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Activity: Create a Friendship Collage

a pair of hands decorating a piece of paper decorated with orange teardrops and a photo of two young girls with a marker

This activity is inspired by Amy Sherald’s work Precious jewels by the sea. Learn more about this artwork and create your own personal collage including friends and those you love.  

 

Look Closer: 

  • What does this image remind you of? Do you have any images like this in your home? 
  • Amy Sherald created this painting of four Black teenagers enjoying everyday life. This is an image we don’t typically see in a museum. What everyday activities do you do with your friends? 
  • Look at the patterns and colors in this painting. Where is your eye drawn to? 
  • Amy Sherald is a painter who focuses on painting portraits of Black people in everyday settings. A portrait is a picture of a person, showing their appearance, personality, and mood. 
  • Sherald paints Black people with gray-black-colored skin, letting the viewer reconsider ideas they have about race. 
  • If you were to create a portrait, who would you paint? 

Activity: Make a Friendship Collage!

Materials

materials for an artmaking activity including brown paper, orange paper, picture of two young girls, scissors, markers, and glue stick
  • Paper 
  • Decorative paper 
  • Glue stick 
  • Markers  

Instructions

a pair of hands gluing a white piece of paper to a brown piece of paper with glue stick

Step 1: Pick out a photo that represents friendship to you. This could be a picture taken recently, or in my case, a childhood photo. I chose this one because I wanted to cherish and show appreciation to my sister, who is also my best friend. Cut the background of the photo out, leaving only the figures. 

a pair of hands cutting a piece of paper with scissors

Step 2: Cut out decorations to add around the photo. Think about how you can show different emotions through shapes and colors. I added yellow for my sister’s favorite color and orange for me. 

a pair of hands decorating a piece of paper decorated with orange teardrops and a photo of two young girls with a marker

Step 3: Using markers, add more details to decorate your collage! 

Helpful hint: Find an old frame that you aren’t using at home or find one at a local donation center. Make your collage the same size that fits in the frame to put it on display! 

Have fun creating! 

 

Written by Marlie Allgood, art instructor, Crystal Bridges. 

a collage on brown and yellow paper decorated with orange teardrops and a photo of two young girls