Resources for Teachers and Students

Lesson Plans

Based on Aminah's work, these lesson plans encourage students to research, document, and honor their own ancestors, families, and communities and those that are different from their own. The integrated lesson plans support learning outcomes in the arts, social studies, and language arts and can be adapted to elementary, middle, and high school grade levels. They have been developed by the education department of the Columbus Museum of Art and the teachers who serve as advisors to the Web site.

Vocabulary

Embellish - make beautiful with decoration

Family tree - an illustration that shows the relationships between members of an extended family

Hogmawg - Aminah Robinson’s mixture of mud, pig grease, dyes, sticks, glue, and lime that she uses in her two- and three-dimensional work

Memory Map - Aminah Robinson’s art based on her memory and research of a particular place

Metaphor - a figure of speech that compares unlike things (the heart is a drum)

Middle Passage - the period between the 1500s and 1860s when millions of Africans were forced into ships and brought to the Americas as enslaved people

Pattern - a design system based on the planned relationship of parts

Primary sources - actual records that have survived from the past, such as letters, photographs, articles of clothing; sources created by people who actually saw or participated in an event and recorded that event or their reactions to it immediately after the event.

RagGonNon - Amianh Robinson’s word for a complex work of art that is never finished

Sankofa - from the Akan; the African concept of learning from the past

Secondary sources- Accounts of the past created by someone either not present when the event took place or removed by time from the event.

Simile- a figure of speech that compares unlike things using like or as (the heart is like a drum)

Spiritual - genre of American Folk Music about the suffering, longing, and religious passion of African Americans during slavery times and its aftermath

Symbolism - using an object to stand for another object or idea

Texture - the way something would feel if you could touch it

Two-dimensional- having height and width; flat

Three-dimensional - having height, width, and depth or the appearance of having them

Storyline - a story based on a particular timeline of events

Unwritten Love Letter - Aminah Robinson’s drawings and mixed media art on envelopes that she has steamed opened and dyed

Downloadable Images

To download the hi-res versions of these Aminah works right click the link and select "save target as" or "save link as."

Gift Of Love01
Gift of Love, 1974-2002
Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, American, b. 1940
Wood, hogmawg, mud, leather, music boxes, and found objects
61 x 35 x 56 inches
Columbus Museum of Art, Gift of the Artist
Goree Island
Roots Begin with Goree Island, 1980
Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, American, b. 1940
Pen and ink and colored pencils with thread and beads on homemade paper
10 ½ x 55 ¼ inches
Columbus Museum of Art, Gift of the Artist
Jerusalem
Jerusalem, a Walk Through Prophet Street, 1998
Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson. American, b. 1940
From Sacred Pages, People of the Book
Paint on cloth
43 ½ x 66 inches
Columbus Museum of Art, Gift of the Artist
My Lord
My Lord, What a Morning, 1994
Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, American, b. 1940
Acrylic on wood with iron, steel, and music boxes
10 pieces, dimensions variable, component heights 8-10 ft.
Columbus Museum of Art, Gift of the Artist
One Day
One Day in 1307 AD: King Abubakari II, 1985-92
Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson. American, b. 1940
Button beaded RagGonNon Music Box Pop-Up Book
Cloth, thread, buttons, beads, paper, paint, graphite, and music boxes
55 x 155 inches
Columbus Museum of Art, Gift of the Artist
Poindexter First Families
Poindexter Village - First Families in 1940, 1995
Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, American, b. 1940
Paint on cloth
36 x 72 inches
Private collection
Sapelo Island
Sapelo Island, Hog Hammock Community Quilt, 1977-86
Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, American, b. 1940
Wool, buttons, beads, leather, music box and found objects
49 x 64 inches
Columbus Museum of Art, Gift of the Artist
Sojourner Truth
Unwritten Love Letter: Sojourner Truth, 1988
Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, American, b. 1940
Pen and ink, thread, and found objects on hand-dyed envelope
14 x 21 inches
Private collection
Streets Of Dakar
Streets of Dakar, Senegal 1980
Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, American, b. 1940
Paint on cloth
101 x 95 inches
Columbus Museum of Art, Gift of the Artist
Sweet Soap
Makin’ Sweetsoap in the Backyard, 1995-96
Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, American, b. 1940
Paint on cloth
55 x 75 inches
Private collection
Teachings
The Teachings, 1992
Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, American, b. 1940
Cover art for the book of the same name
Pen and ink and found objects on paper
26 x 20 inches
Columbus Museum of Art, Gift of the Artist
Water St
Life Along Water Street, 2000-2007
Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, American, b. 1940
Rag painting on paper with thread and buttons
18 x 67 inches
Columbus Museum of Art, Gift of the Artist