Presents an assignment where students write their own word-problems that incorporate parts of the book "The Great Migration: An American Story" by Jacob Lawrence and then illustrate their word-problems in the style of Lawrence. Explains that the book focuses on the Great Migration when African Americans moved to northern U.S. cities.…

Focuses on a video series showing elementary students discovering new approaches to painting. Describes performances and questions that expand children's views on painting, including painting objects, seeing different ideas for the canvas, and exploring new paint brush forms. (CMK)

Focuses on the pointillist painting process offering background information about technique and how it can be used in the art classroom. Explores the appropriateness of the process for elementary through secondary school students. Includes educational objectives. (CMK)

Presents an instructional resource examining artwork by Charles Burchfield, Utagawa Hiroshige, Childe Hassam, and Georgia O'Keeffe that focuses on nature's four seasons. Offers activities to encourage students' observational skills and guide them to depict their personal views of nature in their own artwork (CMK)

Discusses the life of Benny Andrews, a recognized artist, cultural leader, and storyteller, and the importance of narrative in his artwork. Provides an interdisciplinary project where the students analyze Andrews'"Autobiographical Series," discuss the series as a form of storytelling, and then write their own family story. (CMK)

Describes a sixth grade activity that focuses on cultural watersheds, in which students represent their "personal landscapes." Explains that students list watershed and cultural attributes in lesson one. In lesson two students paint a representation of their cultural watershed. (CMK)

Describes a lesson in which students create collage insects inspired by the work of Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar). Connects art, language arts, and science. Discusses how students make paper to use as the collage material and how students create the insects. (CMK)

National Board Certification is intended to indicate that "a teacher is judged by his or her peers as one who is accomplished, makes sound professional judgments about students' best interests, and acts effectively on those judgments." This author, the first National Board Certified Art Teacher in Georgia, offers a first-hand perspective…

Most college students and parents want higher education to marry two lifelong goals: pursuit of what one loves and financial security. They know the subtext: college is an investment, and the higher the education level one achieves, the higher one's potential income for life. So what about the education of artists? Most art departments and…

Brushwork is the essential characteristic of Chinese painting. Ink and brushwork provide the foundation of Chinese pictures, even when color also is used. In the quality of the brushwork the artist captures the spirit resonance, the raison d'etre of a painting. In China, painting and writing developed hand in hand, sharing the same tools and…

Through the study of several works of art by Albert Bierstadt, George Catlin, Winslow Homer, and Thomas Moran, this resource explores the way that people felt about their growing nation during the period of westward expansion until the end of the 19th century. It introduces students to basic principles of landscape painting and has students…

This paper consists of two art curriculum units: (1) mural painting; and (2) sculpture. In the mural painting unit, students analyze and critique works done by Diego Rivera and create a mural using the fresco technique. In the sculpture unit, students create a piece of sculpture that combines influences of past and/or present-day Mexican sculpture…

Intended to clarify the elements and principles of design as stated in the "Curriculum Guide for Art in the Secondary Schools," this illustrated supplement presents 15 design units with step-by-step instructions for clarifying design problems and providing solutions. Each unit is presented in three stages, each of which is a complete…

The 100th anniversary of Ulysses S. Grant's death was observed on July 23, 1985. The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery featured an exhibit of Grant portraiture, which covered his life, from its humble beginnings to military and political triumphs and to failures and disappointment. The exhibit included pictures, artifacts, and momentos from…

A group of American scholars who visited the People's Republic of China in October and November of 1977 to study Chinese paintings report on their trip. The purpose of the report is to provide information and insights which will be useful to other scholars in the field and which will help promote the development of strong ties between U.S. and…