Making a Culture Collage Step by Step Instructions Activities by Arizona art teacher Laurie Eldridge, Ph.D. with Mary Erickson, Ph.D. From the exhibition Outsiders Within: Contemporary Work from Regional Latina/o and Native American Artists

Materials Needed: Newspaper Recycled magazines Cardstock paper for base Scissors Glue Black marker Scrap booking/collage papers or recycled paper in a variety of colors and patterns

Set Up Clear a workspace on a table. Spread out the newspaper to protect your work surface. Get all your materials together.

Step One Select a piece of paper that will serve as the base for the collage. Add another piece of paper on top of your base. This will be your “anchor strip.”

Step Two Look through a few magazines. Find three or more pictures that reflect your cultural groups.

Step Three Carefully cut out the pictures you chose. Cut close to the edge of the main image. Example: This cactus should be cut closer to the edge.

Now the cactus has been trimmed better.

Step Four Once you have several pictures cut and carefully trimmed, try arranging the images in different ways.

Try moving things around, adding new things and subtracting some others. TIP Let pictures touch the “anchor strip” or another picture. This helps create unity.

Step Five When you are happy with the image, glue the pieces down. TIP Look for pictures that have some of the same colors. Then, add one bright pop of color.

Last Step Draw accent lines with a black marker to unify the design. Draw around some shapes. Look for a line that you like and draw it again somewhere on your paper. Use a variety of lines.

Here are some samples of student-made Culture Collages.

Here’s an example from the teacher.

Remember Think about the cultural groups to which you belong. Find three or more pictures that reflect your cultural groups. Trim pictures carefully. Try arranging the images in different ways. Use a variety of accent lines to unify the image. Be creative!