Boafo's story is like a fairy tale. He started out in Accra with not much, but now he's a really famous artist whose paintings sell for millions of dollars. He mostly paints black people and he uses his fingers to paint a lot of the time. He even got to put his art on Jeff Bezos's rocket ship. Boafo is part of a group of really talented artists from West Africa who support and appreciate each other.

Boafo was born in 1984 and he taught himself how to paint while his mom was at work. At first, he was pretty good at tennis and played semi-professionally to make money. But then someone offered to pay for his art school and that's when things started to change for him. His big break came when another famous artist named Kehinde Wiley saw his paintings on Instagram. Wiley is known for painting a portrait of former US President Barack Obama. Wiley's support inspired Boafo to make friends with other artists and share his experiences with them.

I got to meet Boafo at his studio in Accra. It's in a really cool building designed by architect Sir David Adjaye. Boafo's paintings used to sell for £100 in Ghana, but now they're shown all over the world and people pay a lot of money for them. Museums and collectors have realized that they don't have enough art by black artists, so they want Boafo's work. Even though he's successful, Boafo is thankful for the chance to help people in his community through his residency program.

Boafo gave a self-portrait to an exhibition called "In and Out of Time" at Gallery 1957 in Accra. He painted it with his fingers and it shows him from the back with his arms up. Boafo likes painting more than talking about his art, and he doesn't find things outside of the studio very exciting, except for playing tennis. People like his art because it shows how traditional portraits and social media can go together.

Original news source: Amoako Boafo – the Ghanaian artist who has exhibited in space (BBC)

– News Summary
Instructions: Students will work individually to summarize the article in their own words, focusing on the main points. They should aim to keep the summary under 100 words. Once completed, they can share their summaries with a partner and discuss the key elements of Boafo's life and career.
– Opinion Spectrum
Instructions: Place a line of tape on the floor and label one end 'Strongly Agree' and the other 'Strongly Disagree'. Read out statements related to the article, such as "Artists should use traditional methods rather than innovative ones like finger painting" or "Social media is an important tool for artists." Students place themselves along the line according to their opinion, and then discuss their reasoning with the class.
– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Extract challenging words from the article (e.g., exhibition, overwhelming, semi-professionally, residency). Write each word on individual slips of paper. Divide the class into two teams. Students take turns drawing the word they pick for their teammates to guess, without speaking or writing letters or numbers. Set a time limit for each turn. This will help reinforce new vocabulary from the article in a fun and interactive way.
– Future Predictions
Instructions: In pairs, students will discuss and write down predictions about Amoako Boafo's future based on information from the article. They might predict the next countries where his art will be exhibited, future collaborations, or the impact of his residency program. After sharing with the class, they can also discuss the potential future of art and representation.
– Sketch It
Instructions: Students are paired and each pair is given a sheet of paper. One student reads a portion of the article aloud while the other sketches what they hear. For example, one might sketch Boafo painting with his fingers, or the scene of his studio in Accra. Afterward, they switch roles. This activity helps students practice listening comprehension and visual interpretation of English descriptions.

Amoako ? is a really famous artist from ?. He's back in his home country now, where one of his self-portraits is being shown in an exhibition. Even though he's super successful, Boafo doesn't really like doing ?. He didn't plan on becoming an artist at first, he just started drawing for fun with his friends. When he was growing up, he didn't know that artists of color could do portraits. It's been overwhelming for him to get so much recognition and praise from big art galleries like Larry ?. Boafo's story is like a fairy tale. He started out in Accra with not much, but now he's a really famous ? whose paintings sell for millions of dollars. He mostly paints ? people and he uses his fingers to paint a lot of the time. He even got to put his art on Jeff Bezos's rocket ship. Boafo is part of a ? of really talented ? from West Africa who support and appreciate each other. Boafo was born in 1984 and he taught himself how to paint while his mom was at work. At first, he was pretty good at tennis and played semi-professionally to make money. But then someone offered to pay for his art school and that's when things started to change for him. His big break came when another famous artist named Kehinde Wiley saw his paintings on Instagram. Wiley is known for painting a ? of former US President Barack ?. Wiley's support inspired Boafo to make friends with other artists and share his experiences with them. I got to meet Boafo at his ? in Accra. It's in a really cool building designed by architect Sir David ?. Boafo's paintings used to sell for £100 in Ghana, but now they're shown all over the world and people pay a lot of money for them. Museums and collectors have realized that they don't have enough art by black artists, so they want Boafo's work. Even though he's successful, Boafo is thankful for the chance to help people in his community through his residency ?. Boafo gave a self-portrait to an exhibition called "In and Out of Time" at Gallery 1957 in ?. He painted it with his fingers and it shows him from the back with his arms up. Boafo likes ? more than talking about his art, and he doesn't find things outside of the studio very exciting, except for playing tennis. People like his art because it shows how traditional portraits and social ? can go together.

1. What is your dream job and how would you feel if you suddenly became very successful in it?
2. Do you think it's important for communities to support local artists? Why or why not?
3. Have you ever discovered a talent you didn't know you had, like Boafo did with painting?
4. How would you feel if something you created for fun became really popular and valuable?
5. Do you like the idea of using social media to share your talents, as Boafo did with his paintings?
6. What is something you enjoy doing just for fun, like Boafo enjoyed playing tennis?
7. Do you think artists should focus on creating art or also on giving interviews and being in the spotlight?
8. How would you feel if your artwork was chosen to go on a rocket ship, like Boafo's was on Jeff Bezos's?
9. Do you think it's important for museums to have art from people of different backgrounds? Why?
10. What is a way you could help your community if you became successful like Boafo?
11. Have you ever been inspired by someone else's success to try something new or pursue a passion?
12. Do you think it's important to have friends who share similar interests, like Boafo did with other artists?
13. How would you feel if your work helped change people's perceptions, like Boafo's portraits have done for black artists?
14. Do you like the idea of painting with your fingers, or do you prefer using traditional tools?
15. What do you think about the idea of self-taught artists compared to those who go to art school?

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