Evening with the Artists

Megan's 2nd grade ACT group each picked an artist to portray in their "Evening with the Artists" project. They were to dress like the artist, speak like the artists, recreate one of the paintings, and give a short speech outlining their life. Megan wanted to be a female, and most of the female painters got snatched up quickly. I found Tamara de Lempicka, a controversial artist from the 1920s, and grabbed her for Megan. Research into her story was interesting. She apparently was not such a great person. She lied about her past obsessively, so it is hard to know something as straight-forward as her date and place of birth.

Megan's speech, which I wrote with her, is below. I tried to find a flapper dress for her, and her "cousin" Kate sent a dance costume! It was adorable, but David found that flappers did not actually dress in such bright colors, and so many tassels. It is a common misconception. But we decided to go with it anyway, and Megan really stood out among much black and white costumes. She also did a WONDERFUL job on her speech, speaking slowly and clearly. A few of her lines did get chuckles from the audience. (like when she pointed out other artists "among us") We had practiced her hitting a "Vogue" pose when she said the name of that song; but she decided not to when she was on-stage. Oh well; we were all still super-impressed and super-proud. Even Cam sat still for her speech.

The speech:

Welcome, ladies and gentleman, to “Evening with the Artists.” My name is Tamara de Lempicka. I was born in the city of Warsaw on May 16, 1898. (At least that’s what I tell people. I was really born in Moscow, Russia, a little earlier) I was the middle child of my family. My parents were rich and important. When I was born, my name was Maria Gorska. I went to boarding school in Switzerland.

I married Tadeusz Lempicka and moved to Paris, France. I went to art school in Paris. My husband never got a job, so I painted to get money. I did most of my painting in Paris during a time called “the Roaring 20’s”. Flapper dresses like these were fashionable then. (Do a twirl and show off your dress) At that time I was friends with Pablo Picasso, (indicate where Pablo Picasso is in the room). Later I moved to the United States, where I worked with Georgia O’Keefe, who is sitting right over there. (point towards Georgia O’Keefe)

During my early painting, I used brushes and a spatula, but later on I tried a palette knife. Although she wasn’t a painter, I was inspired by an actress named Greta Garbo. In fact, I liked the nickname “the Greta Garbo of the art world.”

My most famous painting is called “Auto-Portrait”. The painting I am showing here tonight is called “Calla Lilies”.

A famous pop singer, Madonna, is a big fan of my art. She even included it in her music videos for “Open Your Heart”, “Express Yourself”, and “Vogue”.

I died on March 18, 1980. (and that part’s true) After I died two plays were written about my life. Because I was that important.

Megan delivering her speech:




Megan watching another artist:


The artists posing at the end:


Megan with her painting:


Megan posing, and with Fiona (her friend from Ms Glass' class and ACT):