Ugly Face Jugs

Students in this unit looked at the concept of "uncertainty."  We discussed how uncertainty was often a good thing when it came to art because it forced artists to challenge themselves and to take risks.

This unit's title was "The Uncommon Vessel" because we were looking at, and creating, art that was used as functional art but was also out of the ordinary. 

As a class, we looked at the functional art of the ugly face jugs.  Ugly face jugs originated in the American South, where African American Slaves at the time would create them as slave markers for tombstones or vessels to contain poisonous or hazardous materials. 

Students were asked to create ugly jugs based on a character, or famous person.  They could not use anyone that they knew personally.  We discussed caricatures and their purpose and what they looked like before creating their own design.  Students experimented with clay form and different clay techniques, either slab rolling or the coiling technique, to create their design.  Here is what the 4th graders created!