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,"…

Artists are inventors. Some invent objects and images that look totally new and never before seen. Others invent or replicate views of people and places familiar or fascinating to them. Artists often originate well-designed, useful pieces that play a part in society's pragmatic or spiritual activities. Still others create objects that look like…

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…

There is something disappointing about life. It is messy and out of control. It seems the more one tries to put life in order, the more ordering there is to do. The more one seeks explanations, the more confusing things become. Life's an impossible task. Maybe one should just give up. Or, then again, one might as well keep trying. It's this…

A rich and stimulating opportunity awaits teachers who plan to connect or bring together an art project with another subject area of the curriculum, thus addressing the sixth listing in the National Visual Arts Standards. While art is important in its own right, the reality is there is often too much content in the curriculum nowadays and not…

Ed Willis Barnett had quite a military training: he attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, (1917 to 1920) and served in both World Wars. He was also an accomplished fencer, and earned a position on the 1928 U.S. Olympic fencing team. That year the summer Olympics were held in Amsterdam, so he traveled to Europe for the…

Rick Beck works in cast glass; his large-scale work ranges in scale from 15 inches to around 7 feet tall. His medium--glass--makes the scale of Beck's pieces very impressive. He is probably best-known for his oversized cast glass sculptures of common hardware: nuts, bolts, screws, measuring spoons, saws, eating utensils, eye hooks, wing nuts and…

The 20th of January 2009, will always be known as the date of the inauguration of the first African-American President of the United States. The journey--historically, socially and emotionally--has been a long one. The story of race relations in America, from exploitation to excellence, has been told by many in various forms, from song and dance…

Describes an art unit in which students sculpt a signature seal out of clay and use Chinese brush painting techniques to paint a scroll. Discusses the seal and its historical use in China. Lists materials needed and explains the procedure. (CMK)

Recommends looking at the entire school year in advance in order to plan for and cover the basic subject areas of art. Provides an overview of the entire school year of a fifth-grade art class, describing the various activities in detail. (CMK)

Presents a project where fourth-grade students depicted images on coins to reflect important conflicts in Canadian history, such as September 11, 2001. Explains how to create the coins in detail. States that the students each wrote a "proclamation" that described their time period depicted on the coins. (CMK)

Provides background information on the artist Frederic Remington who was fascinated with the Old West in the United States. Discusses how students can learn about Remington, his art, and the Old West. Presents an art lesson where students create their own bronze horse sculptures in the style of Remington. (CMK)

Discusses the life of Clifton Pearson focusing on his education and addresses the process he uses for creating his artwork. Explores one artwork from his "Celebrated Figures Series." Includes activities in science, language arts, social studies and history, and visual arts. (CMK)

Discusses the content and technique used by Ralston Crawford in his painting "Under the Third Avenue El (The Brewery)." Provides background information on the life of Crawford as well as learning activities in various subject areas such as language arts, social studies, and mathematics (CMK)

Presents information on the concept of synesthetes. Focuses on the artwork of Grace Hartigan and her work of art, "On a Tar Roof," an illustration of the poem, "Flashes," by James Schuyler. Includes activities in language arts, visual arts, social studies and history, and science. (CMK)