Engaging with the quilts of Gee's Bend offers a rich opportunity for students in grades four through eight to develop appreciation for pattern, rhythm, and innovation while learning about history, entrepreneurship, and political activism. By easily accessing print, film, and Internet resources teachers can include these vibrant quilts and…

Having an answer to "When are we ever going to use this in real life?" is important to middle school mathematics teachers. The activity described in this article awakened sixth graders' understanding of how artists use mathematics. By exploring ratio and proportionality in different paintings, students realized the use of proportional…

Children and burgeoning adolescents' creativity blossom in play-based environments. Likewise, students as active social agents have the opportunity to examine the structures and processes that shape them. The photographic image intimates an aura of credibility, providing the students pause to reflect upon their socialized interactions. These…

This book details the Guggenheim Museum's classroom-tested, inquiry-based approach to learning. This user-friendly guide provides teachers (grades 2-8) with strategies and resources for investigating art to enhance student learning across the curriculum. "For the classroom teacher", Art Investigation provides an exciting way to study contemporary…

This article discusses Al Souza's "Orlando City Maps," which was created not by adding colored ink to paper, but by cutting the printed paper away. Seven layers of pages are stacked upon one another and, except for the intact bottom layer, oval-shaped holes are cut through each page to reveal the layers below. When designing "Orlando City Maps,"…

Many of the paintings of 20th-century American artist Philip C. Curtis defy clear classification. Curtis's artworks often show dreamlike and fantastical qualities and are therefore frequently pigeonholed as Surrealistic. While this classification is not completely erroneous, it fails to acknowledge some subtle differences between Curtis's artwork…

In February and March 2007, the author investigated the possibilities of visual culture art education in two Greek Primary schools in Athens with students in Grades 5 and 6. One of her goals was to determine whether or not the telenovela genre was appropriate as curriculum content in primary art education. She chose telenovelas because they are a…

When artists are inspired to travel in Europe to study art and history of the Western world, Italy is a good place to start. With its ancient architecture, rich cultural heritage, and superb works of art, Italy has been the quintessential center of Western art history for centuries. It was the good fortune of Alabama-based artist and teacher…

At Portledge School in Locust Valley, New York, ninth graders in their upper school study art history for one semester. The visual arts department has created a vigorous new syllabus culminating in an hour-long mock art auction. The department selects several art movements (e.g., Post-Impressionism, Cubism, Abstract Expressionism, Social Realism,…

Public art takes many forms, including commemorative sculptures, site-specific works, and collaborative murals. Additionally, public art can beautify an urban environment or raise awareness of social issues. Public works of art are a form of discourse and open conversations and dialogue, helping communities work toward unity and empowerment. Using…

Anna Mary Robertson Moses, popularly known as Grandma Moses, may be the most famous American folk artist. A fortuitous combination of original vision, innate talent, spunky character, and long life, Moses is known for her landscapes that depict nostalgic views of country life. In this article, the author describes an art activity she introduced to…

In this article, the author introduces the concept of flat pack toys. Flat pack toys are designed using a template on a single sheet of letter-sized card stock paper. Before being cut out and built into a three-dimensional toy, they are scanned into the computer and uploaded to a website. With the template accessible from the website, anyone with…

Meeting the diverse needs of Pamela Malkin's students forced her to really look at what she teaches and how she teaches it. While she was teaching her sixth-grade students to create a mask from clay, she found that many were having a hard time remembering all the steps of my demonstration. Since most of the process was taught through…

In this article, the author describes an interdisciplinary and interactive lesson --"Meet the Artist"--that not only is a great way to introduce elementary school students to art history, but also encompasses writing, research, computer skills and the creation of art.

In this article, the authors recount their experience designing a program for one of their restructured middle schools that reflects a national movement in middle level reform. Inspired by Howard Garner's (1993) theory of multiple intelligences, the authors, together with a team of teachers, administrators and parents in their small mid-western…