WELCOME!

HeARTS to Hands is an idea I’ve had for quite a while. As a Black art teacher, teaching majority students of color, I was passionate about exposing my students to different forms of art and to artists that look like them.

The only African American artist I remember learning about as a child is Faith Ringgold and I didn’t learn about her from my art teacher. I learned her name because I loved Tar Beach, one of the books she authored and illustrated. I loved Van Gogh’s story as well as his artwork and thought Picasso’s work was very cool. I’d heard the names Warhol, da Vinci, Michelangelo and Monet over and over… and over again, but even though their genius can’t be denied, I just wasn’t THAT interested. I was a freshman in college when I found out about Frida Kahlo (I came across the movie on tv) and she’s held a special place in my heart ever since. I didn’t fully understand Basquiat’s work at first glance, but his story stuck with me. With the discovery of these two artists of color there came a special feeling- a connection to art history- that I hadn’t felt before. This feeling sparked my curiosity. Why hadn’t I learned much about artists of color? Where were they? Is the term “fine art” only synonymous with dead white men…and Picasso?

In my later college years, I found myself stumbling upon the Atlanta art scene and what a beautiful scene I found it to be. There was a plethora of artists of all different shades and colors. Painters, sculptors, muralists, tattoo artists, fashion designers, etc. I even managed to become friends with some of them! It was at this time that I decided two things:

1. I really needed to do my Googles on artists of color.
2. I wanted to expose youth to the arts and show them that there’s a world of art that is actually relevant to them, a world of art that is inclusive.

There were several instances during my first year as the art teacher where I looked to the World Wide Web for inspiration for lessons (and just full out lesson plans if we’re being completely honest here). When looking for lessons inspired by Black artists – yes, I had literally had to type “African American visual artists…” and/or “black visual artists…” because I wouldn’t have found them otherwise, the same five or six names and lessons kept coming up. While the lessons were good, I was bothered by the fact that only those five or six artists seemed to be chosen to represent “black art” as a whole. I was also bothered by the fact that art educators didn’t think it necessary to be more creative. No, I don’t think it’s intentional, but there’s still an issue. Out of the MANY art/ art education blogs I searched, I found only one post by a teacher who realized rather than only focusing on black artists and artwork during Black History Month, her lessons needed to be more inclusive as a whole. I appreciated that post and had hoped to see more like it…but…nope.

So, that brings us to HeARTS to Hands. A  place for art teachers, art students, and anyone else to be inspired by artists of ALL shades, both dead and living. There are few resources targeting specifically what I was searching for so I aim to be that very resource. ENJOY!