Lee Bontecou, Untitled, 1961
Create a group poem.

Ask students to spend a minute looking at this image. Lee Bontecou lived above a New York City laundry, and she used discarded pieces of material and machines from the laundry in her sculpture. What other materials can students see?

Ask students to make three lists of words that describe this work. Each list should focus on a different part of speech, such as nouns, adjectives, and verbs. Have students circle one word from each list and share these with a small group. The group can work together to come up with a short poem or a few sentences that use these wonderfully descriptive words!

Artwork made of metal and wood.
Artwork made of metal and wood.

Lee Bontecou, Untitled, 1961, 1961. Welded steel, canvas, wire and rope, 72 1/2 × 66 × 24 3/4in. (184.2 × 167.6 × 62.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York purchase 61.41 © Lee Bontecou

On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Maya Man, A Realistic Day In My Life Living In New York City

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Learn more at whitney.org/artport

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