Seven-Minute Masters

This year, I started at a new school. I was aware that my new graduating class, the fifth-graders, would miss out on much of what I had to teach them. My predecessor was beloved, but every teacher brings a different philosophy and skillset to their students. For instance, there are some master artists that I believe all of my graduates should be familiar with. When one student asked, “Who’s Dalí?” I realized that there was work that needed doing. My solution was a crash course in art history.

Making a List
I compiled a list of interesting artists I've introduced my students to over the past twenty years, including individuals from a variety of time periods and cultures. I narrowed down the list to a selection of fifty artists and collected images of the artists and examples of their work.

I displayed the list of artists to the class and gave each student an index card. I asked them to write the name of an artist they didnʼt recognize on their card. I collected the cards and put them all in a jar, then I explained the challenge.

The Caricature Resolution
Every January, the International Society of Caricature Artists hosts a drawing event called the Caricature Resolution. Each day, a different celebrity is drawn by artists of all ages and skill levels. I showed students some examples and they responded enthusiastically to caricatures of Daniel Radcliffe, Willem Dafoe, and Zendaya.

I used a selection of Greta Thunberg portraits from a variety of artists to show how different the drawings might be. A caricature doesn’t have to be realistic or even that detailed. The skill is to notice features that make each person special, then include those unique features in an artwork.

I told students that I would pick a name from the jar. We’d bring that artist’s picture and artwork up on the smartboard and take a minute or two to discuss the features that make that artist unique. Next, I would tell the class everything I could remember about each artist while they drew a caricature portrait. My daughter described this challenge best: “Draw each of these famous artists in your own style.”

Timed Drawings
In order to include as many artists from the list as possible, I had to set a time limit. I told them theyʼd only have seven minutes to complete each drawing. I provided each table with pastels, markers, and crayons. When students went hunting for pencils, I told them they wouldnʼt be provided because they didnʼt have time for erasing.

My co-teacher and I circled the room while our fifth-graders drew. I gave quick descriptions of the artists’ lives, their work, and why they were important. We filled the rest of the time with trivia, personal instruction, and a countdown. It felt very much like a college studio class. The room was buzzing with excitement.

When the time was up for each artist, students left their artwork at their tables and walked around the room and looked at the drawings their classmates made. We used this opportunity to hold up instructive or exemplary work. The time limit and table tours made excellent motivators. Students inspired each other and impressed themselves and one another with what they created in such short bursts of time.

Student Feedback
One student didnʼt enjoy the project. After his first attempt, he hid his work and refused to look at others. I offered to hold his work while he looked around the room and he accepted. His caricatures weren’t “worse” than his classmatesʼ—he just didn’t like them. Seeing the work of his classmates helped this student put his work in perspective. He still claimed that he didnʼt enjoy the activity, but he gave each portrait a try, and his final attempt was noticeably his best.

“Are we doing this again next week?” more than one student asked. “That was fun!” In just a few classes, my fifth-graders drew portraits of Elsa Schiaparelli, Augusta Savage, Betye Saar, Yoko Ono, Shigeru Miyamoto, Henri Matisse, Maya Lin, Edmonia Lewis, Lee Krasner, Jack Kirby, Jenny Holzer, Milton Glaser, Qi Baishi, Marina Abramović, and of course, Salvador Dalí. During the subsequent weeks, I received reports from parents about the sudden breadth of their children’s knowledge of art history.

Adjusting for Online Teaching
This project ran so smoothly for my in-person students that I revisited it via Zoom for the students of my Art School of the Future, and again for one of the Art Days that I offer to public schools. The only adjustments for online teaching were that: (1) students wrote into the chat the names of the artists they didn’t recognize; (2) students volunteered to share their work by holding it up to the camera.

I’ve added this activity as a fixture of my fifth-grade curriculum. I see its potential as an exciting and effective method to make sure that all my graduating students are introduced to as many different artists as I can offer.