended or shades as was customary, in order to achieve the<br />
effect <strong>of</strong> intense colour vibration.<br />
The vibrant colour used by the Impressionist artists was adopted by their successors,<br />
the Fauve artists. The Fauves were modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities<br />
and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retained by the Impressionists.<br />
This group, which basically operated from 1905 to 1907, was led by Henri Matisse and André<br />
Derain.<br />
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The History <strong>of</strong> Abstraction: A Survey con’t<br />
Henri Matisse<br />
Harmony in Red, 1908<br />
André Derain<br />
Charing Cross Bridge, London 1906<br />
National <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Art</strong>, Washington<br />
The paintings <strong>of</strong> the Fauve artists were characterised by seemingly wild brush work and strident<br />
colours and, in their focus on colour over line and drawing, the subjects <strong>of</strong> their paintings came<br />
to be characterized by a high degree <strong>of</strong> simplification and abstraction.<br />
Pablo Picasso<br />
Les Demoiselles d/ Avignon, 1907<br />
Museum <strong>of</strong> Modern <strong>Art</strong><br />
New York, New York<br />
Pablo Picasso<br />
Portrait <strong>of</strong> Ambroise Vollard,<br />
1910<br />
While the Impressionists and Fauve artists are the direct ancestors <strong>of</strong> the abstract<br />
movement in 20th century art, the real creator <strong>of</strong> abstraction was Pablo Picasso. Picasso<br />
used primative art from Africa and Oceania as a ‘battering ram’ against the classical<br />
conception <strong>of</strong> beauty. Picasso made his first cubist paintings, such as Les Demoiselles<br />
d’Avignon, based on Cézanne’s idea that all depiction <strong>of</strong> nature can be reduced to three solids:<br />
cube, sphere and cone. Together with Georges Braque, Picasso continued his experiments and<br />
invented facet or analytical cubism. As expressed in the Portrait <strong>of</strong> Ambroise Vollard, Picasso<br />
created works which can no longer be read as images <strong>of</strong> the external world but as worlds <strong>of</strong> their<br />
own.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
The History <strong>of</strong> Abstraction: A Survey con’t<br />
Fragmented and redefined, the images preserved remnants <strong>of</strong> Renaissance principles <strong>of</strong><br />
perspective as space lies behind the picture plane and has no visible limits. By 1911<br />
Picasso and Georges Braque developed what is known as Synthetic Cubism which introduced<br />
collage into art making. Through this process these artists introduced a whole new concept <strong>of</strong><br />
space into art making.<br />
Pablo Picasso<br />
Still Life with Bowl <strong>of</strong> Fruit, 1912<br />
Philadelphia Museum <strong>of</strong> <strong>Art</strong><br />
Pablo Picasso<br />
Portrait <strong>of</strong> a Girl 1914<br />
Musee National d’<strong>Art</strong> Moderne, Centre<br />
Georges Pompidou, Paris<br />
In synthetic cubism, the picure plane lies in front <strong>of</strong> the picture plane and the picture is<br />
recognized as essentially a flat object. This re-definition <strong>of</strong> space, so different from the<br />
Renaissance principle <strong>of</strong> three-dimensional illusion that had dominated academic teaching for<br />
centuries, would have a pr<strong>of</strong>ound effect on the development <strong>of</strong> abstraction in art and was a true<br />
landmark in the history <strong>of</strong> painting.<br />
Wassily Kandinsky<br />
Composition X, 1939<br />
Piet Mondrian<br />
Lozenge Composition with Yellow, Black,<br />
Blue, Red and Gray, 1921<br />
Influenced by the practices <strong>of</strong> Impressionism, Fauvism and Cubism, artists gradually<br />
developed the idea that colour, line, form and texture could be the actual subjects <strong>of</strong> a<br />
painting and formed the essential characteristics <strong>of</strong> art. Adhering to this, Wassily<br />
Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian developed the first pure abstract works in 20th century art.<br />
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The History <strong>of</strong> Abstraction: A Survey con’t<br />
For both Kandinsky and Mondrian, abstraction was a search for truths behind<br />
appearances, expressed in a pure visual vocabulary stripped <strong>of</strong> representational<br />
references.<br />
Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) was born in Moscow. Originally trained in law and economics,<br />
Kandinsky started painting at the age <strong>of</strong> 30 and, in 1896, moved to Germany to study art<br />
full-time. After a brief return to Russia (1914-1921) Kandinsky returned to Germany where he<br />
taught at the Bauhaus school <strong>of</strong> art and architecture until it was closed by the Nazis in 1933. He<br />
then moved to France where he remained for the rest <strong>of</strong> his life.<br />
Kandinsky’s creation <strong>of</strong> purely abstract work followed a long period <strong>of</strong> development and<br />
maturation <strong>of</strong> theoretical thought based on his personal artistic experience. At first influenced by<br />
both pointillism and the Fauve artists, by 1922 geometrical elements had taken on increasing<br />
importance in his paintings. Kandinsky was also extremely influenced by music as he<br />
considered music abstract by nature as it does not try to represent the exterior world but rather<br />
to express in an immediate way the inner feelings <strong>of</strong> the human soul. He was also influenced by<br />
the theories <strong>of</strong> Theosophy expressed by H.P. Blavatsky. These theories, which had a<br />
tremendous influence on many artists during the 1920s, postulated that creation was a<br />
geometrical progression beginning with a single point. Kandinsky’s mature paintings focus on<br />
geometric forms and the use <strong>of</strong> colour as something autonomous and apart from a visual<br />
description <strong>of</strong> an object or other form and through relinquishing outer appearances he hoped to<br />
more directly communicate feelings to the viewer.<br />
The most radical abstractionist <strong>of</strong> the early<br />
20th century was Piet Mondirian (1872-<br />
1944). Born in Amersfoort, the Netherlands,<br />
Mondrian began his career as a primary<br />
teacher. While teaching he also practiced<br />
painting and these early works, while definitely<br />
representational in nature, show the influence<br />
various artistic movements such as pointillism<br />
and fauvism had on him. Mondrian’s art, like<br />
Kandinsky’s, was also strongly influenced by<br />
the theosophical movement and his work from<br />
1908 to the end <strong>of</strong> his life involved a search for<br />
the spiritual knowledge expressed by<br />
theosophist theory.<br />
Piet Mondrian<br />
Composition with Yellow Patch, 1930<br />
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-<br />
Westfalen, Dusseldorf<br />
In 1911 Mondrian moved to Paris and came under the influence <strong>of</strong> Picasso’s cubism. While<br />
cubist influences can be seen in his works from 1911 to 1914, however, unlike the Cubists<br />
Mondrian attempted to reconcile his painting with his spiritual pursuits. In this pursuit he began<br />
to simplify elements in his paintings further than the cubists had done until he had developed a<br />
completely non-representational, geometric style. In this work Mondrian did not strive for pure<br />
lyrical emotion as Kandinsky did. Rather, his goal was pure reality defined as equilibrium<br />
achieved through the balance <strong>of</strong> unequal but equivalent oppositions. By 1919 Mondrian began<br />
producing the grid-based paintings for which he became renowned and this subject motivated<br />
his art practice for the rest <strong>of</strong> his life.<br />
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Modernism according to Clement Greenberg<br />
Clement Greenberg (1909-1994) was an influential American art critic closely associated with<br />
Modern art in the United States and Canada. He helped to articulate a concept <strong>of</strong> medium<br />
specificity and championed abstraction in the visual arts. In 1940, in an influential piece in<br />
Partisan Review, Greenberg argued that the value <strong>of</strong> art was located in its form, which is<br />
inseparable from its content. In his first essay on modernism, written in 1960, Greenberg gave<br />
what has been described as what may be the most elegant definition <strong>of</strong> modernism in<br />
existence. In the essay Greenberg defined modernism as:<br />
...the use <strong>of</strong> characteristic methods <strong>of</strong> a discipline to criticize the discipline itself, not in order to<br />
subvert it but in order to entrench it more firmly in its area <strong>of</strong> competence.<br />
According to Greenberg’s essay, all the arts, in order to not be devalued in society, had to<br />
demonstrate that the kind <strong>of</strong> experience they provided was valuable in their own right and not<br />
to be obtained from any other kind <strong>of</strong> activity. As a result, what had to be exhibited was not only<br />
that which was unique and irreducible in art in general, but also that which was unique and<br />
irreducible in each particular art.<br />
In this process it quickly emerged that the unique and proper area <strong>of</strong> competence <strong>of</strong><br />
each art coincided with all that was unique in the nature <strong>of</strong> its medium. In criticizing itself,<br />
it became art’s task to eliminate from the specific effects <strong>of</strong> each art any and every effect that<br />
might be borrowed from or by the medium <strong>of</strong> any other art. Through this each art would be<br />
rendered “pure” and in this “purity” it would find the guarantee <strong>of</strong> its standards <strong>of</strong> quality.<br />
In painting, the limitations that constitute the medium <strong>of</strong> painting - the flat surface, the shape <strong>of</strong><br />
the support, the properties <strong>of</strong> the pigment - were traditionally treated as negative factors that<br />
could be acknowledged only implicitly or indirectly. In an Old Master painting, for example, one<br />
tends to see what is in the painting before one sees the picture - the paint itself, the works<br />
format - itself. Traditionally artists attempted to create an illusion <strong>of</strong> space in depth that the<br />
viewer could imagine oneself walking into. Modernism in painting reversed this. Through<br />
stressing the flatness <strong>of</strong> the surface, the flatness <strong>of</strong> the picture plane being the only<br />
thing unique and exclusive to pictorial art, Modernist artists created a situation where<br />
the viewer sees a Modernist picture as a picture first. In a modernist painting, the illusion<br />
created can only be seen into and can only be traveled through, literally or figuratively, with the<br />
eye. In other words, the painting is an object itself, not merely a vehicle for a story or an<br />
illusion.<br />
Modernism in the visual arts is closely linked to the concept <strong>of</strong> formalism. Formalism is the<br />
concept that a work’s artistic value is entirely determined by its form - the way it is made, its<br />
purely visual aspects, and its medium. Formalism emphasizes compositional elements such<br />
as colour, line, shape and texture rather than realism, context and content. In visual art,<br />
formalism posits that everything necessary to comprehending a work <strong>of</strong> art is contained<br />
within the work <strong>of</strong> art. In formalist theory, the focus is on the aesthetic experience gained from<br />
the piece.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
The History <strong>of</strong> Abstraction: A Survey con’t<br />
Post-painterly Abstraction<br />
Morris Louis<br />
Where, 1960<br />
Magna on canvas<br />
Hirshhorn Museum<br />
Post-painterly abstraction is a term created by<br />
art critic Clement Greenberg as the title for an<br />
exhibit he curated for the Los Angeles County<br />
Museum <strong>of</strong> <strong>Art</strong> in 1964. It is a broad term that<br />
encompasses a variety <strong>of</strong> styles which evolved in<br />
reaction to the painterly, gestural approaches <strong>of</strong><br />
Abstract Expressionism. Greenberg characterized<br />
post-painterly abstraction as linear in design, bright<br />
in colour, lacking in detail and incident, and open<br />
in composition (inclined to lead the eye beyond the<br />
limits <strong>of</strong> the canvas). While post-painterly works were<br />
cleaner in composition and utilised sharper forms<br />
in reaction to Abstract Expressionist works, others<br />
utilised s<strong>of</strong>ter forms and a decorative character.<br />
The works <strong>of</strong> art termed post-painterly ushered in a<br />
variety <strong>of</strong> new directions in abstract art and these,<br />
combined with the Pop <strong>Art</strong> movement, led the way<br />
to the contemporary art <strong>of</strong> the 21st century.<br />
Jack Bush<br />
Big A, 1968<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The History <strong>of</strong> Abstraction: A Survey con’t<br />
Colour Field Painting<br />
Abstraction in the visual arts has taken<br />
many forms over the 20th century. One <strong>of</strong><br />
these is Colour Field Painting.<br />
Colour Field painting emerged in New York<br />
City during the 1940s and 1950s. Inspired by<br />
European modernism and closely related to<br />
Abstract Expressionism, colour field<br />
painting is characterized primarily by large fields<br />
<strong>of</strong> flat, solid colour spread across or stained into<br />
the canvas creating areas <strong>of</strong> unbroken surface<br />
and a flat picture plane. The movement places<br />
less emphasis on gesture, brushstrokes and<br />
action in favour <strong>of</strong> an overall consistency <strong>of</strong><br />
form and process.<br />
Henri Matisse<br />
View <strong>of</strong> Notre Dame, 1914<br />
