C. Palmer and His Art for Culturally Responsive Instruction Essay

This short essay gives background information on the artist Charly Palmer and his development of narrative art. It also explores, how to use srt as a means to engage students in Culturally Responsive Teaching. About the Artist Born in Fayette, Alabama, Charly â€Å"Carlos† Palmer (1960-) has lived life as both a commercial artist and a fine artist. Palmer was raised primarily in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Whereupon after graduating from high school in 1978 he moved to Chicago, Illinois to pursue a degree at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. Palmer attended school there for a year and a half before transferring to the Art institute of Chicago. In 1982 he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts and minor in Art History. Right after graduation Palmer began working professionally as an artist and more specifically as a graphic artist for agencies in Milwaukee, Chicago and Atlanta, Georgia. In partnership with his then wife, Charly Palmer opened a graphics design business, TP Design, in 1991. The business took off quickly and successfully. â€Å"We were recognized within the first 2 years as one of the top design agencies nationally and as one of the few all black agencies around in graphic designs in the country† states Palmer (personal communication, December 7, 2011). I asked Palmer, â€Å"What inspired you to switch your focus from being a professional designer to a full time painter?† Despite the success of the business Palmer explains, â€Å"I never had a desire to do commercial work.† His first passion, painting, is something that has never left him and he decided to solely focus on this aspect of his career within the last 10 years. About the Artwork Much of Charly Palmer’s work is a reflection of his experiences and perspective as a Black man in America. Consistently, the themes that are addressed in his paintings are economic, social, political, gender and racial issues within the context of the United States. In his most recent exhibition â€Å"What is Your Tar Baby? † these themes are represented through the depiction of historic and contemporary icons. Entertainers and politicians such as Dave Chappelle, Josephine Baker, Marilyn Monroe, Abraham Lincoln, and President Barrack Obama are brought to the forefront for examination. The composition of these paintings consists of vivid colors and portraitures surrounded by subtle and bold sketches of the African folktale characters Brer Rabbit (Brother Rabbit) and Brer Fox (Brother Fox). In some of the paintings, the words â€Å"TAR BABY† takes up half of the canvas and it is sometimes positioned underneath or above the central figure in the painting. There are other times that â€Å"TAR BABY† is positioned down the left side frame of the canvas. Other times these words and excerpts from the published Tar Baby narrative are softly sketched around the iconic figure in the piece. In each painting the intertextuality of images, words and mixed media are present to create a new narrative or rather conversation that Palmer wants to have with the public. Palmer is a visual storyteller who elicits reflection and dialogue through his work. By painting a story, he is striving to have conversations about who Americans are and in what ways we can celebrate ourselves. As it relates to art and reflection, Diana Mack (1999) contends that â€Å"good art must communicate something comprehensibly worthwhile, something worthy of contemplation†¦More and more so- called artists today call attention to themselves by shocking and agitating rather than by promoting reflection (Silverman & Rader, 2009, p. 215). Reflection is a significant concept in Palmer’s art and in â€Å"What is Your Tar Baby?† reflection is inextricably intertwined with narratives. The Tar Baby Narrative The 2011-2012 exhibition â€Å"What is Your Tar Baby?† is a series of paintings that connects the story of Brer Rabbit (a cunning charlatan who masterfully dupes others using his wit and charm) and his interaction with a tar baby along with images of entertainers, politicians and athletes. Despite their talents and diverse backgrounds these public figures have all commonly struggled. Palmer parallels their struggles to the entrapment Brer Rabbit has with the tar baby. In order to truly see the intertextuality of Palmer’s art one must familiarize their self with this narrative. Originally the story of Brer Rabbit originates from parts of West Africa and was passed down orally from generations of enslaved Africans in the Americas and Caribbean. It soon made its way to publication because Robert Roosevelt, uncle of President Theodore Roosevelt, wrote down the story as enslaved Blacks dictated it. The story only met popularity when Joel Chandler Harris (1881), a White Southern journalist, adapted and compiled the African folktales for publication. Chandler developed the fictional character Uncle Remus, an old slave (who speaks in Gullah dialect) as the storyteller. In the role of a griot, Uncle Remus transmits certain knowledge and values by passing the story on to children gathered around him. Accordingly, the original Tar Baby story is the only story where his rival Brer Fox outfoxes Brer Rabbit. In an effort to catch the trickster, Brer Fox shapes a lump of tar into the shape of a baby, put clothes on it and sets it strategically in a pathway that Brer Rabbit is known to travel. When Brer Rabbit comes into contact with the tar baby he tries to have a conversation but gets no response. His frustration causes him to punch the tar baby and he becomes stuck. The more Brer Rabbit tries to rid himself from the tar baby the more he is affixed to the tar. Palmer asserts that, â€Å"over the years the tar has come to represent the trap, often times one that is more politically aligned, but most times the word is used in a way that is meant to degrade† ( C. Palmer, Artist’s Statement, 2011). Palmer brings to light that the original tar baby story has no racial connotation but rather it is a story about â€Å"a problem that gets worse the more one struggles against it.† (â€Å"Tar Baby†, n.d.) Presently, tar baby is a term used by blacks and whites alike â€Å"to express their anger towards their losses or failures, and their feelings about complexion and race. (C. Palmer, Artist’s statement, 2011). Historically, there was a prevalence of this word around derogatory images of African Americans. Despite its negative racial implication the metaphor of tar, â€Å"a problem† along with Palmer’s exhibition can be used to discuss social justice and diversity issues and as a means to transform art educators into culturally responsive teachers. Addressing the needs of diverse and multilingual learners through culturally responsive teaching According to a report provided by the Congressional Research Service, â€Å"The U.S. population is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse† (Shrestha & Heisler, 2011, p. 18). Furthermore, it is predicted that by the year 2050, 56% of the U.S. population will be non-White. Already the majority minority, representing 15% of America’s demographic of race are those who identify as Hispanic or Latino. By 2050 members of this community will have a population increase of 30.2% and this also implies an increasing population of multilingual people (Shrestha & Heisler, 2011, p. 18 ). This increasing change in America’s race and ethnic composition is reflected in every aspect of our lives and this includes the classroom. Now more than ever it is necessary for art educators to address the needs of the steadily increasing numbers of culturally and linguistically diverse learners. One way to do this is to cultivate in all students what proponents of multicultural education call, â€Å"a transformative perspective.† I contend that art educators can successfully engage diverse learners through the praxis of culturally responsive teaching and by introducing the works of artist like Charly Palmer.