This Instructional Resource focuses on the photographic work of Mississippi artist Eudora Welty (1909-2001). Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for "The Optimist's Daughter," Welty lived most of her life in Jackson, Mississippi. She used photography as a way to create visual "snapshots" that fueled her successful writing career of…

Many students are actively involved with social networking sites; they follow friends in virtual worlds and post personal information and photographs online daily. Although they may not realize it, students are publicly "documenting" their private lives on social media to allow others to learn about them. Understanding documentation as a…

Adolescents face complex dilemmas such as challenging issues of identity and self-concept, and struggles with building and maintaining relationships. These issues must be embraced in the art classroom. This Instructional Resource will focus on the concept of brand--connecting visual art, marketing, and psychology--and center on ideas found in the…

This article describes how Paul Duncum teaches elements of realististic-style imagery. The elements he teaches are framing, angles of view, lighting, depth of field, and body language. He stresses how each of these elements contributes to meaning, and shows how they apply equally to old master paintings and today's digital photography.

Whaling emerged in ancient times, when whales served as a source of food, fuel, and other everyday resources that were vital for human civilizations. Prehistoric images of whales are found on rocks in a few areas throughout the world, most notably the famous petroglyphs at the Bangudae cliffs in Ulsan, South Korea, which depict whales and other…

In this article, Miguel Aguilar describes the process of mental preparation he performs before beginning a new graffiti mural. This may include reviewing recent sketches and his lists of color palettes. Aguilar mind maps ideas he wants to connect, thinking about intentions or the goal he wants to accomplish. Aguilar further states "this…

With the rapid advancement of technology in the photographic industry, more photographers than ever (willingly or in response to this shift) are replacing their darkroom-based facilities with digital ones. This technological shift has changed the focus of the artmaking process in that photographers now spend more time editing their photographs…

For many artists, visual representation begins with the creative exploration of real and personal experiences. The primary challenge in creating such introspective works is maintaining the ability to connect with a broader audience. For high school students specifically, tremendous pride manifests in the creation of artistic works that represent…

E-learning has seen incredible growth in the first decade of the 21st century. This growth is particularly noticeable in institutions of higher education. Even though distance learning has long been the method by which remote students have obtained course credit through correspondence study, e-learning is popular even among traditional on-campus…

In this article, the author discusses Y Se Repite [And It Repeats Itself], a project she conceptualized due to the growing number of Latino/a Mexican migrant workers in dairy farms in the state of Vermont. In 2006, approximately 2,000 Latinos/as--most of them undocumented Mexican migrant workers--worked throughout the state's dairy farms, yet…

According to van der Veer and Valsiner (1991), a creative individual is a co-constructor of culture, rather then a mere follower of the efforts of others. This instructional resource discusses the work of Juan Miguel Ramos (b. 1971), a Post-Chicano artist, who makes use of representations to produce new meanings about the world in which he lives.…

In 1888, when George Eastman introduced the "Kodak" camera, with the slogan, "you push the button, we do the rest," he ushered in a new era in documenting family history. Photography left the professional studio and entered the home, where the camera became the primary instrument of self-knowledge and self-representation. The camera allowed the…

Recent writings on visual culture and art education emphasize contemporary artists, artworks, and objects from everyday life as an avenue for exploring the images school-aged students confront. The use of contemporary images is a vital and significant curricular need. However, the relevance of historical artworks can offer avenues for analyzing…

The word "suburbia" evokes a wealth of imagery such as model homes, spacious yards, and minivans from movies, commercials, print advertisements, and television shows. These Utopian ideas of suburbia are partly truth and partly myth. Popular media's powerful portrayal of suburbia can be traced back to the wholesome 1950s' and 1960s'…