Oil on canvas<br />
Museum <strong>of</strong> Modern <strong>Art</strong>, New York<br />
The use <strong>of</strong> large opened fields <strong>of</strong> expressive colour applied in generous painterly portions,<br />
accompanied by loose drawing, was first seen in the early 20th century works <strong>of</strong> Henri Matisse<br />
and Joan Miró. These artists, along with Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and Piet<br />
Mondrian directly influenced the Abstract Expressionists, the Colour Field painters and the<br />
Lyrical Abstractionists. During the late 1950s and 1960s Colour Field painters emerged in<br />
Great Britain, Canada, Washington, D.C. and the West Coast <strong>of</strong> the United States. Using<br />
formats <strong>of</strong> stripes, targets, simple geometric patterns and references to landscape<br />
imagery and to nature these artists began to break away stylistically from abstract<br />
expressionism; experimenting with new ways <strong>of</strong> making pictures and new ways <strong>of</strong><br />
handling paint and colour. The artists associated with the Colour Field movement moved<br />
away from the violence and anxiety <strong>of</strong> Action Painting toward a new and ‘calmer’<br />
language <strong>of</strong> colour.<br />
An important distinction that made colour field painting different from abstract<br />
expressionism was the paint handling. Colour Field painters revolutionized the way paint<br />
could be effectively applied as they sought to rid art <strong>of</strong> superfluous rhetoric. In this aim<br />
they used greatly reduced formats with drawing essentially simplified to repetitive and<br />
regulated systems, basic references to nature, and a highly articulated and<br />
psychological use <strong>of</strong> colour. In general these painters eliminated overt recognizable imagery<br />
and sought to present each painting as one unified, cohesive, monolithic image <strong>of</strong>ten with series<br />
<strong>of</strong> related types. Unlike the emotional energy and gestural surface marks and paint handling <strong>of</strong><br />
abstract expressionists, colour field painters sought to efface individual marks in favour <strong>of</strong> large,<br />
flat, stained and soaked areas <strong>of</strong> colour.<br />
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The History <strong>of</strong> Abstraction: A Survey con’t<br />
Colour Field Painting continued<br />
Helen Frankenthaler<br />
Mountains and Sea, 1952<br />
Oil stain on canvas<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the reasons for the success <strong>of</strong> the colour field movement was the technique <strong>of</strong> staining.<br />
In this method artists would dilute their paint in containers, making a fluid liquid and then pour<br />
it onto raw unprimed canvas. The paint could also be brushed on or rolled on or thrown on and<br />
would spread into the fabric <strong>of</strong> the canvas and artists would <strong>of</strong>ten draw shapes and areas as<br />
they stained. Many artists, such as Helen Frankenthaler, found that pouring and staining opened<br />
the door to innovations and revolutionary methods <strong>of</strong> drawing and expressing meaning in new<br />
ways.<br />
Colour field became a viable way <strong>of</strong> painting at exactly the time that acrylic paint, the new plastic<br />
paint, came into being. Oil paints, which have a medium quite different, are not water based and<br />
so leave a slick <strong>of</strong> oil around the edge <strong>of</strong> a colour whereas acrylic paints stop at their own edge.<br />
Acrylics were first made commercially in the 1950s with water soluble artist quality acrylic paints<br />
becoming commercially available in the early 1960s. These proved to be ideally suited for stain<br />
painting as water soluble acrylics made diluted colours sink and hold fast into raw canvas.<br />
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Pop <strong>Art</strong>: A Brief Analysis<br />
Pop <strong>Art</strong> refers to an art movement that<br />
began in the mid 1950s in Britain and<br />
in the late 1950s in the United States.<br />
From the very start its imagery was<br />
largely based on American mass media<br />
and the movement thus had a special<br />
appeal to American artists. The Pop <strong>Art</strong><br />
Movement reached its fullest<br />
development in America in the 1960s.<br />
Pop <strong>Art</strong> challenged tradition by asserting<br />
that an artist’s use <strong>of</strong> the mass-produced<br />
visual commodities <strong>of</strong> popular culture is<br />
contiguous with the perspective <strong>of</strong> Fine<br />
<strong>Art</strong>. Pop <strong>Art</strong> is aimed to employ images<br />
<strong>of</strong> popular as opposed to elitist culture in<br />
art, emphasizing the banal or kitschy<br />
elements <strong>of</strong> any given culture. As such,<br />
pop art employs aspects <strong>of</strong> mass culture<br />
such as advertising, comic books, and<br />
mundane cultural objects as art subjects<br />
such as hamburgers and ice-cream<br />
cones. Pop <strong>Art</strong> is also associated with the<br />
artists’ use <strong>of</strong> mechanical means <strong>of</strong><br />
reproduction or rendering techniques<br />
such as the commercial advertising<br />
technique <strong>of</strong> silk-screening.<br />
Jasper Johns<br />
Flag, 1954-1955<br />
Museum <strong>of</strong> Modern <strong>Art</strong>, New York<br />
Patrick Caulfield<br />
Still Life with Dagger, 1963<br />
Tate <strong>Gallery</strong>, London U.K.<br />
In the United States Pop <strong>Art</strong> was initially regarded as<br />
a reaction to Abstract Expressionism because its<br />
exponents brought back figural, representational<br />
imagery and made use <strong>of</strong> hard-edged, quasiphotographic<br />
techniques. Early Pop artists, such as<br />
Jasper Johns, used the energetic brushstrokes and<br />
boldly abbreviated shapes <strong>of</strong> Action Painting, but Pop<br />
artists differed in that their paintings are about<br />
something beyond personal symbolism and<br />
‘painterly looseness’.<br />
Pop artists were <strong>of</strong>ten labeled Neo-Dadaists because<br />
they used commonplace subjects such as comic strips<br />
(Roy Lichtenstein), soup tins (Andy Warhol) and<br />
highway signs which had affinities with Marcel Duchamp’s ‘ready-mades’ <strong>of</strong> the early 20th<br />
century.<br />
<strong>Art</strong>ists associated with the Pop <strong>Art</strong> Movement are not unified in their artistic approaches but,<br />
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Pop <strong>Art</strong>: A Brief Analysis continued<br />
generally speaking, Pop <strong>Art</strong> works can be defined in style by the use <strong>of</strong> simplified imagery<br />
and the use <strong>of</strong> bright colours.<br />
Keith Haring (1958-1990)<br />
Keith Haring Button<br />
Roy Lichtenstien (1923-1997)<br />
Drowning Girl, 1963<br />
Museum <strong>of</strong> Modern <strong>Art</strong>, New York<br />
Andy Warhol (1928-1987)<br />
Campbells Soup, 1968<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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Post Modernism: A Brief Analysis<br />
The paintings <strong>of</strong> Jason Carter in the exhibition <strong>Urban</strong> <strong>Animals</strong> are most clearly influenced<br />
by the art movements <strong>of</strong> abstraction/modernism and pop art. The simplification and<br />
emphasis on the flatness <strong>of</strong> the picture plane, seen in many <strong>of</strong> his works, speak to<br />
modernism while the use <strong>of</strong> bold flat colours are a hall-mark <strong>of</strong> pop art. In all <strong>of</strong> his works,<br />
however, he also demonstrates clear influences from the territory <strong>of</strong> Postmodernism in<br />
the arts.<br />
Postmodern <strong>Art</strong> is a term used to describe<br />
art movements which both arise from, and<br />
react against or reject, trends in<br />
modernism. The traits associated with the<br />
use <strong>of</strong> the term postmodern in art include<br />
bricolage, the use <strong>of</strong> words prominently as<br />
the central artistic element, collage,<br />
simplification, appropriation, depiction <strong>of</strong><br />
consumer or popular culture and<br />
Performance <strong>Art</strong>.<br />
Al McWilliams<br />
Appearances, 1986<br />
Photograph on board<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong><br />
In painting postmodernism reintroduced representation and traditional techniques to art making.<br />
Postmodernism rejects modernism’s grand narratives <strong>of</strong> artistic direction, removes the<br />
boundaries between high and low forms <strong>of</strong> art, and disrupts genre’s conventions with collision,<br />
collage, and fragmentation.<br />
Specific trends <strong>of</strong> modernism generally cited are formal purity, medium specificity, art for art’s<br />
sake, authenticity, universality, originality and revolutionary or reactionary tendencies, ie. the<br />
avant-garde. Many institutions argue that being visionary, forward-looking, cutting-edge, and<br />
progressive are crucial to the mission <strong>of</strong> art. Postmodernism, on the other hand, rejects the<br />
notion <strong>of</strong> advancement or progress in art per se, and thus aims to overturn the ‘myth <strong>of</strong> the<br />
avant-garde’. It also rejects modernism’s grand narratives <strong>of</strong> artistic direction, eradicating the<br />
boundaries between high and low forms <strong>of</strong> art, and disrupting genre’s conventions with collision,<br />
collage, and fragmentation. Irony, parody and humor are important ingredients in postmodern<br />
works.<br />
Many movements and trends in art throughout the 20th century are seen as precursors to<br />
postmodernism. With the introduction <strong>of</strong> the use <strong>of</strong> industrial artifacts in art and techniques such<br />
as collage, avant-garde movements such as Cubism, Dada and Surrealism questioned the<br />
nature and value <strong>of</strong> art. These movements in turn were influenced by new artforms such as<br />
cinema and the rise <strong>of</strong> reproduction as a means <strong>of</strong> creating artworks. Other modern movements<br />
influential to postmodern art are Pop <strong>Art</strong>, Minimalism, conceptual art and the use <strong>of</strong> techniques<br />
such as assemblage, montage, and appropriation.<br />
Unlike modern art, with its constant reinvention, postmodern art has a number <strong>of</strong><br />
movements within it. One <strong>of</strong> these is a return to classical painting and sculpture. A second<br />
movement is termed Conceptual art. Conceptual art is sometimes labelled postmodern because<br />
it is expressly involved in deconstruction <strong>of</strong> what makes a work <strong>of</strong> art ‘art’. Because it is <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Post Modernism: A Brief Analysis continued<br />
designed to confront, <strong>of</strong>fend or attack notions held by many <strong>of</strong> the people who view it,<br />
conceptual art is regarded with particular controversy.<br />
A third trend in Postmodern <strong>Art</strong> is termed lowbrow art. Lowbrow art is a widespread populist<br />
art movement with origins in the underground comix world, punk music, hot-rod street culture,<br />
and other California subcultures. It is also <strong>of</strong>ten known by the name pop surrealism. Lowbrow<br />
art highlights a central theme in postmodernism in that the distinction between ‘high’ and ‘low’ art<br />
are no longer recognized. Another trend in art which has been associated with the term postmodern<br />
is the use <strong>of</strong> a number <strong>of</strong> different media together. One <strong>of</strong> the most<br />
common forms <strong>of</strong> ‘multi-media art’ is the use <strong>of</strong> video art.<br />
Finally, the re-emergence <strong>of</strong> an allegorical impulse is characteristic <strong>of</strong> postmodern art.<br />
This impulse is linked to appropriation in art which debunks modernist notions <strong>of</strong> artistic genius<br />
and originality and is more ambivalent and contradictory than modern art.<br />
Jason Carter<br />
The Prairie Dogs on the Open Road, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Characteristics inherent to Postmodern <strong>Art</strong> are<br />
evidenced in all <strong>of</strong> the paintings by Jason Carter in<br />
the exhibition <strong>Urban</strong> <strong>Animals</strong>. Carter’s emphasis<br />
on representation, simplification <strong>of</strong> forms, the<br />
introduction <strong>of</strong> narrative, the elevation <strong>of</strong> ‘low’ art<br />
forms (illustration and comic book elements), and<br />
the mix <strong>of</strong> modernist and pop art concerns all<br />
mark his work as going in a different direction than<br />
either strict modernism or Pop <strong>Art</strong>. Also central to<br />
some <strong>of</strong> the paintings in the exhibiiton are the<br />
elements <strong>of</strong> irony and humor. These elements are<br />
expressed most clearly in the paintings The<br />
Prairie Dogs on the Open Road and The Man<br />
Hole.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
<strong>Animals</strong> in <strong>Art</strong> and <strong>Art</strong> Styles:<br />
The Woodland Style<br />
While First Nations peoples have been<br />
creating visual imagery for millennia, it was<br />
not until the 1960s that their imagery was<br />
recognized by the Canadian <strong>Art</strong> establishment<br />
as anything more than cultural artifacts or<br />
records. The first First Nations artist to<br />
achieve any recognition in Canada was<br />
Norval Morrisseau who developed what has<br />
come to be termed the Woodland School <strong>of</strong><br />
art. In 1973 Morrisseau joined artists Alex<br />
Janvier, Daphne Odjig, Carl Ray, Eddy<br />
Cobiness and Joe Sanchez, to form a group<br />
which came to be called the ‘Indian Group <strong>of</strong><br />
Seven’ whose mission was to spread the word<br />
about Native woodland art. This group has<br />
had a tremendous influence on the First<br />
