Art on the Move!

"Barack Obama" by Joshua Johnson.
Graphite and charcoal on paper, 2015 

During the last two weeks of February, in observance of Black History Month, portraits of prominent African Americans by students at The Douglass Academy for Young Men will be on display as posters in the stations of the People Mover. The works were created as part of a project on the use of  portraiture in social studies education. Julie Anne Taylor, associate professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and Okezie Iroha, chair of the social studies department at The Douglass Academy for Young Men, engaged four social studies classes in the project. The students learned about the social, political, and historical purposes of portraits. They considered how portraits are used in the construction of historical narratives.

"Federick Douglass" by Dakari Randall.
Graphite and charcoal on paper, 2015

"Jesse Jackson" by Daylon Randall.
Graphite and charcoal on paper, 2015

After studying paintings, photographs, statues, and computer-generated portraits, the students created portraits of African Americans using charcoal, graphite, and colored pencil. The People Mover donated space in its stations to display their work. Three original drawings, selected by the students through a voting process, will be exhibited in the reception area of the UM-Detroit Center from February 16- March 15, 2015. The drawings are by Joshua Johnson (Barack Obama); Dakari Randall (Frederick Douglass), and Daylon Randall (Jesse Jackson).

Read the article in Press & Guide.