Dress to Express: National Heritage Fellows’ Portraits Unit

Access portraits portraying artists who have mastered their art forms through years of study with elders and family members and have received the NEA National Heritage Fellows award to learn more about the relationship between dress and culture. This unit includes classroom-ready exercises, worksheets for students to study their own fashion choices, and ideas for local research that connect learners with their community.
Class Subjects

Themes

Research Topics

Supplies
Pencil, Portrait worksheet, Sketchbook, Camera, optional portrait accessories like special clothes or objects
Downloads

 

Acknowledgements

The Local Learning National Heritage Fellows Curricula are supported in part with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. | All portraits courtesy Alan Govenar, director of Documentary Arts. | Activity first published in Journal of Folklore and Education (1:2014, 10-17)

The annual National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowships began in 1982 to honor the excellence of folk artists who represent diverse communities throughout the United States. The portraits in this gallery portray artists who have mastered their art forms through years of study with elders and family members. They are also active teachers of their traditions. The gallery features life-‐sized photographs by folklorist and photographer Alan Govenar.

Read more in the Journal of Folklore and Education at https://jfepublications.org/article/national-heritage-fellows-portrait-gallery/