Nations artists who have followed them.<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Habitat for Humanity, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Morrisseau’s influence is evident in the paintings <strong>of</strong> Jason Carter in the exhibition<br />
<strong>Urban</strong> <strong>Animals</strong>. Utilising bright, flat colours outlined by heavy dark lines, hall-marks <strong>of</strong><br />
the Woodland style as developed by Morrisseau, Carter creates strong images which<br />
speak to the importance <strong>of</strong> animals both to First Nations peoples and to humanity as a<br />
whole.<br />
Norval Morrisseau<br />
Norval Morrisseau (1932-2007) was one <strong>of</strong> Canada’s foremost aboriginal artists and founder<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Woodland Style <strong>of</strong> painting. Born near Thunder Bay, Ontario, on the Sand Point Reserve,<br />
Morrisseau was an Ojibwa shaman and self-taught artist who painted for more than 50 years,<br />
gaining an International reputation as one <strong>of</strong> Canada’s original master artists. Morrisseau was<br />
brought up by both <strong>of</strong> his maternal grandparents. His grandfather was a shaman who schooled<br />
him in the traditional ways <strong>of</strong> his culture while his grandmother, a Catholic, made sure he<br />
was familiar with Christian beliefs. According to accounts, it was the conflict between the two<br />
cultures that influenced Morrisseau’s outlook and became his art.<br />
Morrisseau was known for taking traditional icons expressed in his native culture in rock art<br />
and birch bark scrolls and translating these images in the Western media <strong>of</strong> easel painting and<br />
printmaking. He was also fascinated with modern European painting, which he was exposed to<br />
by his first Anglo-Canadian patrons in 1959.<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
The Woodland Style continued<br />
Morrisseau’s first exhibition was in 1962 and throughout his career he received numerous<br />
distinctions. In 1970 he became a member <strong>of</strong> the Royal Canadian Academy <strong>of</strong> <strong>Art</strong>. In 1978 he<br />
was made a Member <strong>of</strong> the Order <strong>of</strong> Canada and also received honorary doctorates from McGill<br />
University in Montreal and McMaster University in Hamilton. In 1995 The Assembly <strong>of</strong> First<br />
Nations presented him with its highest honour, a presentation <strong>of</strong> an eagle feather. In 2006<br />
Morrisseau had the only native solo art exhibition in the 127 year history <strong>of</strong> the National <strong>Gallery</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong> Canada. Shortly before his death Morrisseau had a major solo exhibition entitled<br />
Norval Morrisseau: Shaman <strong>Art</strong>ist, at the National Museum <strong>of</strong> the North American Indian in<br />
New York City. As stated by Assembly <strong>of</strong> First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine following<br />
Morrisseau’s death:<br />
Norval Morrisseau’s courageous and <strong>of</strong>ten controversial approach to his work was<br />
instrumental in encouraging First Nations people to know their spirituality, history and<br />
culture in order to better understand themselves.<br />
Norval Morrisseau could lay claim to being the creator and spiritual leader <strong>of</strong> the Woodland<br />
Indian art movement, not only in Canada but in the northeast United States. He developed his<br />
style independent <strong>of</strong> the influence <strong>of</strong> any other artist and was the first to depict Ojibwa legends<br />
and history to the non-native world. In Morrisseau’s work there is little attention to figurative<br />
modelling, and no delving into the problems <strong>of</strong> perspective or pictorial depth. Instead, he<br />
presented stylized versions <strong>of</strong> what he knew: the bears, loons, fish and other animals and the<br />
people in the town around him. The rudiments <strong>of</strong> Woodland, also called the pictographic<br />
style or x-ray style, paintings are expressive formline; a system for transparency and<br />
interconnecting lines that determine relationships in terms <strong>of</strong> spiritual power. For<br />
Morrisseau, the use <strong>of</strong> bright, contrasting colours were also a key resource in his<br />
repertory <strong>of</strong> symbols. His manner <strong>of</strong> separating form into areas <strong>of</strong> distinct colour is reminiscent<br />
<strong>of</strong> stained glass and may have been a result <strong>of</strong> his conversion to Christianity and frequent<br />
trips to a Catholic Church when he was recovering from tuberculosis in his early 20s. He used<br />
connecting lines to depict interdependence between forms and colours. Three generations <strong>of</strong><br />
native artists have followed in Morrisseau’s footsteps, producing variations <strong>of</strong> the Morrisseau<br />
style using heavy black outlines to enclose colourful, flat shapes. As expressed by Morrisseau<br />
himself:<br />
I want to make paintings full <strong>of</strong> colour, laughter, compassion and love....If I can do that, I can<br />
paint for 100 years.<br />
Norval Morrisseau<br />
Fish Unity in Cosmic Sea, n.d.<br />
Serigraph on paper<br />
<strong>Art</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong> Collection<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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<strong>Animals</strong> in <strong>Alberta</strong> <strong>Art</strong>: A Survey<br />
Paul Kane<br />
Assiniboine Hunting Buffalo,1851-1856<br />
Oil on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the National <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> Canada<br />
<strong>Alberta</strong> is a young province, and the<br />
practice <strong>of</strong> Euro-Canadian artistic modes<br />
<strong>of</strong> expression is thus a relatively recent<br />
phenomena in the province. The first<br />
Euro-Canadian artist to practice in the<br />
prairies was Paul Kane (1810-1871) who, in<br />
the 1840s, travelled from Toronto to Fort<br />
Edmonton and on to Fort Victoria. Kane’s<br />
focus was on recording, in a romantic<br />
fashion, the land and human inhabitants<br />
(especially the First Nations peoples he<br />
encountered) <strong>of</strong> the vast western regions for<br />
his eastern patrons. In this pursuit he<br />
naturally recorded the fauna he found in his<br />
travels as well.<br />
A second early Canadian artist also<br />
interested in the fauna <strong>of</strong> the west was<br />
Frederick Verner. Born in Sheridan, Ontario,<br />
Verner (1836-1928) admired the work <strong>of</strong> Paul<br />
Kane, with whom he later became friends.<br />
Because <strong>of</strong> this admiration, Verner decided<br />
to become a painter himself. Emulating Kane<br />
he travelled west to paint Indian scenes and,<br />
by 1873, was the most popular artist<br />
working in Toronto. Like Kane he also<br />
artistically explored the fauna he found in the<br />
west.<br />
In the late 19th century, as expressed<br />
in the work <strong>of</strong> Kane, Verner, and a small<br />
handful <strong>of</strong> other artists, three main<br />
themes were explored in prairie art: First<br />
Nations (and early Euro-Canadian)<br />
peoples and lifestyles; the landscape; and<br />
the animals <strong>of</strong> the west.<br />
Frederick Verner<br />
Buffalo Stampede,1882<br />
Oil on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong><br />
While animal imagery has continued to be an aspect <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong>’s artistic heritage since<br />
the 1800s, for most <strong>of</strong> the 20th century this investigation was an undercurrent as animal<br />
imagery came to have little status in the serious art world. As stated by curator Elizabeth<br />
Brown:<br />
There is a feeling, held by many artists and critics, that there is something over-sentimental or<br />
superficial in their (animals) portrayal.<br />
While animal images were produced by various artists in the early decades <strong>of</strong> the twentieth<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
<strong>Animals</strong> in <strong>Alberta</strong> <strong>Art</strong> continued<br />
century, such as seen in the drawings <strong>of</strong><br />
Illingworth Kerr, such imagery was not given<br />
much attention in art circles. It is only since the<br />
early 1990s that animals have emerged as a<br />
theme worthy <strong>of</strong> serious exhibition within the<br />
province. In her book An <strong>Alberta</strong> <strong>Art</strong> Chronicle:<br />
Adventure in recent & contemporary art, author<br />
Mary-Beth Laviolette provides two key influences<br />
on this re-emergence. First is the emergence<br />
<strong>of</strong> a generation <strong>of</strong> First Nations artists, such as<br />
George Littlechild and Joane Cardinal-Schubert,<br />
who readily employ such imagery in compelling<br />
ways.<br />
Joane Cardinal-Schubert<br />
Self-Portrait - Warshirt - Secrets,1991<br />
Mixed-media on paper<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong><br />
A second reason for the increased respectability <strong>of</strong> animal imagery is the emergence <strong>of</strong> the<br />
environmental movement and ‘New Age’ attitudes. Both environmentalists and ‘New Agers’<br />
venerate nature and enoble animals and, as environmental themes have come to the fore in<br />
many art practices, animal imagery has risen in esteem. Finally, due to the enduring culture <strong>of</strong><br />
animal husbandry on the prairies, there is a tremendous empathy for animals among both the<br />
viewing public and artists themselves. Contemporary artists, such as seen in the work <strong>of</strong><br />
Maureen Enns, place animals in less traditional compositions, giving them a context linked with<br />
contemporary art practices since the 1970s. Enns, for example, is interested in such formal<br />
issues as realism, abstraction, collage, decorative patterning, depth versus flatness etc., all<br />
contemporary painting concerns. These result in unconventional animal portraits which, while<br />
approachable, still present artistic challenges to the viewer and, while evoking contemporary<br />
painting practices, are also very potent symbols <strong>of</strong> place.<br />
Maureen Enns<br />
Dolly-Divide Pass, 1991<br />
Charcoal on paper<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
An <strong>Urban</strong> Animal Story<br />
CBC news - October 31, 2012<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Visual Learning<br />
and Hands-On<br />
<strong>Art</strong> Activities<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Habitat for a Beaver, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
What is Visual Learning?<br />
All art has many sides to it. The artist makes the works for people to experience. They in turn<br />
can make discoveries about both the work and the artist that help them learn and give them<br />
pleasure for a long time.<br />
How we look at an object determines what we come to know about it. We remember information<br />
about an object far better when we are able to see (and handle) objects rather than by only<br />
reading about them. This investigation through observation (looking) is very important to<br />
undertanding how objects fit into our world in the past and in the present and will help viewers<br />
reach a considered response to what they see. The following is a six-step method to looking<br />
at, and understanding, a work <strong>of</strong> art.<br />
STEP 1: INITIAL, INTUITIVE RESPONSE The first ‘gut level’ response to a visual presentation.<br />
What do you see and what do you think <strong>of</strong> it?<br />
STEP 2: DESCRIPTION Naming facts - a visual inventory <strong>of</strong> the elements <strong>of</strong> design.<br />
Questions to Guide Inquiry:<br />
What colours do you see? What shapes are most noticeable?<br />
What objects are most apparent? Describe the lines in the work.<br />
STEP 3: ANALYSIS Exploring how the parts relate to each other.<br />
Questions to Guide Inquiry:<br />
What proportions can you see? eg. What percentage <strong>of</strong> the work is background? Foreground?<br />
Land? Sky? Why are there these differences? What effect do these differences create?<br />
What parts seem closest to you? Farthest away? How does the artist give this impression?<br />
STEP 4: INTERPRETATION Exploring what the work might mean or be about<br />
Questions to Guide Inquiry:<br />
How does this work make you feel? Why?<br />
What word would best describe the mood <strong>of</strong> this work?<br />
What is this painting/photograph/sculpture about?<br />
Is the artist trying to tell a story? What might be the story in this work?<br />
STEP 5: INFORMATION Looking beyond the work for information that may further<br />
understanding.<br />
Questions to Guide Inquiry:<br />
What is the artist’s name? When did he/she live?<br />
What art style and medium does the artist use?<br />
What artist’s work is this artist interested in?<br />
What art was being made at the same time as this artist was working?<br />
What was happening in history at the time this artist was working?<br />
What social/political/economic/cultural issues is this artist interested in?<br />
STEP 6: PERSONALIZATION What do I think about this work? (Reaching a considered<br />
response).<br />
© Virginia Stephen<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Elements and Principles <strong>of</strong> Design Tour<br />
The following pages provide definitions and examples <strong>of</strong> the elements and principles <strong>of</strong> art that<br />
are used by artists in the images found in the exhibition <strong>Urban</strong> <strong>Animals</strong>.<br />
The elements <strong>of</strong> art are components <strong>of</strong> a work <strong>of</strong> art that can be isolated and defined. They are<br />
the building blocks used to create a work <strong>of</strong> art.<br />
*Use this tour to better understand the purpose <strong>of</strong> the artist’s choices!<br />
LINE !<br />
SHAPE!<br />
COLOUR!<br />
TEXTURE!<br />
SPACE!
