SNAKEDANCE, by MOLLY MURPHY-ADAMS
Snake Dance
2007
Molly Murphy-Adams
Mixed media, 48 x 36″, (2012.2)
ABOUT THE ARTIST: MOLLY MURPHY-ADAMS
Born in 1977, a mixed-blood descendant of the Oglala Lakota tribe, Murphy-Adams is an artist from western Montana who specializes in beadwork and printmaking. She started learning beadwork as a child and was skilled enough by age 13 to bead her own powwow regalia. She studied ceramics, painting, and sculpture at the University of Montana, where she received her Bachelor’s in Fine Arts. Her art balances the traditional beadwork techniques she learned as a young girl with the skills she learned while studying art at the University of Montana.
QUESTIONS FOR VIEWING
Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS):
- What do you see in this artwork? What do you notice?
- What do you see that makes you say that?
- What else do you see in this artwork? What more can we find?
Additional Questions
- What do you think this artwork is made of?
- Why do you think the line moves this way across the artwork?
- Why do all the circles look different?
- Have the students watch part of this clip from an interview with Molly Murphy Adams and a clip from the Arlee Powwow (link in .PDF lesson plan)
- Ask the last two questions again.
- Do their answers change now that they know some of the cultural context?
- Reminder: There are no wrong answers when using Visual Thinking Strategies but by providing more information, their thoughts about this artwork may change.
- Have the students watch part of this clip from an interview with Molly Murphy Adams and a clip from the Arlee Powwow (link in .PDF lesson plan)
Art Vocabulary:
- Collaboration – Working with two or more people to create a work or art.
- Composition- the arrangement of various visual elements in an artwork.
- Balance – Balance is a fundamental principle of art and design that refers to the overall distribution of objects in a composition.
IEFA Vocabulary:
- Salish and Kootenai: See Montana Indians and their History and Location – Flathead Reservation https://opi.mt.gov/Portals/182/Page%20Files/Indian%20Education/Indian%20Education% 20101/Montana%20Indians%20Their%20History%20and%20Location.pdf
- Arlee Powwow Websites and History
LESSON PLAN: ART COLLABORATION
Lesson Overview: Students will each create a work of art that represents what makes them unique. These works of art will come together to create a collaborative exhibition in their classroom or school. .
STANDARDS
National Visual Arts Standards:
- VA:Re.7.2.3a: Determine messages communicated by an image.
- VA:Cr3.1.3a: Elaborate visual information by adding details in an artwork to enhance emerging meaning.
- VA:Pr6.1.3a: Identify and explain how and where different cultures record and illustrate stories and history of life through art.
- VA:Pr5.1.3a: Identify exhibit space and prepare works of art including artists’ statements, for presentation.
Montana Standards: Visual Arts
- Anchor Standard #3: Refine and complete artistic work. Elaborate on artwork by adding details to enhance meaning.
- Anchor Standard #5: Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation. Prepare artworks for presentation.
- Anchor Standard #6: Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work.
- Anchor Standard #11: Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding, including traditional and contemporary artistic ideas and works by American Indians.
IEFA
- Essential Understanding 1: There is great diversity among the twelve sovereign tribes of Montana in their languages, cultures, histories, and governments. Each tribe has a distinct and unique cultural heritage that contributes to modern Montana.
- Essential Understanding 2: Just as there is great diversity among tribal nations, there is great diversity among individual American Indians as identity is developed, defined, and redefined by entities, organizations, and people. There is no generic American Indian.
- Essential Understanding 3: The ideologies of Native traditional beliefs and spirituality persist into modern day life as a tribal cultures, traditions, and languages are still practiced by many American Indian people and are incorporated into how tribes govern and manage their affairs.
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