Colorful Experiences

A collage of red in some of its many variations

American poet, Carl Sandburg's poem, "The People, Yes" includes the following passage:
Clink on the link above to hear Sandburg recite the poem in its entirety.

"The blood of all men of all nations being red
the Communist International named red its banner color
Pope Innocent IV gave cardinals their first red hats
saying a cardinal's blood belonged to the holy mother church.
The blood color red is a symbol."


In this multicultural world each hue is heavy with meaning and everyone has their own opinion about what is a "good" color and what is not. Setting aside the issue of "color blindness", color is a great element to start a class discussion because everyone has knowledge about color from their personal experience and cultural perspective.

Color evokes emotions and serves as a powerful communication element. Even the quietest crew will find quite a lot to say about the purposes and meanings of color. Out of all of the art elements, understanding color and knowing how to communicate with it may be one of the most important skills that can be learned in an art classroom.



Analogous Colors