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Elements and Principles <strong>of</strong> Design Tour<br />
LINE: An element <strong>of</strong> art that is used to define shape, contours and outlines. It is also<br />
used to suggest mass and volume.<br />
See: Mother Bear and her cub in the back alleys <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong>, 2012 by Jason Carter<br />
What types <strong>of</strong> lines are there? How can you describe a line? What are some <strong>of</strong> the<br />
characteristics <strong>of</strong> a line?<br />
Width: thick, thin, tapering, uneven Length: long, short, continuous, broken<br />
Feeling: sharp, jagged, graceful, smooth Focus: sharp, blurry, fuzzy, choppy<br />
Direction: horizontal, vertical, diagonal, curving, perpendicular, oblique, parallel, radial, zigzag<br />
Now, descibe the lines you see in this image. Follow the lines in the air with your finger.<br />
What quality do the lines have? How do the lines operate in the image?<br />
Most <strong>of</strong> the lines in this image are diagonal, horizontal, or vertical in nature. Diagonal lines are<br />
seen on the roadway and on the bear cub. The diagonal lines <strong>of</strong> the road lead the viewer’s eye<br />
back to the house at the ‘top’ <strong>of</strong> the picture. The diagonal lines <strong>of</strong> the bear cub create a sense <strong>of</strong><br />
movement and give the appearance that the cub is walking. The vertical lines <strong>of</strong> the tree trunks<br />
and the brown buildings on the right <strong>of</strong> the picture lead the eye from the bottom <strong>of</strong> the picture<br />
plane to the top and, as the trees receed in the distance these lines move closer together,<br />
adding to the idea <strong>of</strong> distance in the work. The horizontal lines (Mother bear’s body; roadway;<br />
ro<strong>of</strong> tops) lead the eye across the image and help tie one part <strong>of</strong> the painting to the other.<br />
Line can also be a word used in the composition meaning the direction the viewer’s eye<br />
travels when looking at a picture. How does line in this image help your eye travel within<br />
the composition?<br />
The lines created in the composition allow our eyes to travel around the work in a very dynamic<br />
way. The number <strong>of</strong> lines and variety <strong>of</strong> lines create a sense <strong>of</strong> energy in the work which may<br />
reflect the actual movement <strong>of</strong> the bears through this urban space.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Elements and Principles <strong>of</strong> Design Tour<br />
SHAPE: When a line crosses itself or intersects with another line to enclose a space it<br />
creates a shape. Shape is two-dimensional. It has height and width but no depth.<br />
See: The Wolf and Oil, 2012 by Jason Carter<br />
What kind <strong>of</strong> shapes can you think <strong>of</strong>?<br />
Geometric: circles, squares, rectangles and triangles. We see them in architecture and<br />
manufactured items.<br />
Organic shapes: a leaf, seashell, flower. We see them in nature with characteristics that are<br />
freeflowing, informal and irregular.<br />
Static shapes: shapes that appear stable and resting.<br />
Dynamic shapes: Shapes that appear moving and active.<br />
What shapes do you see in this image? What shapes are positive and negative?<br />
The composition is primarily composed <strong>of</strong> ‘loose’ geometric shapes - squares/rectangles/<br />
triangles. Even an organic form like the wolf is made up <strong>of</strong> angular segments.<br />
How do the shapes operate in this image?<br />
Shapes are repeated in the image. The repetition <strong>of</strong> the rectangular buildings with blue-square<br />
windows lead our eye back into space while the thin rectangular shapes in the background lead<br />
our eye across the picture plane.<br />
What quality do the shapes have? Does the quality <strong>of</strong> the shapes contribute to the<br />
meaning or story suggested in the work?<br />
Geometric shapes are those that are man-made in nature. The concentration or emphasis on<br />
these shapes center the scene in an urban environment and may give the work a ‘harsher’ or<br />
more oppresive feeling or mood than seen in other works in the exhibition.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Elements and Principles <strong>of</strong> Design Tour<br />
COLOUR: Colour comes from light that is reflected <strong>of</strong>f objects. Colour has three main<br />
characteristics: Hue, or its name (red, blue, etc.) Value: (how light or dark the colour is)<br />
and Intensity (how bright or dull the colour is)<br />
See: The City Moose, 2012 by Jason Carter<br />
What are primary colours? Do you see any? Point to them in the drawing. What<br />
secondary colours do you see?<br />
Colour is made <strong>of</strong> primary colours, red, blue and yellow. Secondary colours<br />
are created from primary colours and include green, orange and purple. We see all primaries,<br />
red, yellow, blue and secondaries orange and green.<br />
Where is your eye directed to first? Why? Are there any colours that stand out more than<br />
others?<br />
Our attention is directed to the intense warm colour <strong>of</strong> the orange tower in the centre <strong>of</strong> the<br />
painting and then across the picture plane to each <strong>of</strong> the other orange towers. These towers are<br />
the most vivid in the work and, by being placed next to large areas <strong>of</strong> the complementary colour<br />
blue, are made to stand out. The red and yellow buildings also stand out because they are also<br />
warm colours and placed next to the complement <strong>of</strong> red which is green.<br />
What are complementary colours? How have they been used to draw attention?<br />
Complementary colours are those across from each other on the colour wheel and are<br />
placed next to each other to create the most contrast. The orange and other warm colours <strong>of</strong><br />
the buildings (red, yellow) stand out against the cool colours (blue and green) and so direct<br />
the viewer’s eye. Contrasting colours are used to create a strong sense <strong>of</strong> deep space and<br />
emphasis in the work.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Elements and Principles <strong>of</strong> Design Tour<br />
SPACE: The area between and around objects. It can also refer to the feeling <strong>of</strong> depth<br />
in a two-dimensional artwork.<br />
See: Habitat for a Beaver, 2012 by Jason Carter<br />
What is space? What dimensions does it have?<br />
Space includes the background, middleground and foreground. It can refer to the<br />
distances or areas around, between or within components <strong>of</strong> a piece. It may have two<br />
dimensions (length and width) or three dimensions including height or depth.<br />
What do you see in this work? What is closest to you? Farthest away? How do you know<br />
this?<br />
In this work we see trees, a beaver, a beaver lodge, a lake and background trees and<br />
mountains. The trees on the far right are closest to the viewer. This is shown by them being<br />
larger than anything else and by the fact that the viewer can not see their bottoms. The<br />
mountains on the top right are farthest away. This is shown by their light grey colour and the<br />
lighter colour <strong>of</strong> the trees ‘in front’ <strong>of</strong> them.<br />
In what other way has Carter created a sense <strong>of</strong> space?<br />
The artist has used a variety <strong>of</strong> lines to help develop a sense <strong>of</strong> space in the work. The<br />
horizontal lines <strong>of</strong> the lake and in the mountains lead the eye from the left side <strong>of</strong> the picture<br />
to the vertical lines <strong>of</strong> the trees on the right. The vertical lines <strong>of</strong> these trees lead the eye ‘up’<br />
the picture to the mountains, which are farthest away. The artist also uses overlapping shapes<br />
and changes in size to create space and depth. The beaver at the ‘front/bottom’ <strong>of</strong> the picture<br />
overalps the horizongal bands <strong>of</strong> water and appears in front <strong>of</strong> the beaver lodge, which in turn<br />
overlaps the bands behind it and so appears closer than the mountains. The horizontal bands<br />
are also different tones <strong>of</strong> colour which lead the eye back into the space.<br />
What else in the work may create a sense <strong>of</strong> depth? How does it do this?<br />
The artist has deliberately used a wide tonal scale from dark black to pure white to create<br />
contrast in the work. Placing a dark green shape <strong>of</strong> ground in the foreground attracts our<br />
attention and we notice the contrast <strong>of</strong> the beaver’s tan coloured body on the dark surface. The<br />
light tan <strong>of</strong> the beaver’s body is similar in colour to the beaver lodge whch causes the viewer’s<br />
eye to jump to the middle <strong>of</strong> the picture plane. Finally, the changing tones <strong>of</strong> green for the lake<br />
and background trees create further space/depth in the work.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Reading Pictures Program<br />
Grades 4-12/adults<br />
Objectives:<br />
The purposes <strong>of</strong> this program are to:<br />
1/ Introduce participants to <strong>Art</strong> and what artists do – this includes examinations <strong>of</strong> art styles; art<br />
elements; the possible aims and meaning(s) in an art work and how to deduce those meanings<br />
and aims.<br />
2/ Introduce visitors to the current exhibition – the aim <strong>of</strong> the exhibition and the kind <strong>of</strong> exhibition/<br />
artwork found. - the artist(s) - his/her background(s)<br />
- his/her place in art history<br />
3/ Engage participants in a deeper investigation <strong>of</strong> artworks.<br />
Teacher/Facilitator Introduction to Program:<br />
This program is called Reading Pictures. What do you think this might involve?<br />
-generate as many ideas as possible concerning what viewers might think ‘Reading Pictures’<br />
might involve or what this phrase might mean.<br />
Before we can ‘read’ art, however, we should have some understanding what we’re talking<br />
about.<br />
What is <strong>Art</strong>? If you had to define this term, how would you define it?<br />
<strong>Art</strong> can be defined as creative expression - and artistic practice is an aspect and expression <strong>of</strong> a<br />
peoples’ culture or the artist’s identity.<br />
The discipline <strong>of</strong> <strong>Art</strong>, or the creation <strong>of</strong> a piece <strong>of</strong> art, however, is much more than simple ‘creative<br />
expression’ by an ‘artist’ or an isolated component <strong>of</strong> culture.<br />
How many <strong>of</strong> you would describe yourselves as artists?<br />
You may not believe it, but everyday you engage in some sort <strong>of</strong> artistic endeavor.<br />
How many <strong>of</strong> you got up this morning and thought about what you were going to wear today?<br />
Why did you choose the clothes you did? Why do you wear your hair that way? How many<br />
<strong>of</strong> you have tattoos or plan to get a tattoo some day? What kind <strong>of</strong> tattoo would you choose?<br />
Why.....? How many <strong>of</strong> you own digital cameras or have cameras on cell phones? How many <strong>of</strong><br />
you take pictures and e-mail them to other people?<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Reading Pictures Program continued<br />
<strong>Art</strong> is all around us and we are all involved in artistic endeavors to some degree. The<br />
photographs we take, the colour and styles <strong>of</strong> the clothes we wear, the ways we build and<br />
decorate our homes, gardens and public buildings, the style <strong>of</strong> our cell phones or the vehicles<br />
we drive, the images we see and are attracted to in advertising or the text or symbols on our<br />
bumper stickers – all <strong>of</strong> these things (and 9 billion others) utilize artistic principles. They say<br />
something about our personal selves and reflect upon and influence the economic, political,<br />
cultural, historical and geographic concerns <strong>of</strong> our society.<br />
<strong>Art</strong>, therefore, is not just something some people in a society do – it is something that affects<br />
and informs everyone within a society.<br />
Today we’re going to look at art - paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures – and see what art can<br />
tell us about the world we live in – both the past, the present and possibly the future – and what<br />
art can tell us about ourselves.<br />
<strong>Art</strong> is a language like any other and it can be read.<br />
<strong>Art</strong> can be read in two ways. It can be looked at intuitively – what do you see? What do you like<br />
