Works of fine art present an inexhaustible source of imagination, aesthetics, and creativity and can stimulate the development of personal creativity. Communication with artworks is possible if trained to understand and aesthetically experience them. It is therefore important to be in contact with the rich symbolic meanings of the language of art.…

Two art-based research studies led to discoveries about the interim period, an integral part of "El Duende" (EDPP) one-canvas art making. The researcher and five adults were visually recorded during art making sessions. Results suggested the paradox of the sustained pause; that in the perceived non-doing, much is happening. The interim…

This experimental study was undertaken with preservice teachers to test whether the use of science integration into arts education increases demonstration of science details and creative features in artwork. Two conditions were created: arts-focused and science-focused; gouache still-life paintings were produced and analyzed, and an attitude…

In Kathleen Loomis's preschool classroom at the Bennington College Early Childhood Center, the goal for children is not to produce beautiful and expressive artworks or to learn specific methods of working with art media--although those things do happen. Here, the curriculum is built around the philosophy that learning to think and create with art…

Whether one views art as a cultural record, a political or religious instrument, a celebration of form and color, or an instinctual force, it is a given that sharing diverse expressions of creativity with children plants fresh understandings and pathways for their own questions and drives. It is impossible to do justice to the many outstanding…

Describes an art activity where children create imaginary character sculptures using clay. Discusses how the students created their creatures after first drawing their ideas and then painting their sculptures. (CMK)

Provides a reproduction of a painting called "Torpedo" by Roy Lichtenstein that was chosen because of facial expression. Includes learning activities for use with students as well as background information about the artist and the painting. (CMK)

The relationship between art and mental illness is examined in the untrained "outsider artist," one whose style, though highly idiosyncratic, conforms to certain formal criteria and is usually initiated at a time of intense psychic crisis. Photographs and discussions of the paintings and sculptures of psychotic artists are presented. (JW)

A project which involved 11th- and 12th-grade art students in creating a "Jackson Pollock type" lyrical action painting is described. As a result of the project, the students gained a freedom of expression which was evident in their subsequent art projects and a tolerance toward twentieth-century art. (RM)

Discusses the use of perspective, or showing things as the human eye sees them, when creating reflections and transparencies in works of art. Provides examples of artwork using transparency, reflection, and refraction by M. C. Escher, Richard Estes, and Janet Fish to give students an opportunity to learn about these three art techniques. (CMK)

This paper describes an investigation of problem finding in art. The concept of empathy with oneself is hypothesized as the means by which artists perceive problems. This concept is then used to analyze the origins of Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" and van Gogh's "The Starry Night" as well as the origins of art works…

Focuses on individualized expression resulting from ideas and skills that have developed over time. Describes how students first drew a group of people, then used values and added background details, and finally enlarged the drawings demonstrating their own ideas. (CMK)

Describes an art assignment used in an oil painting class in which the students create a nonrepresentational painting using acrylic paint. Explains that the second stage of the assignment involves students in finding a face in this first painting and using oils to create the face on top of the original artwork. (CMK)

Learning through the arts has the potential to stimulate open ended activity that encourages discovery, exploration, experimentation and invention, thus contributing to children's development in all areas of learning and helping to make the curriculum meaningful to them. In this book, the author draws on her extensive experience of promoting young…