How does an artist provide viewers a sense of scale in an artwork?

How might an artist be inspired by an environment or a setting?

How might a work of art reflect an artist’s or a community’s lived experiences?

How might a landscape serve as commentary on the relationship between humankind and the environment?

Describe the landscape you see here.

What one adjective first comes to your mind as you look at this image? Why?

Ask students to identify and consider the environment/ecosystem depicted in this image. Why might the artist have chosen to photograph such a place?

Where do we see evidence of people in this landscape? How long have people used San Gorgonio Pass as a thoroughfare? Who might have traveled through this place in the past? (This land was first used by the Native American people of various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation. Later came Spanish soldiers, priests, and missionaries, and the U.S Army.)

The artist could have moved the viewfinder on his camera to the left or the right and left the road out of the composition. Why do you think he chose to leave it in?

How would you document this landscape?

Grades 3–5

Students should imagine they are traveling this road and quickly sketch the landforms and the contour of the road. Along the road, they should write nouns and adjectives that describe the experience of traveling in this environment. At the end of the road, students can sketch what they might find there.

Grades 4–8

Students will conduct research on San Gorgonio Pass, the road that runs through this image, and answer the following questions for past and present: Who traveled this road? For what purpose might someone travel this road? What do you imagine might be at the end of this road?