Grades 5-8: Let's Get Packing!
Lesson Two
Artist Nick Engelbert: No Place Like Home
Nick Engelbert was born in Austria, but traveled extensively throughout Europe and the Norwegian and South American coasts before settling in Hollandale, Wisconsin. His birth name was Koletnik Engelbert, but at some point he shortened it to Nick, embracing his new country by Americanizing his name like many other immigrants did. His paintings and sculptures share memories of his homeland and the adventures of his travels as a young man. They also celebrate the mixed cultural heritage of his American neighbors.
His first sculpture was an Austro-Hungarian double eagle. He then made a matching American eagle, bearing the Wisconsin state seal, and set the pair-representing his native and adopted homelands-across the framework flanking the entryway to the house. Engelbert then began making tribute sculptures to the immigrant populations of the surrounding area. Perhaps the first of these was a red deer with real antlers accompanied by a hiker in Viennese dress, representing the Austrian Carinthian Forest. He made a Blarney Castle for the Irish, a Viking in a ship for the Norwegians, statues depicting the three founding fathers of the Swiss Confederation, and a memorial archway for all area pioneers. A second eagle stood proudly in the yard, holding the American flag in its beak with a sign reading, " Going on a Migration to all Nations with Old Glory representing Liberty, Freedom, and the Pursuit of Happiness."
Download Image of Nick Engelbert's Work: Click Here
Display images of Engelbert's sculptures, and then discuss the following questions as a class.
Discussion Questions:
1. After looking at the images of Engelbert's works, and reading the account above, what symbols did Engelbert incorporate within his sculptures to represent both old and new countries? What clues do these symbols give you about his life and travels?
2. What other symbols could he have used? If you were to update Englebert's artwork today, what objects would be important to include?
Art Activity
Together as a class brainstorm examples of symbolism in our culture. Make a collage that reflects American culture today. You may cut out magazine pictures, use personal photographs, and/or draw your own pictures. Write a statement describing and explaining your choices.
Student Connection: Lady Liberty
Over 33 million immigrants arrived at the Port of Ellis Island, New York from 1892-1949 . The United States has been called a "tossed salad" because it is home to people of every nationality. Engelbert's own community represented this diversity-a blend of cultures, all seeking a place of freedom in the United States.
The Statue of Liberty was, for many, the first sight welcoming them to their newfound freedom and home. On the interior of the Statue of Liberty is a bronze plaque inscribed with the poem "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus. You might recognize the end of this famous inscription:
"The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
Discussion Questions*:
Lead a discussion with your students about the nature of this poem.
1. What do the words mean?
2. Do they reflect the current immigration policies of the United States?
3. Do they reflect your students' own ideas about what our national immigration policies should be?
After the discussion, ask your students to imagine that they have been commissioned to write a new poetic inscription for the Statue of Liberty.
1. What ideas would their poems contain?
2. What images and phrases would they use?
When their poems are complete, ask for volunteers to share their work with the class. Then discuss the poems' ideas and images.
*Activity and discussion questions derived from: Discovery Education
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