Human Rights Hero Busts Are Well Underway!!!

WASHINGTONVILLE HIGH SCHOOL

CLAY
INSTRUCTOR: MS. HELD
UNIT 2: HUMAN RIGHTS HEROES

UNIT GOAL: Inspired by the theme of Human Rights, students will design and create a ceramic bust of a human rights hero using the subtractive and additive sculpture methods. Students will research and explore how individuals, throughout history, have fought for a variety of human rights issues. We will learn about the history of human rights and study the thirty articles outlined in The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Students will then a select a UDHR article, connect it to a specific person they identify as a human rights hero and create a ceramic bust representing this individual. This person may be contemporary, historical, or personal. Students will be encouraged to use a variety of surface decorating techniques (carving, relief, sculpting, piercing, stamping) to add realistic or metaphoric imagery and/or text onto their bust in order to enhance their bust’s symbolism and meaning. Students will choose either a ceramic glaze or acrylic paint finish. Students will be encouraged to think about what actions they can take to promote human rights in their own lives and their community, so they too may become “human rights heroes.” In addition, students will be invited to showcase their sculptures at the Orange County Human Rights Commission’s annual Human Rights Art Exhibit in December 2019.