Romare Bearden Inspired Art Project

This Romare Bearden-inspired art project is a fun and creative art project that also helps kids learn about history and culture! A colorful collage, using bleeding tissue paper and images of musicians! Perfect for little artists who love to cut, glue, and create.

Romare Bearden’s art is known for telling powerful stories through layered images and bold patterns. With this project, kids can explore their own stories by making a collage using images of jazz musicians similar to the works of art created by Bearden. All while learning about an important figure in American art history. Plus, this project is simple, engaging, and perfect for all ages, making it great for home, school, or group activities.

Who Was Romare Bearden?

Romare Bearden (1911–1988) was an African American artist best known for his collage art that celebrated Black culture, community, and history. Growing up during the Harlem Renaissance, Bearden was inspired by music, literature, and everyday life. His artwork often shows scenes of jazz musicians, family gatherings, city life, and southern traditions, using cut paper, photographs, and paint to tell these stories.

Bearden believed that art is a powerful way to share stories, and he used his creativity to highlight the experiences and contributions of Americans. His unique style combined bold colors, layered images, and abstract forms, making his work stand out as both visually stunning and deeply meaningful.

Why You’ll Love This Art Project

• Storytelling through art – Kids create a visual story just like Bearden did.
• Hands-on and engaging – Cutting, gluing, and designing makes this a fun, tactile activity.
• Create for all ages – Little ones can make simple scenes, while older kids can create complex, detailed collages.
• Meaningful learning – Introduces kids to history and culture through creative exploration.

Materials You’ll Need

• Jazz musician printable (see below)
• Bleeding tissue paper in various colors
• Bowl of water
• Paint brush
• Glue sticks
• Scissors
• Cardstock or poster board for the base

How to Create a Romare Bearden-Inspired Collage

1. Bleeding tissue paper is a lot of fun to use for crafting. It looks like regular tissue paper but with one important difference – when it gets wet the color runs off of it allow you to use it to dye paper a different color. Grab your bleeding tissue paper and cut it into squares. Try to choose colors that are close to each other in the rainbow so that when they run together they don’t make brown. For instance, choose red, orange and yellow or green, blue and purple.

2. Take your paint brush and dip it into water and then lightly wet your cardstock or water color paper with a layer of water. This will allow you to lay the tissue paper on the paper and keep it in place. Start to lay the tissue paper squares on the paper in the water.

3. Once the entire page is covered, spread another layer of water over top the tissue paper to throughly wet it. You don’t want the paper to be soaking wet but you do want the tissue paper to be wet enough that is sticks to the paper completely. Set it aside to fully dry.

4. While you wait for the tissue paper to dry, print out the jazz musician printable below and cut out the images.

5. Once the tissue paper is dry, it should peel off easily leaving beautiful stain color underneath.

6. Take your jazz musician images and arrange them on the page in a creative way. Once you’re happy with the arrangement, glue them to the page.

Incorporating This Project into Black History Month

While this project is perfect for any time of the year, it’s especially meaningful during Black History Month. Bearden’s art gives us an opportunity to talk about how Black history is American history—it’s not something separate, but part of our collective story.

Ways to Connect This Project to Learning:

• Pair the project with books about Romare Bearden or the Harlem Renaissance.
• Listen to jazz music while creating, as music heavily influenced Bearden’s work.
• Discuss themes of community, family, and history—what stories matter to us today?
• Highlight ongoing contributions of Black artists and thinkers, showing that Black history continues to shape our present and future.