Media Resource
Picturing America: Romare Bearden
Photo caption
Romare Bearden, The Dove, 1964.
Romare Bearden grew up in New York City during the Harlem Renaissance, having moved there with his family as a young child as part of the Great Migration. Jazz music, and a commitment to creating art that reflected the African American experience in the segregated United States, would be lifelong influences on his work.
View the video (6 minutes) from Picturing America.
Classroom Connections
Comprehension Questions
- How does Bearden describe his relationship to his works of art?
- What influences shaped Bearden?
- What similarities are there between Bearden's visual art and music?
- How does "The Dove" capture African American experiences of the city?
EDSITEment Resources
EDSITEment has a rich collection of resources about the Civil Rights movement. Below are a selection of resources that consider the relationship between art, civil rights, and the experiences of African Americans in the United States during the mid-twentieth century.
- Media Resource: Music of the Harlem Renaissance: Learn about the Harlem Renaissance and the musical influences that shaped Romare Bearden from an early age.
- Lesson Plan: Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series: Removing the Mask (grades 6-8): Lawrence's Migration Series depicts African Americans who were part of the Great Migration—the movement of millions of Black Americans from the South to the northern and western United States in search of a better life. Romare Bearden's family was among these migrants.
- Lesson Plan: The Freedom Riders and the Popular Music of the Civil Rights Movement (grades 9-12): Learn about another connection between art and the Civil Rights movement.