Digital culture and creativity are often framed as immaterial (Casemajor, 2015), distinct from traditional media, such as paint and clay, and divorced from the immediate, embodied, and political realities of the arts classroom. 3D printing troubles this distinction, providing a concrete way for students' digitally created artifacts to manifest in,…

This instructional article focuses on the impact of Alex Garant's art and how it can spark exciting commentary in the classroom. The article features an interview with Alex Garant, information regarding several of Garant's contemporary works, understandings and questions in alignment with the new National Visual Art Standards, and web-based…

In this article Christine Woywod contemplates what her students' artworks would look like if she taught in a way where art was transient, not about objects, but rather experiences. As an example, she describes experiencing an exhibit including interactive works by Nathaniel Stern where she got to jump and swat at projected words that floated past…

When first encountering contemporary art, the viewer is confronted with particular challenges--the works can be both surprising in application of materials and provocative in presentation. Contemporary art can confound its audience as they attempt to decode and interpret its meaning. This Instructional Resource outlines an approach for art…

Art educators are concerned with exposing their students to contemporary art making practices. They aim to create fresh lessons that expand their understandings of art in today's world while highlighting the importance of imagination. With a personal interest in performance and street art (art forms that have gained popularity in recent years),…

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…

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…

Offers a lesson plan using Richard Estes' silkscreen print "Facade" to illustrate for students in grades four to six how artists visually represent the urban environment. Includes suggestions for classroom activities. (AEM)

Describes activities for high school art classes designed to increase student understanding about the role of structure in art. Activities deal with ways of directing student attention to the mental process of structuring and to the effects of color, line quality, and textures on structure. (AM)

Describes how high school students are involved in using natural materials found in the local environment for art projects. The materials used include wood, clay, and natural fibers. Provides photographs of ten students' projects. (JDH)

Considers neopragmatism's use-value for art educators as they inspect the magic words, images, and practices that influence curriculum and instruction. Explains that neopragmatism offers art educators three concepts (contingency, demystification, and recontextualization) as tools to interpret educational beliefs and classroom practices. (CMK)

Presents four lesson plans that use paintings, illustrations, and photographs that tell a story. The lessons consider the use and characteristics of narrative. Includes work from, "The Book of Deeds of Alexander the Great," as well as the works of Georges de La Tour, Eileen Cowin, and Henry Ossawa Tanner. (MJP)

Presents a lesson plan uses Edward Hopper's painting entitled "November, Washington Square." The lesson illustrates, for students in grades K-3, the ways an artist interprets the city in which he or she lives. Includes suggestions for classroom activities. (AEM)

Creates a lesson plan using Mark Tobey's painting, "Flow of the Night," to illustrate to students in grades 10-12 that artists may interpret their environments in a variety of ways, from the subjective to the abstract. Includes suggestions for classroom activities. (AEM)

Compares the use of a laser videodisc system in the art classroom to the use of a standard slide projection system. Describes the three levels of interactivity that are possible and discusses methods of use, product availability, and equipment cost. (GEA)