Through storytelling and the art of Sam Zimmerman, elementary students deepen their understanding of how art can connect their own lives with the experiences of others.

April Malphurs

The National Standard VA:Cn10.1 focuses on synthesizing and relating knowledge and personal experiences to make art. I love the Essential Question, “How do people contribute to awareness and understanding of their lives and the lives of their communities through art-making?” It is an excellent way to get students thinking about art as a means of communicating about themselves and their experiences in life, as well as how artists around the world have done exactly this in their work.

In Minnesota, we take the National Standard VA:Cn11.1, “Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural and historical context to deepen understanding” one step further to specifically include the Native Nations of Minnesota. Focusing on storytelling, I wrote a unit for my fourth graders that could be adapted to other age groups. The unit explores storytelling through the art of Sam Zimmerman, a member of the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa of the Ojibwe Nation on Lake Superior. I heard him speak when he was introducing the new children’s book, How the Birds Got Their Songs (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2024), and telling the stories that accompany his work. His brother Travis wrote the text and Sam provided the illustrations.

Through discussions, I had students identify the “facts” they could see in Zimmermanʼs paintings, then try to piece together the meaning. I shared Zimmerman’s story behind one of the paintings, and after learning about his life and just one of his stories, students were able to pick up on his symbols and decipher more of his work. Each time we viewed a new painting, I returned to Sam’s stories to ensure students knew what he was communicating.

Since Zimmerman’s work focuses on outdoor settings, students brainstormed and shared outdoor places that were meaningful to them and discussed what made them special. In our discussion, I shared that these could range from a spot in their own backyard to a family vacation that meant a lot to them.

For the first week, students created landscape paintings of the places that held their own special memories, focusing on color mixing and brushstrokes to create their scenes.

In week two, we focused on how Zimmerman used symbols and the number of each symbol to represent people in his paintings to help tell his stories. We talked specifically about appropriation and why it isnʼt okay. One way I help students to understand this is to tell a story. I say, “Let’s pretend that Sally (any student in class) made a beautiful painting of a butterfly she saw in her front yard, and I saw it at an art gallery for sale for $200. I thought to myself, I could make that, and I took a photo of her painting. Then I copied her painting and put it for sale in a different gallery for $400.” Students react instantly, saying, “That money should go to Sally,” “That’s not fair,” and “You can’t do that!” And it becomes an easy way to start talking about appreciation versus appropriation.

After our discussion about appropriation, I ask students to think about how they can represent the people who are important to the special place they painted without showing the people. They love this because they often groan if I ask them to draw or paint people at this age, so this gives them a way to express it differently. I bluntly remind them, “Now remember, we are NOT copying Sam Zimmerman’s ideas—I don’t want to see any bears with pine trees inside. I want your own ideas.” They all giggle at this. Their stories and paintings were amazing, with ideas like fishing with my family, my favorite campground, my mom loves sunflowers, and my family represented by stacked hay bales on our farm.

For our last week, students added details, layered brushstrokes to complete their paintings, and wrote labels to share their stories. The student engagement and excitement around this unit was fantastic. It allowed them to share their experiences while also giving me the opportunity to have fun conversations with them, get to know them better, and build stronger relationships with them. My students developed an understanding of how artists, such as Sam Zimmerman, contribute to awareness and understanding of their lives and communities through art-making, as well as how they can tell their own stories.

April Malphurs began as a first-generation college student at Cornell University, and received a master’s degree in art education at Teachers College, Columbia University. She has taught elementary art for over twenty-five years and currently teaches at LeSueur Henderson Elementary in Saint Peter, Minnesota. April participated in the 2022 Class of School for Arts Leaders, Minnesota’s Culturally Responsive Arts Cohort (2023–25), and the Connected Arts Networks (2023–25). She is currently the Minnesota ED&I state liaison and was named Minnesota Elementary Art Educator of the Year for 2024–25. aprilemail2@gmail.com

Bridging Life with Art: Exploring Understanding through Art-Making