Hispanic Heritage History Month art lessons are a great way to celebrate the many influential Hispanic artists of the past and present. Here are 11 Hispanic artists I have introduced to my students and some ideas for art lessons about them.
Lourdes Villagomez
Lourdes Villagomez is a Mexican artist. She is a graphic designer, contemporary painter and muralist. Most of her artwork includes bright colors. Her Mexican heritage is woven into her artwork by incorporating traditional images and folklore. Her subject matter ranges from a charro hat to sugar skulls and catrinas, both popular with Dia De Los Muertos celebrations.
The creative and colorful approach to traditional images and folklore provide an opportunity for students to create a sugar skull design in a less traditional style. I have my students triangulate a skull drawing and use color schemes to create contrast and unity in their design. This is a great painting, color pencil or mixed media lesson.
Jaime Dominguez
Jaime Dominguez is an abstract contemporary artist from Mexico. His subject matter consists of geometric shapes and minimal colors. He uses a color palette borrowed from indigenous art in Mexico. He is passionate about mixing styles and experimentation.
His clean style and simple color palette is a great way to introduce young artists to minimalism, while teaching the elements of color, value and shape. My students learn about value by creating a simple value scale with paint or using layers of colorful construction paper to create a scale. Students use this paper to create a simple geometric shape collage that has value.
Amelia Pelaez
Amelia Palaez was born in Cuba. Her artwork was heavily influenced by Pablo Picasso. She was an important painter of the Avant-garde generation. She trained in academic impressionism, but she modified her style throughout her life. Her still life paintings include a lot of lines, shapes and patterns.
Palaez’s bold lines, bright colors and simple patterns can inspire students to create a simple still life of their choice. The subject matter can be flowers, fruit, fish or everyday items. Students can fill the table, walls and ceiling with patterns using a variety of lines and shapes, much like the work of Pelaez.
Joan Miro
Joan Miro was born in Spain in 1893. He was a sculptor, painter and ceramist, but known mostly for his paintings. He is considered a Surrealist artist. His unique style is dreamlike and whimsical. His colorful paintings are simple and resemble doodles and simple drawings.
Miro’s abstract style is fun for young artists to replicate, using loose playful lines and shapes to create simple line drawings. I have my students make a Miro-inspired doodle drawing using simple lines and shapes. My students also enjoy using the wet on wet watercolor technique, to create colorful paintings that are also similar to the artwork created by Miro.
Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera was born in Mexico in 1886. He was one of twin boys, unfortunately his twin brother Carlos died two years after they were born. A year later he began drawing on the wall and his parents recognized and nourished his artistic talents. Later, the Mexican government commissioned him to create murals to educate the people about Mexican history.
His revolutionary murals are a great way to introduce the concept of artwork with an impact to your students. I have students think about something they are passionate about and create a drawing or poster to communicate their message and show their voice. These mini murals are a great way for students to spread the word about what is important to them.
Lizeth Prieto
Lizeth Prieto is from Peru. Watercolor painting is her hobby and brings her joy. Her nature paintings bring her well-being and connect her to nature. She said that all of her paintings are dedicated to her mother, Chelita, whom she loves eternally. Her watercolor paintings typically include subjects from nature, such as faceted minerals and florals designs.
I am a huge fan of Lizeth Prieto’s faceted mineral paintings. I teach a lesson about value where the students use pressure on their pencils to create a value range. My students draw clusters of crystals and show how the values change with a light source. You can also do this with watercolors.
Lorna Simpson
Lorna Simpson was born in Brooklyn, New York to Cuban and Jamaican parents. As an undergraduate at the New York School of Visual Arts, she studied painting at first but switched then switched to photography in which she got her degree. The subject matter of her work explores stereotypes of race and gender. She put many of these themes in her photography and collages.
In many of Lorna Simpson’s collages, hair becomes the focus of infinite creative possibilities. My students create similar collages with magazine images and zentangles. The students find an image from a magazine and draw a hair shape around the portrait. Students then divide the hair shape into many shapes and then fill them with Zentangles. It is a great lesson on shape, line and a wonderful introduction to the work of Lorna Simpson. More information on this lesson is available here.
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso was born in Spain in 1881. He is most famous for co-creating Cubism and is considered one of the most iconic artists of the 20th century. He is most well known for his paintings, but he also created drawings, sculptures and ceramics. Picasso created over 50,000 works of art.
A lesson on Cubism is the obvious choice to teach about Picasso and also a great introduction to abstract art for many students. My students use guitars as the subject matter and change the shape of the guitar body, neck and head. To make their artwork complete, my students fill the background with geometric shapes and textures, similar to Picasso’s guitar paintings.
Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo was born in Mexico in 1907 and died in 1954. She is considered one of the most significant artists of the 20th century. She was severely injured in a bus crash in her youth and confined to her bed. This is when she began painting. She depicted her physical and emotional pain in many of her portraits, as well as her rocky relationship with her husband, artist Diego Rivera.
As primarily a portrait artist, Kahlo opens the door of opportunity to create an autobiographical portrait. The students draw a self portrait, then add pets, favorite animals, headpieces, hats, jewelry and creative shirts that provide the viewer some personal information about the artist. I also use this lesson to teach students how to draw a face with correct facial proportions. Click here to check out my Frida Kahlo Inspired Portrait Lesson.
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in Brooklyn, New York to a father from Haiti and a mother from Puerto Rico. He worked as an Abstract Expressionist painter and his style was shaped by his diverse cultural heritage. He depicted much of his subject matter through symbolism.
His artwork is a great way to introduce students to the idea of self-expression and symbolism. I ask my students to reflect on their personal journey, interests and heritage to create an expressive painting. Students create a symbol to represent a component from their life and incorporate that into their painting. Simple self-portraits inspired by Basquiat are also a great way to introduce young artists to Basquiat.
José Clemente Orozco
José Clemente Orozco was born in Mexico in 1883. He became interested in art at the age of 7. At the age of 21, Orozco lost his left hand while working with gunpowder to make fireworks. He was part of a movement with David Alfaro Siqueiros and Diego Rivera, known as Los Tres Grandes. Celebrating the Mexican people’s potential to craft the nation’s history was a key theme in Mexican muralism.
I have created many murals with my students over the years, both permanent and temporary. When creating a large scale collaborative painting or mural it is nice to give students a connection to the power and influence of murals as an art form. I make temporary murals with butcher paper and tempera paint. Many times I will create the line art for the mural and students will add color with paint.
Here’s a few lesson ideas I’ve used that are specifically for older elementary or middle school students.
Yarn Paintings
I have students create a landscape using techniques similar to what the Huichol of Mexico use. I teach students about Huichol Art and artists, then have them create a landscape with yarn that uses color, texture and direction to create variety in their artwork. Click here for more information.
Frida Kahlo Inspired Portraits
We create a self-portrait including an environment that communicates characteristics of each individual. I teach the importance of heritage, and how to draw a portrait with the correct proportions and facial features. Check it out here.
3D Paper Masks
I have taught a 3D Paper Mask art lesson many times that celebrates the Vejigante mask tradition of Puerto Rico. Students create a symmetrical three dimensional mask using various paper folding techniques, then apply patterns with markers. I give them a mask ideas handout to jump start their creativity. Click here to learn more.
FREE POSTERS: This set of four Hispanic Heritage Month printable art room posters is free to all Art With Trista subscribers. Click here to download.
Thanks for reading – Trista
Check out my Seasonal Lesson Ideas for more posts like this.
If you liked this post about Hispanic Heritage Month art lessons, please subscribe by clicking here.
