In this article, the author discusses how to publicize the art program while integrating art history, technology, art concepts, painting, drawing, and performance opportunities into one project. She suggests that hosting a living artist exhibition might be the answer. Each year, the author and the school librarian conduct a collaborative study of…

One of the fifth-grade art-curriculum objectives is to create a relief print. In this era of budget cuts, the author was looking for a way for her students to meet this objective by making colorful prints without using a lot of expensive printing ink. She knew she wanted to use a rainforest animal theme, as well as share the colorful art of Henri…

Creativity--where does it come from? When nurturing creativity, it is necessary to have an open mind. By nurturing a creative mind, one finds that artists' ideas flow freely, so students need to look deeper into the artworks, the artists' lives, and what was behind the inspiration for the work. Imagining themselves as one of the artists they have…

This article describes how the author teaches a fourth- and fifth-grade unit on architecture called the Art and Science of Planning Buildings. Rockville, Indiana has fine examples of architecture ranging from log cabins, classic Greek columns, Victorian houses, a mission-style theater, and Frank Lloyd Wright prairie-style homes. After reading…

During each of the holiday seasons, the author tries to come up with a lesson that will incorporate art history and have a holiday theme. One recent winter-holiday season, the author was thumbing through a catalog and saw a picture of note cards that had famous artists' stockings hanging on a mantel. This triggered an idea for the author's…

For thousands of years, the three perfections--painting, poetry, and calligraphy--have been considered the mark of an enlightened person throughout Asian cultures. Fifth-grade students learned about these three hallmarks by studying three works from the Detroit Institute of Art's Asian collection: a nineteenth-century Japanese hand scroll, a…