The print has a long-standing tradition of carrying a political message. This can be seen in the works of artists from the German Expressionists, like Kathe Kollwitz and Emil Nolde, to Mexican printmakers like Jose Posada and Leopoldo Mendez. Whether it was during the Mexican Revolution of 1910, the War in Iraq, or the 2008 presidential election,…

For centuries, Swiss firms manufactured and sold precision watches and were the undisputed leaders in timekeeping. All this came to an abrupt end when, in the mid-1970s, the Japanese began to make reliable digital watches at a fraction of the cost of the expensive, labor-intensive Swiss product. In 1983, Switzerland answered with the introduction…

The economy is often the feature story in our daily news. Synthesizing life is an essential skill for teenagers. The visual arts are a wonderful tool for students to process their situations and explore future aspirations. In this article, the author describes a lesson plan he developed to help students better understand their own situations, as…

Art teachers are constantly seeking innovative ideas, approaches and media to incorporate into fresh and inspiring lessons. In this article, the author describes how her class created relief or mosaic-like self-portraits by gluing or attaching multiples of any chosen objects or materials onto a surface.

Reading Improvement Through Art (RITA) program is an interdisciplinary approach to literacy that blends visual art with reading comprehension, evaluated in nine New York City urban high schools. 240 problem readers participating in the pilot program were pre- and post-tested in the Fall 1975 and Spring 1976 semesters. The testing showed the 9th…

Many high school students are either intimidated or unmotivated when faced with science courses taught with a traditional teaching methodology. The focus of this study was the integration of the arts, specifically the Creative Arts Laboratory (CAL) approach, into the teaching methodology and assessment of a high school chemistry class, with…

In the author's ongoing attempt to design creative challenges that are relevant, based on observational drawing, and that place students squarely in the creative problem-solving driver's seat, she chose cars and engines as subjects. After all, they have a parking lot full of them and their administrative staff members, who park side-by-side, were…

The automobile itself is often understood as an extension of oneself, where individuals may manipulate the interior and exterior of cars and trucks, decorating them through detailing, stickers, custom colors, and so on. Others go further and change their cars into unique works of art called art cars. Such cars break away from the banality of mass…

Louisville, Kentucky is an eclectic town of architectural styles from Greek revival to Renaissance Revival to Post modernism, not to mention an entire street dedicated to artsy mom and pop stores. Louisville is second only to the New York City Soho district in terms of the number of its cast-iron facades. Many of these building's fronts have…

A variety of subject matter, including foliage, tree roots, branches, and flowering plants, provides opportunities to study spaces and shapes and offers connections to interdisciplinary study and environmental concerns in the artroom. This article presents a lesson that encourages students to investigate their local environment and take photos for…

In this article, artist, educator, and activist Luis-Genaro Garcia describes the development and impact of the "May Day service learning project" on his advanced painting class in a high school in South Los Angeles. The project emerged from students' interests: their ideas, concerns for their community, socio-political consciousness, and…

In an attempt to incorporate sculptural elements into her ceramics program, the author decided to try direct plaster casting of the face to make a plaster mold for clay. In this article, the author shares an innovative ceramics lesson that teaches students in making plaster casts and casting the face in clay. This project gives students the…

There are many wonderful experiences and resources from which to create innovative and dynamic works of art. It is important to remember that students don't always have these skills and experiences. It is up to the teacher to provide in-depth prompts to inspire their students to master their technique, as well as the unique storytelling skills a…

High-school students often tie the definition of art to a two-dimensional surface, obstructing possible solutions to visual problem-solving and restricting creative thinking. In this article, the author describes a project that inspired students to view arts as a social event: installation art. From a contemporary point of view, installation art…

Although adolescents often participate in multiple extracurricular activities, little research has examined how the breadth of activities in which an adolescent is involved relates to school-related affect and academic performance. Relying on a large, multi-ethnic sample (N = 864; 55.9% female), the current study investigated linear and non-linear…