Art Appreciation is often a course that undergraduate students take to meet their general education requirements. However, many students have little interest or value of art due to a lack of previous art experiences and often choose the course because they feel it will be relatively easy. This qualitative, naturalistic inquiry focused on students'…

In this Instructional Resource, Denmead and Brown consider how "Ruffneck Constructivists," an exhibition curated by Kara Walker at the Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA), University of Pennsylvania, can disturb and provoke young creatives and art education more broadly. For this exhibition, Walker draws on the figure that MC Lyte…

Dada, an art movement that became well known in the late 1910s and early 1920s, challenged traditional notions of art and aesthetics. Dada artists, for example, tossed colored scraps of paper into the air to compose chance-based collages, performed sound poems devoid of semantic value, and modeled a headpiece fashioned of sardine cans. To most art…

Creating an appreciation of art history in her junior-high students has always been one of the author's greatest challenges as an art teacher. In this article, the author describes how her eighth-grade students re-created a famous work of art--piece by piece, like a puzzle or a stained-glass window--out of construction paper. (Contains 1 resource.)

Describes a computer program that gives Fluxus exhibition attendees an opportunity to experience the Flux objects in the spirit in which they were originally created. Suggests that the computer program provides a virtual approximation to the original art works without damaging them. (RS)

In this article, the author describes an interdisciplinary and interactive lesson --"Meet the Artist"--that not only is a great way to introduce elementary school students to art history, but also encompasses writing, research, computer skills and the creation of art.

How would you like to put some "Pow!" into your art instruction? A lesson in comic books--history, design, story, and production--can make your classes come alive. The authors present a new approach to using comics to build artistic skills and involve students in art appreciation. Why Comics? Many art teachers have students who say, "I hate art!"…

Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), a Viennese painter, was the founder of the Vienna Secession, the Austrian Art Nouveau movement. Art Nouveau is characterised by flowing lines and flat designs based on organic structures. This style is found in the symbolic aspect of Klimt's later work, and in the works of other artists of the late 1890s and early 1900s…

The document contains suggestions for developing a goal-based instructional program in art for grades k-12. It was designed as a model for curriculum development committees and classroom teachers by the Oregon State Department of Education. It is presented in five parts and nine appendices. Part one introduces the program. Part two discusses…

The Clementine Hunter Black History Month Exhibition (Natchitoches, Louisiana) was a successful demonstration that five objectives can be achieved with a zero budget and teamwork. Objective 1 demonstrated that specially designed cultural and extracurricular events can be used as tools for retaining black students on a predominantly white college…

Under the directorship of Holger Cahill, who drew upon John Dewey's principle of the universal communicability of art, the Federal Art Project of the Great Depression era gave all of the people the opportunity to study and enjoy art. Specific programs of the project are described. (RM)

This course outline, intended for ninth and/or tenth grade students, is designed to: (1) help students develop evaluative criteria for various art forms; (2) become aware of the interrelationships of the arts; and (3) realize that all art forms are part of the individual's attempt to reflect upon and interpret the world in which they live. In the…

Proposes redirecting art education courses from narrow, studio-dominated programs to a general education emphasis, incorporating a studio/production component, a knowledge/appreciation component, and a critical/evaluation component, which are interdependent and derived from aspects of art program development commonly known as the productive, the…

Describes how artist Betye Saar collects technological debris that she manipulates to create her artwork. Compares her work with African art which has a long history of transforming materials from the environment into symbols and objects. Suggests activities for students to create art with debris from their environment. (KM)

The author describes a lesson she did on abstract art with her high school art classes. She passed out a required step-by-step outline of the project process. She asked each of them to look at abstract art. They were to list five or six abstract artists they thought were interesting, narrow their list down to the one most personally intriguing,…