Teaching Collection: The Art of Breaking the Mold

This collection of primary sources offers a look at how artists break with traditions to pursue innovative artistic styles and forms.

Introduction

This Teaching Collection about artistic innovation was inspired by the first major museum retrospective of Los Angeles ceramic artist Doyle Lane (1923–2002).

Innovation often grows from a deep understanding of artistic traditions balanced with experimentation to develop new artistic forms. Lane was a Black artist working in the middle decades of the 20th century whose groundbreaking approach to ceramics challenged conventional expectations of clay while drawing on his deep technical knowledge of process and materials. Innovation can also be encouraged and sparked by the communities to which an artist belongs. In Lane’s case, he was part of a community of Black artists working in Los Angeles. He also gifted his most experimental artworks to friends and invited the community into his studio to share in his practice.

Use this collection of selected works by Lane and other artists to explore ways that artists honor traditions while embracing experimentation, and how new forms of creation happen with the support of their communities.

Guiding Questions

Why do artists develop unique artistic styles instead of following established ones?
How can innovation reshape the way we think about an art form?
How do artists honor tradition while creating something new?
How does connecting with other artists support creativity and innovation?

How To Use This Resource

This resource contains a collection of high-quality images of artworks by Lane, followed by works by other artists. The collection prompts students to think about how artists honor tradition and connect with others in their communities to innovate in style and form, creating something new.

At the bottom of each primary source, you’ll find vocabulary words, project ideas, and prompts intended for students from first through sixth grade that can be adapted for other grade levels. Relevant California state standards in art, science, and writing, with additional collection-wide project ideas, are included at the end.

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Art Teaching and Learning

Standards

Next Generation Science Standards

2-PS1-1 Matter and Its Interactions. Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.
2-PS1-2 Matter and Its Interactions. Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.

California Arts Anchor Standards–Visual Arts

K.VA:Cr1.2 Engage collaboratively in creative artmaking in response to an artistic problem.
1.VA:Cr1.2 Use observation and investigation in preparation for making a work of art.
1.VA:Re8 Interpret art by categorizing subject matter and identifying the mood and characteristics of form.
2.VA:Cr1.1 Brainstorm to generate multiple approaches to an art or design problem.
2.VA:Cr1.2 Make art or design with various art materials and tools to explore personal interests, questions, and curiosity.
2.VA:Cn10 Create works of art about events in home, school, or community life.
3.VA:Cr1.1 Elaborate on an imaginative idea.
4.VA:Cr1.1 Brainstorm individual and collaborative approaches to a creative art or design problem.
4.VA:Cr2.1 Explore and invent art-making techniques and approaches.
4.VA:Cn11 Through observation, infer information about time, place, and culture in which a work of art was created.
5.VA:Cr1.1 Combine ideas to generate an innovative idea for artmaking.
5.VA:Cr2.1 Experiment and develop skills in multiple art-making techniques and approaches through practice.
6.VA:Cr1.1 Combine concepts collaboratively to generate innovative ideas for creating art.
6.VA:Cr1.2 Formulate an artistic investigation of personally relevant content for creating art.
6.VA:Cr2.1 Demonstrate openness in trying new ideas, materials, methods, and approaches in making works of art and design.
8.VA:Cr2.1 Demonstrate willingness to experiment, innovate, and take risks to pursue ideas, forms, and meanings that emerge in the process of artmaking or designing.

California Arts Anchor Standards–Music

1.MU:Cr2 a With limited guidance, demonstrate and discuss personal reasons for selecting musical ideas that represent expressive intent.
6.MU:Re7.1 Select music to listen to and explain the connections to specific interests or experiences for a specific purpose.
5.MU:Cn11 Explain and demonstrate connections between music and societal, cultural, and historical contexts
Nov.MU:H.Re7.1 Identify reasons for selecting music based on characteristics found in the music and connections to interest, purpose, or personal experience.

ELA/Writing Standards

Writing – Research to Build and Present Knowledge

W.3.7 / W.4.7 Conduct short research projects.
W.3.8 / W.4.8 Recall and gather information from sources.

Teaching Collection: The Art of Breaking the Mold

On this page

Introduction

Guiding Questions

How To Use This Resource

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Opening Hours

Admission Info and Tickets

How Doyle Lane Broke the Mold

Mutual Savings and Loan Mural by Doyle Lane

1964

Video: Doyle Lane, Master of Clay

Audio: Mutual Savings and Loan Mural

Orange, Black and Red Butterfly Clay Painting by Doyle Lane

ca. 1970

Audio: Interview with Doyle Lane

Orange Tall Pot by Doyle Lane

ca. 1960s

Interactive Map: Doyle Lane's Los Angeles

How Other Artists Break the Mold

Diner by Mary Lee Bendolph

2004

Passion Flower by Agnes Pelton

ca. 1945

Collection-Wide Project Ideas and Prompts

Standards

Authors, Contributors, and Reviewers

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