Targeting students in grades K-8, Art in Action's program consists of 12 age-appropriate lessons per year led by parent and teacher volunteers. The curriculum is based on historically significant artists and their works of art. Through semi-structured discussions, students examine a variety of masterpieces, learning about the artist as well as…

Nature is all around, and can be the inspiration for some excellent creations in the classroom. How can a teacher bring these rich natural elements into the art class? As the author was exploring a hiking trail, he came across a large piece of bark from an old oak tree. A strong wind began to blow through the trees, the leaves began to rustle and…

In this article, the author describes how students can create a stunning as well as economical mosaic utilizing fall's brilliantly colored leaves, preserved at their peak in color. Start by choosing a beautiful fall day to take students on a nature walk to collect a variety of leaves in different shapes, sizes, and colors. Focus on collecting a…

The Day of the Dead project is absolutely one of the author's favorite lessons. It's easy enough for almost any grade level--the author does it with her second-graders--yet can be detailed enough to keep eighth-graders interested. It uses a limited number of easy-to-acquire supplies, which is great for tight budgets. It can also be easily broken…

Teaching the author's fifth-grade students a lesson on clothing design was a great way to show them how art and design are part of their everyday lives. It also allowed the students to express their personalities. Clotheslines served as an effective basis for their work. She and her class began by discussing how clothes can tell them about a…

In this article, the author describes how his first-grade students made their own compositions based on James Rosenquist's collage series in which long shards of faces were painted over a background that appeared to be abstract. The background was made up of enlarged details of things such as flowers, leaves, fire, and water. The students'…

The topic of Egypt is one that students are naturally intrigued and enthusiastic about. In this article, fifth graders create mosaic and mixed-media collaged chairs in their visual arts class as part of their overall study of the art and culture of ancient Egypt. The idea was to embellish a contemporary chair with Egyptian colors, themes, and…

Artist Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) created wonderful environments inside boxes using mostly found objects. They were often Surrealistic in nature. Some boxes were designed with glass fronts, and others were meant to be interactive with the viewer, wherein the objects could be handled. With Joseph Cornell in mind, the author introduces an art…

In this article, the author discusses an art project that allows students to use clocks in creating functional artwork and replicating famous works of art. This project is a huge hit with students, parents and staff. After completing this project, students enjoyed duplicating famous artworks in a circular format, and loved turning their art into…

The term "Scribble Stage" highlights how first efforts appear in student independent work. Age does not correlate with "scribble" work as does experience; upper grade students and even adults will often approach new materials and techniques in an experimental manner as a means to become familiar with them. Everyone is a beginner at the things they…

When an unlimited amount of free 8 x 10" (20 x 25 cm) canvas was offered to all of the schools in their community to participate in the city's the Color of Friendship art competition, the author saw a wonderful opportunity for her students at Cedarcreek Elementary. After some thought, the idea of combining poetry with the contest's rich theme…

Creating a painting with texture is easy, although using heavy gel medium or modeling paste may be pricey ways to go about it. High school artists generally like making collages and mixed-media. In this article, the author suggests ways to capitalize on that interest with inexpensive fabric in a painting project.

There is a wonderful community of art educators connecting a once-isolated profession through blogging. Art educators around the world are sharing ideas and communicating with their peers through this amazing resource. In this article, the author describes the bottle cap mural at Tulip Grove Elementary School which was inspired by this exchange of…

The fun of creating collages is there are unlimited possibilities for the different kinds of materials one can use. In this article, the author describes how her eighth-grade students created an owl using mixed media.

In February 2010, the author arrived in the city of Sofia, Bulgaria, to teach mural painting at the National Academy of Art for his five-month Fulbright U.S. Scholarship Program lecturing award. He targeted Bulgaria as his host country in his 2009-2010 Fulbright U.S. Scholarship Program application because of its rich mural painting culture. He…