Lesson 1 - LearningThroughMuseums

English Language Learner Standards
Standard 1 Reading: Arrange information on topics gathered from reading.
Standard 2 Communication: Edit and revise own writing to produce final drafts.
Objectives
• Students will identify and explain the meaning of symbols used in artistic representations of maps.
• Students will compare and contrast two different maps.
• Students will define and use vocabulary in expository writing explaining the use of symbols.
• Students will draw maps of fictional or actual places, using symbols to communicate features.
Background Information
The artwork: Bedcover Entitled “Map”, c.1920
The artist: Unknown. Made in Indiana, United States
Relevant Information:
• Textiles, or objects primarily made of natural or synthetic materials, are all around us—we wear
them as clothes, use them to cushion our chairs, beds and sofas, and even display them as art.
• Bedcover Entitled “Map” illustrates a full-scale map of the United States of America in the early
1900s. If we count the states, we notice that 48 are listed. In addition, Canada, Mexico, and Cuba
are included as well as the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico.
• When we view this work of art it is clear that we are looking at the United States and its
neighboring countries because we can recognize the shapes that identify the geographic borders of
each state and the entire country. This makes the map accurate, or true to life.
• The artist uses color as a symbol to provide additional information about the map: states’ names
are sewn, or embroidered, in black, while the paths of rivers appear in blue and travel routes are
stitched in brown thread.
• By presenting the map as a bedcover, the artist gives us clues about its potential uses and how art
can be integrated in our everyday lives. Bedcover Entitled “Map” not only offers geographic
information, but it provides warmth and comfort as an everyday object and it showcases the artist’s
skill in the decorative arts.
• It is safe to assume that the person who made Bedcover Entitled “Map” was probably not a
professional cartographer, or a person who makes maps on paper, but someone who used maps as
inspiration. Many artists have used maps as source material, producing both literal interpretations
of place and fantastic scenes of imaginary lands.
The artwork: Hanging Entitled “Map of the Middle West”, 1931
The artist: Unknown. Made in Europe or the United States
Relevant Information:
• The embroidered Hanging Entitled “Map of the Middle West” features the states of the Midwest
region.
Art Institute of Chicago • 107