The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Aaron Douglas and the New Negro”

In this activity, students will synthesize Hughes’s belief about the role and responsibility of the Black artist and Alain Locke’s philosophy of the “New Negro” with the work of “New Negro” artist Aaron Douglas by creating their own work of art in Douglas’s style.

Channel the spirit of “New Negro” artist Aaron Douglas by applying your knowledge of both the philosophy of the “New Negro” (as articulated by Langston Hughes and Alain Locke) and Douglas’s artistic style and themes.

• Collaborate with your peers to develop a working understanding of Douglas’s artistic style through research and discussion.
• Apply this knowledge to your own creative project in which you choose a Harlem Renaissance-era poem and create a piece of Aaron Douglas-inspired art to convey some thematic aspect of the poem.
• Your artwork can be a drawing, painting, collage, digital composition, etc.
• Write a short reflection (1-2 paragraphs) articulating your interpretation of the poem as well as the way your artwork holds the spirit of Aaron Douglas. Your reflection should describe how your art emphasizes thematic elements of your chosen poem, using evidence from the poem and references to specific aspects of Douglas’s style that you have chosen to emulate.

This project will culminate with an art-show-style celebration of work in which you will view your peers’ artwork as well as their selected poems and reflections. There will be feedback cards available at each piece of art to leave positive comments about each project.

Teaching Suggestion: Students should spend a short amount of time browsing Aaron Douglas’s artwork and discussing what they notice about his style. (You might direct them to the National Gallery of Art page and/or this document with selected paintings as needed.) Key aspects to note are:

• Figures in silhouette
• Figures looking, pointing in a specific direction
• Concentric shapes
• Rays of light
• Color scheme
• Sense of movement

○ Time (past to present/future, slavery to freedom)

○ Geography (south to north, rural to urban)

○ Progress

To provide parameters for students as they choose a Harlem Renaissance poet, you might direct them to helpful websites (e.g., Poets.org and the Poetry Foundation), provide them with a list of possible poets, or share this Harlem Renaissance poetry sampler.

This activity can be as long or as short as you would like to make it. It can be implemented as a longer-term project or a short activity that takes a class or two.