or not like? How does it make you feel and why? – or it can be read formally by looking at what<br />
are called the Elements <strong>of</strong> Design – the tools artists use or consider when creating a piece <strong>of</strong><br />
work.<br />
What do you think is meant by the elements <strong>of</strong> design? What does an artist use to create a work<br />
<strong>of</strong> art?<br />
Today we’re going to examine how to read art – we’re going to see how art can affect us<br />
emotionally... and how an artist can inform us about our world, and ourselves, through what he<br />
or she creates.<br />
Tour Program:<br />
–Proceed to one <strong>of</strong> the works in the exhibition and discuss the following:<br />
a) The nature <strong>of</strong> the work - what kind <strong>of</strong> work is it and what exhibition is it a part <strong>of</strong>?<br />
b) Examine the work itself – What do visitors see?<br />
– How do you initially feel about what you see? Why do you feel<br />
this way? What do you like? What don’t you like? Why?<br />
–What is the work made <strong>of</strong>?<br />
–How would you describe the style? What does this mean?<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Reading Pictures Program continued<br />
–What is the compositional structure? How are the shapes and colours etc. arranged? Why are<br />
they arranged this way?<br />
–How does the work make them feel? What is the mood <strong>of</strong> the work? What gives them this<br />
idea? Discuss the element(s) <strong>of</strong> design which are emphasized in the work in question.<br />
–What might the artist be trying to do in the work? What might the artist be saying or what might<br />
the work ‘mean’?<br />
c) Summarize the information.<br />
• At each work chosen, go through the same or similar process, linking the work to the<br />
type <strong>of</strong> exhibition it is a part <strong>of</strong>. Also, with each stop, discuss a different Element <strong>of</strong><br />
Design and develop participants visual learning skills.<br />
At the 1st stop, determine with the participants the most important Element <strong>of</strong> Design<br />
used and focus the discussion on how this element works within the art work. Do the<br />
same with each subsequent art work and make sure to cover all the elements <strong>of</strong> design<br />
on the tour.<br />
Stop #1: LINE<br />
Stop #2: SHAPE<br />
Stop #3: COLOUR<br />
Stop #4: TEXTURE<br />
Stop #5: SPACE<br />
Stop #6: ALL TOGETHER – How do the elements work together to create a certain mood<br />
or story? What would you say is the mood <strong>of</strong> this work? Why? What is the story or<br />
meaning or meaning <strong>of</strong> this work? Why?<br />
Work sheet activity – 30 minutes<br />
•Divide participants into groups <strong>of</strong> two or three to each do this activity. Give them 30 minutes to<br />
complete the questions then bring them all together and have each group present one <strong>of</strong> their<br />
pieces to the entire group.<br />
Presentations – 30 minutes<br />
•Each group to present on one <strong>of</strong> their chosen works.<br />
Visual Learning Activity Worksheet * Photocopy the following worksheet so each<br />
participant has their own copy.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Reading Pictures Program continued<br />
Visual Learning Worksheet<br />
Instructions: Choose two very different pieces <strong>of</strong> artwork in the exhibition and answer<br />
the following questions in as much detail as you can.<br />
1. What is the title <strong>of</strong> the work and who created it?<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
2. What do you see and what do you think <strong>of</strong> it? (What is your initial reaction to the<br />
work?) Why do you feel this way?<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
_____________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
_____________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
3. What colours do you see and how does the use <strong>of</strong> colour affect the way you ‘read’<br />
the work? Why do you think the artist chose these colours – or lack <strong>of</strong> colour – for this<br />
presentation?<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
___________________________________________________________________________________<br />
__________________________________________________________________________________<br />
4. What shapes and objects do you notice most? Why?<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
____________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
___________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Reading Pictures Program continued<br />
5. How are the shapes/objects arranged or composed? How does this affect your feelings<br />
towards or about the work? What feeling does this composition give to the work?<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
_________________________________________________________________________________<br />
_________________________________________________________________________________<br />
6. How would you describe the mood <strong>of</strong> this work? (How does it make you feel?) What<br />
do you see that makes you describe the mood in this way?<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
_________________________________________________________________________________<br />
________________________________________________________________________________<br />
7. What do you think the artist’s purpose was in creating this work? What ‘story’ might he<br />
or she be telling? What aspects <strong>of</strong> the artwork give you this idea?<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
_____________________________________________________________________<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
8. What do you think about this work after answering the above questions? Has your<br />
opinion <strong>of</strong> the work changed in any way? Why do you feel this way?<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
_________________________________________________________________________________<br />
________________________________________________________________________________<br />
9. How might this work relate to your own life experiences? Have you ever been in a<br />
similar situation/place and how did being there make you feel?<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
______________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
_____________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
______________________________________________________________________<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Perusing Paintings: An <strong>Art</strong>-full Scavenger Hunt<br />
In teaching art, game-playing can enhance learning. If students are engaged in learning, through<br />
a variety <strong>of</strong> methods, then it goes beyond game-playing. Through game-playing we are trying to<br />
get students to use higher-order thinking skills by getting them to be active participants in learning.<br />
Blooms’s Taxonomy <strong>of</strong> Educational Objectives, which follows, is as applicable to teaching<br />
art as any other discipline.<br />
1. knowledge: recall <strong>of</strong> facts<br />
2. comprehension: participation in a discussion<br />
3. application: applying abstract information in practical situations<br />
4. analysis: separating an entity into its parts<br />
5. synthesis: creating a new whole from many parts, as in developing a complex work <strong>of</strong> art<br />
6. evaluation: making judgements on criteria<br />
A scavenger hunt based on art works is a fun and engaging way to get students <strong>of</strong> any age to<br />
really look at the art works and begin to discern what the artist(s) is/are doing in the works. The<br />
simple template provided, however, would be most suitable for grade 1-3 students.<br />
Instruction:<br />
Using the exhibition works provided, give students a list <strong>of</strong> things they should search for that are<br />
in the particular works <strong>of</strong> art. The students could work with a partner or in teams. Include a blank<br />
for the name <strong>of</strong> the artwork, the name <strong>of</strong> the artist, and the year the work was created. Following<br />
the hunt, gather students together in the exhibition area and check the answers and discuss the<br />
particular works in more detail.<br />
Sample List:<br />
Scavenger Hunt Item Title <strong>of</strong> <strong>Art</strong>work Name <strong>of</strong> <strong>Art</strong>ist Year Work Created<br />
someone wearing a hat<br />
a specific animal<br />
landscape<br />
a bright red object<br />
a night scene<br />
a house<br />
*This activity was adapted from A Survival Kit for the Elementary/Middle School <strong>Art</strong> Teacher by Helen D. Hume.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
An <strong>Art</strong>-full Scavenger Hunt Template<br />
Scavenger Hunt Item Title <strong>of</strong> <strong>Art</strong>work Name <strong>of</strong> <strong>Art</strong>ist Year Work<br />
Created<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Geometry <strong>Animals</strong> K-3<br />
Objectives:<br />
Geometry <strong>Animals</strong> is a good project for young students to identify colours, textures, forms,<br />
and subjects in the environment. Students are expected to construct recognizable animals from<br />
shapes using a variety <strong>of</strong> colours, forms, and lines as well as use their imagination and creative<br />
expression to invent new forms.<br />
Begin by examining the shapes seen in any <strong>of</strong> the paintings by Jason Carter in the<br />
exhibition <strong>Urban</strong> <strong>Animals</strong><br />
Materials:<br />
• Glue<br />
• Coloured paper<br />
• Paper shapes<br />
• Crayons, coloured pencils or markers<br />
• Example reproductions <strong>of</strong> animals<br />
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/MathScience<strong>Art</strong>LAMDGeometry<strong>Animals</strong>K1.htm<br />
Procedure:<br />
1.Get materials ready before lesson starts.<br />
2.Introduce photographs or reproductions <strong>of</strong> recognizable animals and introduce basic shapes <strong>of</strong><br />
the animal with students.<br />
3.Point out shapes and ask kids to identify them.<br />
4.Show them the example animal you made.<br />
5.Discuss materials and proper gluing technique.<br />
6.Tell students that they will now be constructing their own animals using shapes.<br />
7.Hand out materials or have students grab them from your small group table or another table in<br />
the room.<br />
8.Allow time for students to work on their animals.<br />
9.Walk around the room asking students about their animals and encourage students to add<br />
texture onto their shapes using coloured marker.<br />
10.Have students count and write how many shapes they used and what colour they are.<br />
11.If you would like to, have students share.<br />
Closure:<br />
•Ask students how many shapes they used.<br />
•Ask them what colours they used.<br />
•Ask students about their animals.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Basic Shapes - Grades 3-5<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Portrait <strong>of</strong> a Cub<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Image courtesy <strong>of</strong> the Bearclaw <strong>Gallery</strong>, Edmonton<br />
<strong>Art</strong> in Action, pg. 12<br />
Almost all things are made up <strong>of</strong> four basic shapes: circles, triangles, squares and<br />
rectangles. Shapes and variation <strong>of</strong> shapes - such as oblongs and ovals - create objects.<br />
Jason Carter’s paintings are created by reducing objects to their basic shapes, outlining<br />
these shapes in heavy black lines, and then filling in the areas with solid colour - much<br />
like what is done in comic book illustrations or stained glass windows. In this lesson<br />
students will practice reducing objects to their basic shapes and then filling in the areas<br />
with colours ‘natural’ to the central object and complementary to the background.<br />
Materials:<br />
- drawing paper<br />
- pencil and eraser<br />
- magazines<br />
- paints and brushes<br />
- mixing trays<br />
Instructions:<br />
1/ Have students look through magazines for pictures <strong>of</strong> objects made up <strong>of</strong> several shapes.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Basic Shapes continued - Grades 3-5<br />
2/ Direct students to choose one object and determine the basic shapes which make up that<br />
object.<br />
3/ Have students draw their one object using the basic shapes which make up the object.<br />
4/ Students to simplify their drawing further - removing any overlapping/extraneous lines so that<br />
the object is broken into simplified shapes/forms. *see works by Jason Carter for clarification<br />
5/ Students to decide on colour scheme for work. Review the colour wheel and the concept <strong>of</strong><br />
