Visual & Performing Arts · 7th Grade

Active learning ideas

Art and Identity: Personal and Cultural

Identity and culture are abstract concepts best explored through active, visual, and social learning. Middle school students strengthen their analytical and empathy skills when they discuss, compare, and create rather than passively receive information. This topic becomes more meaningful when students see how artists externalize inner experiences, making identity both visible and debatable.

• Common Core State Standards
• NCAS: Connecting VA.Cn11.1.7
• NCAS: Responding VA.Re7.1.7

• 20–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Gallery Walk
• 35 min · Small Groups

Comparative Analysis: How Do These Artists See Themselves?

Show three self-portraits from artists of different cultural backgrounds and eras (such as Frida Kahlo, Kehinde Wiley, and a historical European master). Students individually identify the cultural symbols and visual choices that communicate identity in each, then small groups compare findings and discuss what each artist chose to make visible and what they chose to leave out.

Explain how art can serve as a powerful medium for exploring and affirming personal identity.

Facilitation Tip

During the Comparative Analysis activity, circulate with a clipboard and jot down two contrasting observations to share with the class to model close reading of visual detail.

What to look for

Provide students with an image of an artwork that explores identity. Ask them to write: 1) One symbol or element that communicates the artist's identity or heritage. 2) One question they have about the artwork or the artist's choices.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 02

• Think-Pair-Share
• 20 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: What Would You Make Visible?

Students write privately: if you were making an artwork about your own identity, what images, symbols, or objects would you include? They share with one partner before the class discusses patterns (what kinds of things did people choose?) and differences (what did people choose not to share, and why might that be?).

Analyze how artists represent and celebrate diverse cultural heritages through their work.

Facilitation Tip

For the Think-Pair-Share, set a timer for one minute of silent reflection before pairing to ensure quieter students have time to organize thoughts.

What to look for

Facilitate a class discussion using the prompt: 'How can looking at art from different cultures help us better understand our own identity and the identities of others?' Encourage students to reference specific artists studied.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 03

• Gallery Walk
• 30 min · Small Groups

Gallery Walk: Cultural Heritage in Contemporary Art

Post images of five or six contemporary artists who explicitly reference their cultural heritage. Students rotate and record at each work: what specific cultural element is referenced, how the artist has transformed it into a personal artistic statement rather than mere documentation, and what the work makes visible about the relationship between individual and community identity.

Compare how different artists from similar backgrounds express their identity through varied artistic styles.

Facilitation Tip

In the Gallery Walk, place one piece of artwork at each station and assign small groups a specific question prompt to focus their discussion as they move.

What to look for

Present students with short descriptions of different artistic approaches to identity (e.g., using personal objects, incorporating traditional patterns, reinterpreting historical portraits). Ask students to match each description to the artist whose work exemplifies it.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 04

• Inquiry Circle
• 50 min · Small Groups

Inquiry Circle: An Artist Outside Our Usual Study

Small groups each research one identity-based artist from a cultural background not yet represented in their study that year. Groups analyze what identity the artist explores, what visual strategies they use, and what social or historical context shapes their work, then present findings to the class.

Explain how art can serve as a powerful medium for exploring and affirming personal identity.

Facilitation Tip

During Collaborative Investigation, assign roles such as researcher, recorder, and presenter to distribute participation and accountability.

What to look for

Provide students with an image of an artwork that explores identity. Ask them to write: 1) One symbol or element that communicates the artist's identity or heritage. 2) One question they have about the artwork or the artist's choices.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Self-Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers approach this topic by centering student voice early and often. Start with accessible, relatable examples before moving to more complex works. Avoid framing identity as something fixed or easily defined—use open-ended prompts that allow for complexity. Research shows students develop deeper empathy when they connect personal experiences to cultural narratives, so include opportunities for reflection on their own identities in relation to the artwork. Keep the language concrete and visual; avoid abstract jargon unless you immediately ground it in an example.

Successful learning looks like students confidently analyzing how visual choices communicate identity, speaking with evidence about cultural context, and applying those insights to their own creative or written work. They should show curiosity about others’ perspectives and a growing awareness that identity is complex and layered.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Comparative Analysis activity, watch for students who dismiss personal identity-based art as less important than art about broad themes like nature or emotion.

  Use the activity’s structured comparison of formal elements to guide students toward noticing how personal symbols carry cultural weight. Ask: ‘How might this specific cultural detail make the artwork meaningful to a wider audience? What does that tell us about universality?’

• During the Think-Pair-Share activity, watch for comments that imply artists who reference cultural heritage limit their creative range.

  Prompt students to consider Kahlo’s use of Mexican folk art and self-portraiture as evidence that specificity fuels global recognition. Ask pairs to brainstorm how rooted art can speak across cultures.

• During the Collaborative Investigation activity, watch for students who separate personal identity from cultural identity in their analysis.

  Direct groups to look for artworks that show both layers—like a self-portrait wearing traditional clothing and holding a modern object. Ask: ‘How does this piece show identity as both personal and shaped by culture?’

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Methods used in this brief

• Gallery Walk
• Think-Pair-Share
• Inquiry Circle