CUBA: René Portocarrero was a self-taught Cuban artist. His paintings earned him international awards and success.

Third graders made colorful replicas in art class of his Landscape of Havana painting. The original plan was to laminate and glue all of their work onto tri-fold boards, thereby creating the “streets of Havana” in Spanish class. Students could build walls to their houses and businesses, and then fold them back up at the end of class for an easy clean-up. We wanted to create an authentic town, as part two of the second graders’ town simulation. However, the hurricanes this year had different ideas, and I became a traveling Spanish teacher–thereby putting this plan on the back burner. But their artwork turned out really well!

LINKS: City (1954), Landscape of Havana (1961), Paisaje de la Habana, Landscape of Havana (1969), View of the City of Havana (1970)

Student Work