complementary colours.<br />
- what is the dominant colour <strong>of</strong> your object? - use tints/tones <strong>of</strong> that colour to paint the object,<br />
keeping shapes separate through the use <strong>of</strong> heavy black lines.<br />
- what is the complementary colour <strong>of</strong> your main object’s colouring? - paint the background area<br />
the complement <strong>of</strong> the objects colour.<br />
<strong>Art</strong> in Action, pg. 12<br />
Extension (for older students)<br />
- when students have completed their first painting have them re-draw the basic shapes <strong>of</strong> their<br />
object again, but this time have them s<strong>of</strong>ten the edges, change shapes and add connecting lines<br />
where necessary so their drawing resembles the original magazine image.<br />
- have students paint this second work using ‘natural’ colours for both their object and for the<br />
background.<br />
- display both <strong>of</strong> students’ drawings and then discuss.<br />
Discussion/Evaluation:<br />
1/ Which shapes did you use most <strong>of</strong>ten in your drawing(s)?<br />
2/ Explain how identifying the basic shapes in your object helped you make the second drawing.<br />
3/ Which <strong>of</strong> your paintings appeals to you most? Why?<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Charcoal Cave Drawings K-6<br />
Background<br />
Begin by examining animal drawings found in a variety <strong>of</strong> prehistoric caves throughout<br />
the world. Discuss with students that, in drawing the animals prehistoric peoples hunted,<br />
the artists used simplified shapes and expressive lines to create their images. Such<br />
techniques are similar to the basis used for the images by Jason Carter found in the<br />
exhibition <strong>Urban</strong> <strong>Animals</strong>.<br />
Cave artists applied paint to the walls in a variety <strong>of</strong> ways. They were as creative in developing<br />
their techniques as they were in their illustrations. They used their bodies and whatever else<br />
was available in simple ways such as finger-painting, brushing, smearing and dabbing, and in a<br />
more sophisticated manner by stencilling or spraying. When large areas <strong>of</strong> colour were needed<br />
they speeded up the work with pads <strong>of</strong> lichen or moss.<br />
Blending Techniques used by cave artists:<br />
Brush the colours carefully with a feather<br />
Paint with paint brushes made from horse hair<br />
Spray paint through the hollow bone <strong>of</strong> a bird<br />
But cave artists weren’t satisfied with ‘just colour’. Cave artists blended colours together directly<br />
on the wall, in various ways, to create more accurate or more interesting colours.<br />
The Drawings<br />
Cave artists weren’t satisfied with ‘just lines’, either. They produced a variety <strong>of</strong> expressive lines<br />
by drawing with twigs, and if a line was particularly significant they planned it in advance,<br />
marking it out with dots which they joined up later. They also used the natural hollows <strong>of</strong> the<br />
stone surface to give a more 3D effect, planning their paintings in advance to take advantage <strong>of</strong><br />
the shadows produced by the angle <strong>of</strong> the incoming light.<br />
Cave artists carried out their amazing art work in the darkness <strong>of</strong> the cave, illuminated only by<br />
oil lamps, or sometimes by a shaft <strong>of</strong> light which might penetrate a cave close to the outside at a<br />
certain time <strong>of</strong> day. Some <strong>of</strong> their paintings were on a huge scale. Ceiling paintings - which were<br />
sometimes vast - required teamwork, and scaffolding structures to enable the artists to reach<br />
the painting surface.<br />
Student example <strong>of</strong> Lascaux Cave drawings<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Charcoal Cave Drawings K-6, continued<br />
Procedure:<br />
1. Give the student some background information on Cave <strong>Art</strong> by reading the background<br />
information provided in the ed kit or doing internet searches on “Lascaux Caves France”. Or,<br />
you can check out books at the library that have pictures for the student to reference.<br />
2. Prepare Drawing Surface: Use brown paper grocery bags for the drawing surface. Make one<br />
cut down the side <strong>of</strong> the bag and cut <strong>of</strong>f the bottom, to make the largest drawing surface. Use<br />
the inside <strong>of</strong> the bag because it will not have advertising printed on it. Flatten out the bag into a<br />
drawing surface. Tear <strong>of</strong>f some <strong>of</strong> the straight edges <strong>of</strong> the bag so that it will look natural. Now,<br />
wrinkle up the bag into a big ball, unfold it and flatten with your hand to create the ridges that<br />
might be found on a cave wall.<br />
3. Drawing with Charcoal: Have students put on smocks to protect clothing from charcoal dust.<br />
(NOTE: The charcoal creates “dust” so remind the students not to blow it <strong>of</strong>f the paper as they<br />
work. They can carry the paper to a wastebasket to shake <strong>of</strong>f the dust.) Ask the students to<br />
draw some <strong>of</strong> the animals that they observed on the cave walls at Lascaux, France. They can<br />
start by drawing the outline <strong>of</strong> the animal, mimicking the textures <strong>of</strong> the drawings that they saw.<br />
Then, fill in all or just part <strong>of</strong> the body. Use thick lines, thin lines, drag the side <strong>of</strong> the chalk to<br />
make rough texture on the bumpy paper surface, or use fingertips to blend the charcoal into a<br />
smooth texture. Practice blending the different colours together.<br />
4. Completion: When students are satisfied with their drawing, ask them to describe it. Ask what<br />
techniques they used (thick or thin lines, blending or rough textures) to achieve the effects that<br />
they wanted. Then take the paper to a well ventilated location and apply fixative or hair spray to<br />
keep the charcoal or chalk from smudging too much.<br />
Materials:<br />
a variety <strong>of</strong> types <strong>of</strong> charcoal (brown, black and white)<br />
brown paper grocery bags<br />
photos <strong>of</strong> cave art in library books, OR from the internet<br />
moist paper towels<br />
spray fixative<br />
smocks, aprons or old shirts<br />
kids.inmatlock.com/origins/cave-painting.php<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Giraffe Collage<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Giraffe Collage continued<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Experiments in Colour - Grades 3-9<br />
When artists create a composition, they plan their colour combinations very carefully.<br />
Colour can serve many functions in a work <strong>of</strong> art. It can be used to create the illusion <strong>of</strong><br />
space; it can be used to provide focus and emphasis; it can be used to create<br />
movement; and it can be used to create a certain mood. In his paintings, as seen in the<br />
exhibition <strong>Urban</strong> <strong>Animals</strong> and in the following examples, Jason Carter uses bold colours<br />
to serve all <strong>of</strong> these functions. In the following project students will examine the use <strong>of</strong><br />
complementary colour relationships to create the illusion <strong>of</strong> space and mood within a<br />
painting.<br />
Materials:<br />
Colour Wheel Chart<br />
Paper<br />
Paints and brushes<br />
Mixing trays<br />
Water container<br />
Paper towels<br />
Pencils/erasers<br />
Still life items or landscape drawings<br />
Magazines/ photographic references<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Experiments in Colour continued<br />
Methodology:<br />
1/ Through an examination <strong>of</strong> the colour wheel<br />
provided, discuss with students the concepts <strong>of</strong><br />
complementary colours and splitcomplements.<br />
Questions to guide discussion:<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Enter Jasper - Fall<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Image courtesy <strong>of</strong> the Bearclaw <strong>Gallery</strong>, Edmonton<br />
- What is the lightest colour on the colour wheel?<br />
- yellow<br />
- What is the darkest colour on the colour wheel?<br />
- violet<br />
- What is the relationship <strong>of</strong> these two colours? -<br />
the colours are opposite each other.<br />
Colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel are called complementary colours.<br />
- What are the colours next to violet?<br />
- red-violet and blue-violet<br />
These colours are called split complements because they are split, or separated, by the true<br />
complement <strong>of</strong> yellow. Complements can be split one step further to become a triad, three<br />
colours equally spaced on the colour wheel.<br />
Complementary colours can be used to create focus, emphasis, and the illusion <strong>of</strong> space.<br />
Brighter (warm) colours in the colour wheel tend to appear in front <strong>of</strong> - or come forward<br />
on the picture plane - compared to darker (cool) colours.<br />
Jason Carter makes use <strong>of</strong> this principal in his paintings. In the painting Enter Jasper - Fall, for<br />
example, the bright red/orange fields stand out against the grey <strong>of</strong> the mountains and the blue<br />
sky and so appear ‘closer’ to the viewer. In examining the colour wheel, it can be seen that<br />
orange and red are complements <strong>of</strong> blue. This use <strong>of</strong> complements is also seen in the paintings<br />
Jasper Parkway - Fall 2 and Bear Looks Up on the following page.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Experiments in Colour continued<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Jasper Parkway - Fall 2<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Image courtesy <strong>of</strong> the Bearclaw <strong>Gallery</strong>, Edmonton<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Bear Looks Up<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Image courtesy <strong>of</strong> the Bearclaw <strong>Gallery</strong>, Edmonton<br />
Instructions for Creating <strong>Art</strong><br />
1/ Distribute paper, pencils and erasers to students<br />
2/ Instruct students to make several sketches <strong>of</strong> ideas for their painting - they may base their<br />
work on a still-life arrangement or create a landscape based on magazine or photographic<br />
sources<br />
3/ Have students choose a sketch they like and then plan their colours by first examining the<br />
colour wheel. Students to first choose their dominant or main colour and then pick the split<br />
complements or triad to that colour.<br />
4/ Students to use their colour scheme to paint their painting.<br />
Questions for discussion<br />
1/ What are the split complements and triad colour schemes used in your work?<br />
2/ What is the colour relationship <strong>of</strong> the colours used in your painting?<br />
3/ Why have you used these particular colours?<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Painting Animal Portraits<br />
Observing and Thinking Creatively<br />
Throughout history, artists have painted pictures <strong>of</strong> animals. Ancient European cave<br />
dwellers painted bison and deer to gain power over them in the hunt. Clans among North<br />
American Indian tribes honored their animal protectors, who came to them in visions or dreams,<br />
by representing them on totem poles. Other artists, like Englishman Edwin Landseer, painted<br />
portraits <strong>of</strong> favorite pets.<br />
Landseer painted animals in a realistic style. The dogs shown here not only look like a hound<br />
and terrier, but they seem to have the qualities <strong>of</strong> dignity and impudence. Observe the details in<br />
their faces. Notice the lines and shading around the eyes which show the dogs’ unique<br />
expressions and personalities. Which dog shows poise and nobility? Which may be a bit rude on<br />
occasion? Landseer has made it obvious.<br />
The personality <strong>of</strong> an animal or human can best be seen in a portrait which shows the subject’s<br />
face. In this lesson you will paint an animal portrait. You will increase your awareness <strong>of</strong> details,<br />
and you will experiment with shape, form, colour, proportion and brushstrokes to show the<br />
animal’s personality.<br />
Sir Edwin Landseer<br />
Dignity and Inpudence, 1839<br />
Tate <strong>Gallery</strong>, London<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Painting Animal Portraits continued<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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Draw a Bunny<br />
Objectives<br />
– All shapes can be reduced to basic shapes; i.e.,circular, triangular, rectangular.<br />
