Visual Culture Database Form

Provider: Heather Bode

Number:
VCDB -5
Big Idea/Subject:
Freedom
Major Theme:
Presidents
Medium/ Presentation:
Sculpture
Visual Components:
Texture, space, form,
shape, and scale
Category:
Fine Arts
Pop art
Pop culture
Non-art

ARTE344

Fall 2016

Authorship:
Title:
Original Location:

Gutzon Borglum
Mount Rushmore

Description/Interpretation

Mount Rushmore is an impressive and massive representation of

four United States Presidents including George Washington, Thomas
Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln carved out of a
mountain. The four faces made out of rock are extremely detailed and
realistic looking. The different color shades such as grey, black, white,
yellow, and beige and lines or cracks of the rock or mountain creates
texture in the faces. The sun shines on the faces and creates shadows that
define the details of the faces. Mount Rushmore is a popular tourist
attraction and represents Americas freedom and hope. These four
Presidents of the United States are strong leaders that were a major part
of Americas independence. Americans visit Mount Rushmore and are
proud to take a picture in front of it and it reminds them to be thankful of
the freedom and hope they possess in the United States of America.

Rushmore Mountain in Black Hills National Forest, South

Dakota

Use in Teaching:

Source:

My lesson idea inspired by Mount Rushmore is to have students create

their own representation or symbol of freedom or hope out of clay. They
will learn how to carve details out of the clay similar to how Gutzon
Borglum carved the Presidents faces out of the rocks. They can create
texture in the clay with found objects. Students will also have the
opportunity to under glaze or paint their clay symbols of hope or
freedom. The students will have flexibility in creating a personal artwork
of what gives them hope or freedom such as a flower, the American flag,
a peace sign, a butterfly, a bird, or eagle.
Some questions I would ask them include: Have you seen Mount
Rushmore before in real life and do you know which presidents they are?
What is the meaning or message of Mount Rushmore? How does this
sculpture make you feel while viewing it? How does Mount Rushmore
inspire your personal art? What gives you hope and freedom? Why is
hope and freedom vital in your lives? How would this sculpture be
viewed differently if the presidents bodies were also carved out? What
are some other historical art works that inspire freedom and hope?
http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/mount-rushmore