African American Dreams: Visual and Verbal: A Raisin in the Sun

Utilizing the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts African American Art Collection, compare and contrast the ideas of Lorraine Hansbury's A Raisin in the Sun to identify works of art that .  Can learners interpret art with the lens of dreams and dreams deferred?  Suggest/create a piece of art that utilizes the style of the Harlem Renaissance to demonstrate the theme in Lorraine Lansberry's A Raisin in the Sun.

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? 



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