To successfully create inclusive environments that address the unique needs of each student, teacher candidates must adopt their students' perspectives. Radical imagination is essential for empathy, as it enables individuals to recognize diverse viewpoints (Greene, 1995). Arts-based methods provide a means for teacher candidates to practice…

In an attempt to connect theory and practice with regard to research on creativity and visual arts, this study aims to explore how visual materials created by children can help determine qualitative parameters in the process of observing creative activity. These materials are the result of a series of workshops designed by the authors, artists,…

This study was designed to investigate children's audiovisual art, following intuitive listening to complete classical works from different historical periods. The study aimed to examine the effect of different musical stimuli on children's audiovisual output. Two related questions were asked: (1) How do children visually and verbally represent…

This study aimed to improve the education process by enabling children to associate natural environmental experience with art and to include it into aesthetic experience in place-based visual arts applications. Accordingly, answers for subquestions such as how it can be possible for children to create nature-art relation through place-based…

The demands of art projects in public schools may not fit with reality for many exceptional students because the project outcomes are often too specific (Henley, 1992). One strong motivator for students is looking at and discussing visual culture, involving all the images they see and all the visual experiences they have every day. This pedagogy…

This article describes an arts-based research project for which my purpose was to investigate how older women develop their skills as visual artists through the medium of drawing in a small group setting. The social construction of artist identities among the group and my teaching of drawing formed the basis of my study in this informal,…

Nature has always been a source of inspiration for artists across the centuries. Artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Georgia O'Keeffe, Ansel Adams, and Andy Goldsworthy all drew inspiration for their work from nature. Seeds come from the dried pods, which when planted and cared for, bear fruit. In this article, the author describes how her…

After creating fish-themed art works for the school's Evening of the Arts, the school moved onshore. In Florida, a tropical climate and casual dress is the norm, so students are familiar with Hawaiian "Aloha" shirts. To begin the lesson, the author displayed several Aloha shirts across the front of the art room. She then gives a quick…

What excites the author the most is finding something new and turning it into a lesson her students will enjoy and learn from. Lately, she has been most inspired by the work she finds on one website. The lesson began with a brief PowerPoint based on an artist's website. This particular artist--Jennifer Schmitt--does reduction prints using several…

This issue explores the nature of childhood by offering selections that re/imagine the idea of the child as art maker; inquire about the relationships between children and adults when they are making art; and investigate how physical space influences approaches to art instruction. Readers are invited to join a dialogue that questions long-standing…

Architecture is a versatile, multifaceted area to study in the artroom with multiple age levels. It can easily stimulate a study of basic line, shape, and various other art elements and principles. It can then be extended into a more extensive study of architectural elements, styles, specific architects, architecture of different cultures, and…

"Art history? Ugh!" is often the response of high-school visual arts students when faced with an art-history assignment. With the exception of very few students who might have an affection for the historical aspects of art, getting art history into the hearts and minds of high-school students can be a challenge. In this article, the author shares…

The economy is often the feature story in our daily news. Synthesizing life is an essential skill for teenagers. The visual arts are a wonderful tool for students to process their situations and explore future aspirations. In this article, the author describes a lesson plan he developed to help students better understand their own situations, as…

Foil can be shaped into almost anything--it is the all-purpose material for children's art. Foil is a unique drawing surface. It reflects, distorts and plays with light and imagery as young artists draw over it. Foil permits quick impressions of a model or object to be sketched. Foil allows artists to track their drawing moves, seeing the action…

The author's fifth-graders are usually easy to motivate, especially with an assignment as exciting as dragons and mythical beasts! Since many of the author's projects are "typical" subjects such as flowers, animals, still life and so on, the idea of creating mythical creatures really caused a stir in her classroom. In this article, the author…