In this article, the author writes about her early years as an elementary school art teacher. In her early years, students received a formalist, discipline based art education. Every lesson began with students, pK-3, viewing a thoughtfully selected collection of paintings created by a famous artist. After viewing this carefully curated selection…

Altruism is recognized as "a cultural behavior, well beyond instinctive behavior, and even beyond adaptive social behaviors with respect to evolutionary processes" (Wilson, 1998, p. 29) Yet, if artmaking is a cultural behavior it is one that does not appear at first "to contribute to the survival of the species" (Wilson, 1998,…

In 1888, when George Eastman introduced the "Kodak" camera, with the slogan, "you push the button, we do the rest," he ushered in a new era in documenting family history. Photography left the professional studio and entered the home, where the camera became the primary instrument of self-knowledge and self-representation. The camera allowed the…

The author has been deeply committed to shaping an art curriculum that offers students a more meaningful and authentic experience. In addition, she has been interested in the notion of students as victims of their popular culture. She questioned the ways in which cultural sources might impact their aesthetic choices with regard to personal…

"Letras y Arte: Literacy and Art" is a 3-week summer course at Regis University in Denver, Colorado, offering a social justice approach to art education. In this article, the authors outline the background of "Letras y Arte," contextualize the program in art education, and explain three strategies for engaging students: (1)…

Instructional strategies based on a portrait painting of Francisco Goya introduce primary grade students to the idea that portraits are pictures of people. Students also develop an awareness that the visual vocabulary of color, shape, line, texture, and the quality of brushstrokes can communicate feelings and ideas. (RM)

Instructional strategies based on a portrait painting of Jean-Baptiste Oudry familiarize intermediate grade students with the techniques of portraiture and introduce the characteristics of eighteenth-century French rococo painting. (RM)

The instructional strategies suggested use a work of one of Mexico's most celebrated political history painters, David Siqueiros, to introduce junior high students to formal qualities in portraiture and contemporary Mexican art history. (RM)

Instructional strategies introduce students in grades 10-12 to the stylistic characteristics and portraiture technique of Mary Cassatt and help them understand Cassatt's relationship to work of other Impressionist painters. (RM)