– <strong>Animals</strong> and plants can be represented in terms <strong>of</strong> their proportions.<br />
– A horizontal line can be used to divide a picture plane into interesting and varied proportions <strong>of</strong> sky<br />
and ground.<br />
– Details, patterns or textures can be added to two-dimensional works.<br />
– Use drawing tools to make a variety <strong>of</strong> lines—curved, straight, thick, thin, broken, continuous.<br />
– Use drawing tools to make a variety <strong>of</strong> shapes—open, closed forms; straight, curved forms;<br />
geometric (rectangles, squares, circles and triangles) and free form.<br />
– Make drawings from direct observation.<br />
– The direction <strong>of</strong> shapes determines the static or dynamic quality <strong>of</strong> the work.<br />
Materials<br />
drawing paper<br />
pencils<br />
magazines<br />
Procedure<br />
Arctic Hare, c. 1841, John James Audubon<br />
24 x 34 ¼ inches<br />
Pen and black ink and graphite with watercolour and oil on paper<br />
National <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Art</strong>, Washington, DC<br />
1. CHOOSE A PICTURE When learning how to draw animals, it’s a good idea to start with a real<br />
model or a reference photo. Choose a clear, large photo to draw that has a good amount <strong>of</strong> detail.<br />
2. MAKING IT SIMPLE How do we begin to draw such a complicated thing as a rabbit? One<br />
popular method is to look for big, simple shapes. A simple start is to look for a couple <strong>of</strong> big circles in<br />
the rabbit’s body and a smaller circle - usually with joining parts <strong>of</strong> circles - for the head. Below you<br />
can see the simple shapes when looking at this rabbit.<br />
3. DRAW BASIC SHAPES Here’s what the bunny’s basic shapes look like on paper. First, draw<br />
a vertical line to help keep your circles straight. Then draw two overlapping circles, one above the<br />
other, then an big oval underneath, touching the first circle. Then draw a bigger oval at an angle.<br />
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Draw a Bunny continued<br />
They don’t have to be perfect - you can draw them freehand, or use coins or a circle template if<br />
you have one. Draw these lines lightly with your pencil.<br />
4. ADD EARS, FEET AND TAIL Now draw the the bunny rabbit’s ears - quite straight, narrowing<br />
at the top. The main thing here is to look carefully at your photo, and remember the shape. Draw<br />
curving-in lines for the bunny’s front legs, then add the back leg and tail.<br />
5. DRAWING THE RABBIT’S FACE Erase the extra parts <strong>of</strong> the circles that are not needed for<br />
the finished rabbit drawing. Now add the face and eyes. The eyes are on the side <strong>of</strong> the bunny’s<br />
head, so are seen from the front as half-circles. To complete the face, draw the rabbit’s nose like<br />
a letter Y, adding the mouth, chin and cheeks.<br />
6. ADD TEXTURE AND WHISKERS Gently erase some <strong>of</strong> your outlines so that you can just<br />
see them. Look at the rabbit reference photo to see how the fur looks, and use a combination<br />
<strong>of</strong> long and short lines along your outlines, to create the effect <strong>of</strong> s<strong>of</strong>t fluffy rabbit fur. Where you<br />
can see lines or dark areas on the rabbit’s body, you can add some scribbly fluff too. Try using a<br />
varity <strong>of</strong> lines and marks. Add long whiskers on the face and eyebrows.<br />
7. CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT FOR YOUR BUNNY Draw a horizontal line to give the<br />
impression <strong>of</strong> sky and land.<br />
1 2<br />
3<br />
4 5 6<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Textured <strong>Animals</strong> K-6<br />
Background<br />
In art, frottage (from French frotter, “to rub”) is a surrealist and “automatic” method <strong>of</strong> creative<br />
production developed by Max Ernst. In frottage the artist takes a pencil or other drawing tool and<br />
makes a “rubbing” over a textured surface. The drawing can be left as is or used as the basis<br />
for further refinement. While superficially similar to brass rubbing and other forms <strong>of</strong> rubbing<br />
intended to reproduce an existing subject, and in fact sometimes being used as an alternate<br />
term for it, frottage differs in being the creation <strong>of</strong> art by chance and random in nature.<br />
It was developed by Ernst in 1925. Ernst was inspired by an ancient wooden floor where the<br />
grain <strong>of</strong> the planks had been accentuated by many years <strong>of</strong> scrubbing. The patterns <strong>of</strong> the<br />
graining suggested strange images to him. He captured these by laying sheets <strong>of</strong> paper on the<br />
floor and then rubbing over them with a s<strong>of</strong>t pencil.<br />
Objectives:<br />
Students will represent surface qualities <strong>of</strong> objects and forms.<br />
A. Texture is a surface quality that can be captured by rubbings or markings.<br />
B. Textures form patterns.<br />
Students will decorate items personally created.<br />
A. Details, patterns or textures can be added to two-dimensional works.<br />
B. Details, patterns or textures can be added to the surface <strong>of</strong> three-dimensional works.<br />
Print Making<br />
Make lifts or transfers, using wax crayon or fabric crayon.<br />
Explore the use <strong>of</strong> print-making materials and the application <strong>of</strong> paint, using brushes and rollers<br />
(brayers).<br />
Explore found object printing and the making <strong>of</strong> pattern through stamping.<br />
Use print-making images in making pictures or compositions.<br />
Procedure:<br />
1. Start with sheets <strong>of</strong> newsprint and have students cover the entire surface using pencil crayon<br />
by exploring as many different surfaces as possible creating textures.<br />
2. Students may wish to combine colours or work with one colour.<br />
3. Using the newsprint, students will cut out shapes to glue onto their background.<br />
Student examples <strong>of</strong> frottage animals<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
X-Ray Painting Lesson<br />
Famed Canadian First Nations artist Norval Morrisseau’s artistic influence is evident in the<br />
paintings by Jason Carter in the exhibition <strong>Urban</strong> <strong>Animals</strong>. Like Morriseau, Carter uses bright,<br />
flat colours with heavy dark outlines. Examine his technique with students before beginning<br />
this lesson.<br />
Possible characteristics for Woodland Paintings include:<br />
− human and animal imagery, myths and legends, visions<br />
− bold black outlines to define animal shape and interior shapes<br />
− interior shapes helped to tell story<br />
− interior shapes <strong>of</strong> other animals, spirits, visions, man, and even internal organs and skeleton<br />
− bright, intense colours<br />
http://www.curriculum.org/tcf/teachers/projects/repository/Aboriginal<strong>Art</strong>.pdf<br />
Objectives:<br />
In this lesson, you will have an opportunity to look at some <strong>of</strong> the works created by Norval<br />
Morrisseau. As well, you will have the chance to create a work <strong>of</strong> art in a style much the same as<br />
Morrisseau himself.<br />
Background: Before you begin painting, look at some <strong>of</strong> Morrisseau’s works. Think about what the<br />
symbols mean and how the titles help us to understand what is going on in the work. Also, discuss<br />
how the work makes you feel. Remember ... there are no wrong answers. Don’t be afraid to brainstorm<br />
and share ideas and opinions because everyone will have a different way <strong>of</strong> looking at the<br />
work. The most important thing is to express how you feel about what you see, and why you feel that<br />
way.<br />
Materials:<br />
• Heavy paper or cardboard (about 12” x 14” per student)<br />
• Tempera paint<br />
• Paintbrushes & water<br />
• Examples <strong>of</strong> Morrisseau’s art<br />
• Images <strong>of</strong> animals for reference<br />
Procedure:<br />
1. Norval Morrisseau uses what is referred to as an X-Ray technique when he paints a work<br />
<strong>of</strong> art. Not only do you see the person or animal that has been painted, but you also see the energy<br />
within the animal or person.<br />
2. Have your students choose a subject for their painting ... a fish, a bird, a turtle, etc.<br />
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X-Ray Painting Lesson con’t<br />
3. Students can then sketch the outline <strong>of</strong> their subject on their paper.<br />
4. Next, students should think about the interior <strong>of</strong> their subject - the energy and emotion<br />
inside.<br />
5. Students can then draw lines (using ink, crayons, oil sticks, oil pastels etc), colours (using<br />
paint, oil pastels, cut up paper etc.) and shapes inside the subject ... the more the better.<br />
6. Let imagination take over as the paper is filled with paint.<br />
**You can also try this lesson using crayons or pencil crayons instead <strong>of</strong> paint<br />
One Step Further:<br />
• Ask your students to seek out symbols in Morrisseau’s work and create a story based on<br />
what they see.<br />
• Next, have your students create their own “symbol story”. Have them tell a story on paper<br />
using absolutely no words. Then pass the symbol stories around the room to see how other<br />
students “read the work”.<br />
Vocabulary:<br />
Image - An image is essentially a picture ... something seen in a work <strong>of</strong> art. In Morrisseau’s<br />
work, we see images <strong>of</strong> people and animals.<br />
Ground - This is what the artist has created his work on ... this could be birch bark, paper,<br />
canvas or wood.<br />
Media or Medium - This is what the artist uses to create his/her work. Paint (tempera, acrylic,<br />
watercolour, oil), pencil, crayon, conte chalk ... all are known as media.<br />
Symbol - A symbol is a picture or image that tells a story without using words. Ask your students<br />
to think about “everyday” symbols like the pictures seen on men’s and ladies washrooms, no<br />
smoking signs or the Big “M” <strong>of</strong> McDonalds. How many other symbols can you think <strong>of</strong>?<br />
Some examples <strong>of</strong> Symbols in Morrisseau’s work:<br />
Circle - The circles in Morrisseau’s work tell us about the life cycle, the sun, the moon and<br />
directions (North, South, East, West).<br />
Lines - Spirit Lines appear a lot in Morrisseau’s work, as do Energy Lines. You can see them<br />
extending from the hand or the body <strong>of</strong> a figure. Sometimes they are connected ... sometimes<br />
they are alone or isolated.<br />
Eyes - Large eyes that see all can be found in Morrisseau’s work. These eyes are a symbol <strong>of</strong> a<br />
shaman or medicine man.<br />
X-Ray - This is a style attributed to Morrisseau. The X-Ray technique shows the interior as well<br />
as the exterior <strong>of</strong> a figure. The various parts <strong>of</strong> a body for example are expressed with different<br />
colours and lines.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
X-Ray Painting Lesson con’t<br />
Norval Morrisseau: Observation <strong>of</strong> the Astral World (1990)<br />
ACTIONS AND VIEWPOINTS:<br />
Students will increase the range <strong>of</strong> actions and viewpoints depicted.<br />
Concepts<br />
A. Movement <strong>of</strong> figures and objects can be shown in different ways.<br />
B. An X-ray view shows the inside <strong>of</strong> something.<br />
C. Forms can be overlapping to show depth or distance.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Endangered Species Public Awareness Project<br />
Background:<br />
Read and discuss the article Grizzlies at ‘risk’: province, and address the following questions:<br />
–What does “endangered” mean to you?<br />
–Why are some animals endangered?<br />
–Which animals do you know that are endangered?<br />
–What responsibility do people have to protect endangered animals?<br />
–How are they trying to protect these animals?<br />
–What can you do to protect endangered animals?<br />
–Why do you think some artists choose endangered animals as subjects for their works <strong>of</strong> art?<br />
Activities:<br />
1. Have students analyze artworks that deal with endangered species. Some artists include<br />
Andy Warhol, A.E. London, Linda G. Fisher, John Banovich.<br />
2. Have each student choose one species assessed by <strong>Alberta</strong>’s Endangered Species<br />
Conservation Committee (ESCC). Their endangered animal research project should be based<br />
on the following questions:<br />
How and why did the animal become endangered?<br />
What (if anything) is being done to help the animal survive?<br />
What else can we do to help the animal survive?<br />
3. The students should also include background information about their animals such as diet and<br />
