Targeting students in grades K-8, Art in Action's program consists of 12 age-appropriate lessons per year led by parent and teacher volunteers. The curriculum is based on historically significant artists and their works of art. Through semi-structured discussions, students examine a variety of masterpieces, learning about the artist as well as…

In what ways can teachers build on youth culture to improve learning opportunities in the classroom? In this fascinating and highly readable collection, Korina M. Jocson brings together more than two dozen scholars, artists, educators, and youth workers to illustrate how nondominant youth can be engaged through various social justice arts…

In the San Fernando Valley of Southern California, the entire community participates in Youth Art Month through the Annual Valley Wide Student Art Show. The mission of the show is to provide students with an opportunity to exhibit their work publicly and to promote school arts programs during Youth Art Month. Apart from promoting arts education…

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…

Many art educators believe that creativity is fundamental to artistic practice and, therefore, the art classroom is one of the best places for its cultivation. Indeed, there is a renewed and growing interest in creativity in art education today. Learning that takes place in art practice also is receiving significant attention. The concurrent…

This ethnographic study examines how one first grade teacher uses an alternative, artist-focused curriculum to develop a critical consciousness in her students to work toward social change. A framework incorporating critical multicultural education and Lewin's theory of small groups is applied to assess how the use of a multicultural curriculum…

Every year at Oakland Hebrew Day School (OHDS), a dedicated group of middle-school students comes together to study the Holocaust through art. This study culminates in an installation piece to be displayed at community commemorative events. The art curriculum at OHDS is choice-based, requiring students to assume responsibility for their art…

In this article, the author highlights theoretical positions from the field of contemporary art that articulate the dialogical and relational aesthetic of contemporary socially-engaged art practices. To illustrate and examine the dimensions of such a social aesthetic in practice, the author shares the practice of Canadian artist, Julie Fiala,…

Visitors to the campus of Orland High School (OHS) will never question that they have stepped into a world of the masses: kids, activity, personalities, busyness, and playfulness--a veritable cloud of mild bedlam. The wall of ceramic faces that greets a visitor in the school office is another reminder of the organized chaos that the teachers…

This report complements a national survey of outdoor arts festivals (see "Live from Your Neighborhood: A National Study of Outdoor Arts Festivals, Volume One: Summary Report") by focusing on seven case study festivals: Houston International Festival; Piccolo Spoleto; Lowell Folk Festival; Santa Fe Indian Market; Chicago Jazz Festival;…

The purpose of "Picturing Peace", a digital photography program conducted in 4th and 5th grade classrooms in the U. S. and Northern Ireland, was to enhance students' photographic skills to create visual metaphors of the concept of peace. Two principal research questions were addressed: (a) Could 9-10 year-old students create apt and…

In the midst of hard economic times, it is clearly more challenging for arts organizations to take the long view and continue to devote time and effort to building new audiences. But this report on a recent gathering of representatives from more than 50 Wallace-funded arts organizations in six cities concludes that participation-building efforts…

In this article, the author describes how a visit from a flock of chickens provided inspiration for the children's chicken art. The gentle clucking of the hens, the rooster crowing, and the softness of the feathers all provided rich aural, tactile, visual, and emotional experiences. The experience affirms the importance and value of direct…

Censorship exists in institutions where art exists, and also where art education exists. In fall 2005, a group of instructors and the author taught a group project with a political theme--peace. In this article, she examines institutionalized censorship within schools, and the ramifications of teaching the subject of peace in a time of war.…

Nationwide, many public school districts are struggling to keep arts education available for their students. One response to dwindling arts instruction has been the use of teaching artists. A teaching artist is at once a practicing artist and an educator. The formal empirical research on teaching artists is limited. This study used a mixed-method…