Diego Rivera, Calla Lilly Vendor, 1943. Oil on Masonite; 59.1 x 47.2 in. (150 x 120 cm).
The Vergel Foundation and MondoMostre in collaboration with the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL). © 2020 Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Gerardo Suter
Inspired By
Calla Lily Vendor and Sunflowers by Diego Rivera.
Topic
Exploring national identities and Indigenous (the original or earliest known inhabitants of an area) histories and helping kids understand a few components of national identity.
Rationale
Learning about, understanding, and appreciating diverse cultures is an essential component of 21st-century education.
Resources Include
for Facilitators
- A How-to facilitate guide including information about the book recommendation, sample prompting conversation questions and two activity extensions. Guide includes complementary links for background research.
- High resolution images of the artwork
- One student worksheet
- Optional Recipe Card
For Kids
- Optional Recipe Card
Diego Rivera, Born 1886, Guanajuato, Mexico; died 1957, Mexico City, Calla Lily Vendor, 1943, Oil on Masonite
The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of 20th-Century Mexican Art and the Vergel Foundation and MondoMostre in collaboration with the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL). © 2020 Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Gerardo Suter
Part of exploring the Denver Art Museum exhibition Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Mexican Modernism: From the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection is studying many aspects of Mexican culture. These artworks by Diego Rivera express national identity through the depiction and celebration of everyday life in Mexico. Street markets abound in Mexico, and there you will find flowers, much like Diego Rivera has shown in his painting Calla Lily Vendor, where flowers are being sold. Food is also an important part of culture and the street markets. Imagine rows of overflowing colorful flowers and delicious-smelling food and think about what life may have been like in Mexico a century ago.
Conversation Questions
- What do you think culture is?
- What are things that make up someone’s culture? How is Rivera focusing on Mexican culture? Who is he depicting in these paintings? What cultural values might he be expressing?
- Have you tried a food that originated in another country or culture? How about a food from a country or region that you or someone in your family has lived in?
- How do these foods represent that country or culture?
- Do you have special recipes that are part of your family traditions and perhaps part of a larger culture?
- After sharing responses, have kids draw or write about the food they would like to try.
Dig Deeper
Activity Extension
Interview a family member or friend who likes to cook and write down their favorite recipe.
Food can be a great way of introducing or celebrating different cultures. There are distinctive and unique foods in all cultures! It’s validating to share and celebrate your own food traditions, which can foster understanding when we learn about others’ customs. This gives kids a chance to reflect on how their eating habits reflect their own culture, and it promotes inclusivity of other cultures.
Guacamole: Un poema para cocinar / A Cooking Poem, written by Jorge Argueta and illustrated by Margarita Sada, celebrates Mexican culture through food. The book playfully explores guacamole, a typical Mexican and Aztec dish sometimes referred to as “green gold.” It’s also about the pleasure of making something delicious to eat for people who are special.
Conversation Questions
- What is your favorite food? Do you know where the recipe originated or was developed?
- What types of foods have you seen and/or tasted at celebrations? Are these foods unique to your family or your cultural traditions?
- Share a time you have helped make a favorite food. What did you make? What do you remember about making it?
- Have you ever tried avocados or guacamole, a fruit and dish well-loved in Mexico? Are there foods grown in different parts of the world or the country that you have tried?
- Do you know someone from a culture that is different from yours? When you compare your family’s foods and eating customs to theirs, how are they the same? How do they differ?
- Have kids draw or write about the food they would like to try and the story of celebration it tells, either about them or the culture it is from.
- How is celebrating culture also celebrating people?
Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Mexican Modernism from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection is organized by the Vergel Foundation and MondoMostre in collaboration with the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL).
The Denver Art Museum exhibition is generously supported by John and Sandra Fox, the Birnbaum Social Discourse Project, and Craig Ponzio.
Additional funding is provided by the Aegon Transamerica Foundation, Lisë Gander and Andy Main, Lauren and Geoff Smart, Xcel Energy, the Kristin and Charles Lohmiller Exhibitions Fund, the Fine Arts Foundation, the donors to the Annual Fund Leadership Campaign, and the residents who support the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD). Promotional support is provided by 5280 Magazine and CBS4.
Kids and Family programs are supported by the William Randolph Hearst Endowment for Education Programs, Nancy Benson Education Endowment Fund, CenturyLink Endowment, and Jim Kelley and Amie Knox Education Endowment Fund. Funding is also provided by Tuchman Family Foundation, The Virginia W. Hill Foundation, Colorado Creative Industries, Margulf Foundation, Riverfront Park Community Foundation, Sidney E. Frank Foundation – Colorado Fund, Aegon Transamerica Foundation, Lorraine and Harley Higbie, an anonymous donor, and the residents who support the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD).
The Free for Kids program at the Denver Art Museum is made possible by Scott Reiman with support from Bellco Credit Union.
