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…

Describes the functions, styles, and methods of creating medieval tapestries. Illustrates a narrative tapestry titled "The Prophecy of Nathan," attributed to Master Philip. Describes how textile artists' personal styles can be recognized. Suggests art activities for elementary and secondary students. (KM)

Describes how the author, motivated by Esther Krichevsky's fishprints, introduced fishprinting to a middle school. Students explored the origin of fishprinting and other Japanese arts as well as learned about printmaking, collage, and painting. Maintains that, for children to grow creatively, they need freedom to experiment. (KM)

Describes how artists' styles, images, and methods can express their cultural heritage, cultural influences, life experiences, and memories. Uses Romare Bearden's (1914-1988) collages and photomontages as examples. Suggests some collage activities for elementary and high school students based on their own life experiences. (KM)

Describes how three groups of twentieth-century U.S. artists--Landscape and architectural artists, pop artists, and the photo-realists--used the object as the primary image in their artwork. Maintains that this approach to studying still life may be more relevant for teachers and students today. (KM)

Describes origins of the constructed relief and shows some examples of contemporary artists' work. Suggests using this history to motivate students to construct their own reliefs. Outlines a four-step lesson: preliminary drawing, finished drawing, mock-up relief, and finished construction using durable materials, such as wood, acrylic sheet, or…

Outlines the life of Henri Matisse and how he created his paper cut-outs, which were reproduced in a book. Discusses the importance of artists' books. Suggests some creative activities for all grades in book making and paper cut-outs that could be worked in conjunction with a language arts program. (KM)

Describes how junior high school students in Arizona combine what they have learned in ceramic history class with ceramic production skills to create their own personal ceramic heads in their images. (KM)

Describes a relief printmaking unit for sixth graders with the objective of decorating the inside of a pyramid. Ancient Egyptian imagery was used to help students become familiar with the style. Students designed and printed linoleum prints in different colors. They then critiqued their work and made their selection for the pyramid. (KM)

Describes the origins of the Peruvian Nazca Indians double-spouted jugs. Provides a lesson plan so students can create their own double-spouted jugs. (KM)

Shows how high school students used foam carpet padding to create forms for still-life drawing. Discusses learning to progress from simple-line drawing to a three-dimensional image. Identifies the drawing of shadows, and extreme light and dark values, as points that need to be emphasized repeatedly. (KM)

Describes a game designed to motivate students to conduct art historical research. Required students to find artists who created art in four different ways, realistically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. Students chose ways to take collected data and work cooperatively to create a mural. (KM)

Describes and illustrates "Christina's World" by Andrew Wyeth. Provides background information on Wyeth's life and compares "Christina's World" to Wyeth's "Siri." Suggests activities to help all levels of art students understand use of color, mood, and composition. Introduces related activities designed specifically…

Discusses how students can examine artists' use of clothing to express ideas about cultural values, lifestyle, and design. Features four, culturally different, artworks from the Art Institute of Chicago. Outlines instructional methods for discussion, creative writing, and art production. (KM)

Describes Lucy Lewis' ceramic work which is inspired by the ancient pottery of her Acoma Pueblo artistic heritage. Discusses concepts of tradition, artistic heritage, and change over time. Outlines related ceramic and discussion activities for elementary and secondary students. (KM)