African American Dreams: Visual and Verbal and Independent Reading



African American Dreams


VMFA website
aadreams_JnlCarD.JPGVMFA website

VMFA website




Visit Virginia Museum of Fine Art's African American Dreams Art in Depth page to find eight American artworks from the Colonial period through Interwar period.   Each artwork is shown alongside contextual information and is paired with a text from the same historical period as the artwork.  


Ideas for classroom use:

Students may use in conjunction with the Library of Congress Primary Source Analysis Tool 

The resource may also be useful as a conversation starter or tool for personal reflection. 

Challenge older students to find other examples of art in VMFA's extensive collection of African American Art to explore the African American experience throughout history.  Can they find primary source texts that could effectively be paired with these works? 



Connection to Independent Reading

Have students create visuals or write explanations of how these texts relate to books they've read as part of independent reading. They can then create a piece of art inspired by the art in the exhibit that connects to these independent reading books.

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