habitat.<br />
4. After the written research is completed, have students create works <strong>of</strong> art about their animals<br />
as a “Public Awareness” piece to be displayed with their research findings. Possible art media<br />
may include: watercolour, linocut, charcoal, collage, etc.<br />
Vocabulary:<br />
Define the following terms used by the Endangered Species Conservation Committee:<br />
species at risk<br />
extinct<br />
extirpated<br />
endangered<br />
threatened<br />
species <strong>of</strong> special concern<br />
data deficient<br />
The peregrine falcon is making a remarkable<br />
comeback in Canada. Once extirpated east <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Rocky Mountains and south <strong>of</strong> the Boreal forest,<br />
this species is now set to come <strong>of</strong>f the list <strong>of</strong><br />
endangered and threatened species in Canada.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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GLOSSARY<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Mother Bear and her cub in the back alleys <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Alberta</strong>, 2012<br />
Acrylic on canvas<br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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Glossary<br />
Abstraction: Is a term applied to 20th century styles in reaction against the traditional European<br />
view <strong>of</strong> art as the imitation <strong>of</strong> nature. Abstraction stresses the formal or elemental structure <strong>of</strong> a<br />
work and has been expressed in all genres or subjects <strong>of</strong> visual expression.<br />
Aerial perspective: Or atmospheric perspective is used to add the illusion <strong>of</strong> depth in painting.<br />
The use <strong>of</strong> retreating colours and less focus helps to achieve this effect.<br />
Animism: attribution <strong>of</strong> conscious life to nature as a whole or to inanimate objects.<br />
Anthromomorphism: an interpretation <strong>of</strong> what is not human or personal in terms <strong>of</strong> human or<br />
personal characteristics.<br />
Complementary colour: Colours that are directly opposite each other on the colour wheel, for<br />
example, blue and orange. These colours when placed next to each other produce the highest<br />
contrast.<br />
Composition: The arrangement <strong>of</strong> lines, colours and forms so as to achieve a unified whole;<br />
the resulting state or product is referred to as a composition.<br />
Contemporary artists: Those whose peak <strong>of</strong> activity can be situated somewhere between the<br />
1970’s (the advent <strong>of</strong> post-modernism) and the present day.<br />
Cool colours: Blues, greens and purples are considered cool colours. In aerial perspective,<br />
cool colours are said to move away from you or appear more distant.<br />
Elements <strong>of</strong> design: The basic components which make up any visual image: line, shape,<br />
colour, texture and space.<br />
Exhibition: A public display <strong>of</strong> art objects including painting, sculpture, prints, installation, etc.<br />
Expressionism: A movement in the arts during the early part <strong>of</strong> the 20th century that<br />
emphasized subjective expression <strong>of</strong> the artist’s inner experiences.<br />
Fauve: Fauvism was a French art movement, led by Henri Matisse, spanning from 1869-1954.<br />
Fauves is French for “Wild Beasts”. This name was used because the artists used intense,<br />
almost violent colours in an unnatural way.<br />
Geometric shapes: Any shape or form having more mathematical than organic design.<br />
Examples <strong>of</strong> geometric shapes include: spheres, cones, cubes, squares, triangles.<br />
Gradation: A principle <strong>of</strong> design that refers to the use <strong>of</strong> a series <strong>of</strong> gradual/transitional changes<br />
in the use <strong>of</strong> the elements <strong>of</strong> art with a given work <strong>of</strong> art; for example, a transition from lighter to<br />
darker colours or a gradation <strong>of</strong> large shapes to smaller ones.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
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The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Glossary continued<br />
Iconography: A set <strong>of</strong> specified or traditional symbolic forms associated with the subject or<br />
theme <strong>of</strong> a stylized work <strong>of</strong> art.<br />
Impressionist: A theory or style <strong>of</strong> painting originating and developed in France during the<br />
1870s, characterized by concentration on the immediate visual impression produced by a scene<br />
and by the use <strong>of</strong> unmixed primary colors and small strokes to simulate actual reflected light.<br />
Mythology: The body <strong>of</strong> myths (sacred stories) <strong>of</strong> a particular culture, or <strong>of</strong> humankind as a<br />
whole; the study and interpretation <strong>of</strong> such myths.<br />
Organic shapes: An irregular shape; refers to shapes or forms having irregular edges or<br />
objects resembling things existing in nature.<br />
Pop <strong>Art</strong>: A 20th century art style focusing on mass-produced urban culture: movies, advertising,<br />
science fiction. In the USA Pop <strong>Art</strong> was initially regarded as a reaction from Abstract<br />
Expressionism because its exponents brought back figural imagery and made use <strong>of</strong> hardedged,<br />
quasi-photographic techniques. Pop artists employed commercial techniques in<br />
preference to the painterly manner <strong>of</strong> other artists.<br />
Positive shapes: Are the objects themselves. They are surrounded in a painting by what are<br />
called the negative shapes or spaces.<br />
Primary colours: The three colours from which all other colours are derived - red, yellow and<br />
blue.<br />
Shade: Add black to a colour to make a shade. Mix the pure colour with increasing quantities <strong>of</strong><br />
black making the colour darker in small increments. If you add gray to a colour, you produce a<br />
tone.<br />
Symbolism: The practice <strong>of</strong> representing things by means <strong>of</strong> symbols or <strong>of</strong> attributing symbolic<br />
meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships.<br />
Tint: Add white to a colour to create a tint. Mix the pure colour with increasing quantities <strong>of</strong><br />
white so that the colour lightens.<br />
Warm colours: Yellow and reds <strong>of</strong> the colour spectrum, associated with fire, heat and sun. In<br />
aerial perspective warm colours are said to come towards you.<br />
Woodland Style: Is a genre <strong>of</strong> graphic design and painting among First Nations artists from the<br />
Great Lakes area - including northern Ontario and southwestern Manitoba. Founded by Norval<br />
Morrisseau, this visionary style emphasizes outlines and x-ray views <strong>of</strong> people, animals, and<br />
plant life using vivid colour.<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Credits<br />
SPECIAL THANKS TO:<br />
Jason Carter<br />
Jaret Sinclair-Gibson<br />
Bridget Ryan<br />
Syncrude Canada Ltd.<br />
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s<br />
<strong>Art</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong><br />
SOURCE MATERIALS:<br />
Medieval Beasts - http://getty.edu/art/exhibitions/medieval_beasts<br />
Oxford Companion to <strong>Art</strong>, Oxford University Press, 1970, Pop <strong>Art</strong> - pg. 894<br />
Pop <strong>Art</strong> - History <strong>of</strong> <strong>Art</strong>, Second Edition, H.W. Janson, Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated, New York, 1977,<br />
pp.675-678<br />
Pop <strong>Art</strong> - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_art<br />
<strong>Animals</strong> in Mythology: Explore the Mythological Attributes <strong>of</strong> <strong>Animals</strong> - http://www.buzzle.com/<br />
editorials/3-19-2002-14972.asp<br />
<strong>Animals</strong> in Mythology - http://www.jrank.org/cultures/pages/4918/<strong>Animals</strong>-in-mythology.html<br />
<strong>Animals</strong> in Mythology - http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Am-Ar/<strong>Animals</strong>-in-Mythology.html<br />
<strong>Animals</strong> in Christian <strong>Art</strong> - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01515b.htm<br />
Animal Symbolism - http://www.writedesignonline.com/assignments/maksks/animalsymbolism.htm<br />
Native American World Mythology and Legend: Animal Symbols and Their Meaning - http://www.<br />
gods-heros-myth.com/asymbols.html<br />
Animal Mythology - http://www.nativeonline.com/animal.htm<br />
<strong>Animals</strong> in <strong>Alberta</strong> <strong>Art</strong> - An <strong>Alberta</strong> <strong>Art</strong> Chronicle: adventures in recent & contemporary art, Mary-Beth<br />
Laviolette, Altitude Publishing Canada Ltd., Canmore, AB., 2006, pp. 62-67<br />
Grizzly Bear - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly_Bear<br />
Beaver - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver<br />
Moose - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose<br />
Prairie dog - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prairie_dog<br />
Rabbit - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit<br />
Gray Wolf - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf<br />
Knight’s Canadian Info Collection: The Canadian Beaver - http://members.shaw.ca/kcic1/beaver.<br />
html<br />
Hbc Heritage: The HBC Coat <strong>of</strong> Arms - http://www2.hbc.com/hbcheritage/collections/images/<br />
coat<strong>of</strong>arms/<br />
The Usborne Book <strong>of</strong> <strong>Art</strong> Skills, Fiona Watt, Usborne Publishing Ltd., London, 2002<br />
<strong>Art</strong> in Action, Guy Hubbard, Coronado Publishers Inc., United States, 1987<br />
Modernism - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernism<br />
Modern <strong>Art</strong> - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_art<br />
Postmodern art - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodern_art<br />
History <strong>of</strong> <strong>Art</strong>, H.W. Janson, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1977, ppt. 557-590<br />
Canada’s First Nations: Native Creation Myths - http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/<br />
firstnations/myths.html<br />
How the Indians obtained Dogs - http://www.calverley.ca/Part06-Legends/6-001.html<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca
The <strong>Alberta</strong> Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Credits<br />
Native American Bear Meaning - http://www.whats-your-sign.com/native-american-bearmeaning.html<br />
Native American Animal Symbols: The Bear and the Native American - http://www.supportnative-american-art.com/Native-American-Animal-Symbols-Bears.html<br />
How the People Hunted the Moose - Civilization.ca - Storytelling: The <strong>Art</strong> <strong>of</strong> Knowledge -<br />
Metis-Cree - http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/aborig/storytel/crme2eng.shtml<br />
How Bear Lost His Tail - http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/lore22.html<br />
How the Beaver got his tail - http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html_Legends/HowTheBeaverGot<br />
HisTail-Ojibwa.html<br />
Native American Rabbit Symbols - http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/articles/usa/nativeamerican-animal-rabbit-symbols/2262<br />
Native American Wolf Mythology - http:L//www.native-languages.org/legends-wolf.htm<br />
Native American Animal Symbols - http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/articles/usa/nativeamerican-animal-symbols/2260<br />
First People - The Legends - Frog and Rabbit - http://www.firstpeople.us/F-Html_Legends/<br />
FrogAndRabbit-Cree.html<br />
This exhibition was developed and managed by the <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alberta</strong> for The <strong>Alberta</strong><br />
Foundation for the <strong>Art</strong>s Travelling Exhibition Program<br />
Funding for this exhibition provided by Syncrude Canada Ltd.<br />
Shane Golby – Program Manager/Curator<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Region 2<br />
Sherisse Burke –TREX Assistant<br />
Front Cover Images:<br />
Top Left: Jason Carter, The Rabbit, 2012, Acrylic on canvas, Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Bottom Left: Jason Carter, The Wolf and Oil, 2012., Acrylic on canvas, Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Top Right: Jason Carter, The Country Moose, 2012, Acrylic on canvas, Collection <strong>of</strong> the artist<br />
Bottom Right: Jason Carter, Mother Bear and her Cub, 2012, Acrylic on canvas, Collection <strong>of</strong><br />
the artist<br />
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479<br />
youraga.ca