Summarizes the victories and hardships in the life of Charles White, an African-American artist who overcame racism in a time embedded with it. Provides a copy of White's drawing "Children Games # 1" along with six lesson plans for grades ranging from 2 through 12. Includes subjects such as visual arts and social studies. (CMK)

In U.S. schools, art education at many levels focuses predominantly on Western European art. Art created by other ethnic groups is ignored in survey courses and confined to infrequent electives. Art students of color often feel disadvantaged when having their work critiqued. (SK)

Describes an art teacher's attempt to get away from standard student reports on famous artists and to make the project more fun and creative. Explains how students were asked to combine traditional research skills with creativity to produce mobiles with information and pictures related to their artist. (DSK)

This article describes the foundations, development and some of the findings from a research project about how the use of the gaze, as a key idea from critical art history, might affect the understanding of art by art educators. It shows how the use of this key idea involved not just the disruption of a modernist model of art interpretation (based…

Plainfield, New Jersey has been a pathway from the Hudson to the Delaware Rivers for Native Americans, a settlement for early settlers, a source for industrial workers, and a residence for homeowners of a wide variety of incomes. The town's architecture recalls its social history. A need was seen to build community through recognition of the…

For thousands of years, the three perfections--painting, poetry, and calligraphy--have been considered the mark of an enlightened person throughout Asian cultures. Fifth-grade students learned about these three hallmarks by studying three works from the Detroit Institute of Art's Asian collection: a nineteenth-century Japanese hand scroll, a…

In this article, the author relates how she and other art teachers developed a "living painting" lesson, an art lesson that incorporates art history and painting. The lesson was developed also in part to help new student-teachers plan a memorable lesson. With the living painting lesson, students will have to choose and recreate famous paintings…

About 15,000 BC, the bison and other animals roamed the land and cave people, in their spare time, found colorful, chalky rocks with which to play. Over the course of time, they found that the chalky rocks would rub off on the cave walls, thus cave paintings and the pursuit of art was born. This article describes one fourth-grade classroom's…

How would you like to put some "Pow!" into your art instruction? A lesson in comic books--history, design, story, and production--can make your classes come alive. The authors present a new approach to using comics to build artistic skills and involve students in art appreciation. Why Comics? Many art teachers have students who say, "I hate art!"…

Two linked courses examining conservation science and art history of 17th-century Dutch painting are described. The two courses have been taught on campus and, most recently, as study-abroad courses in collaboration with the Center for European Studies, Universiteit Maastricht, The Netherlands. The highly interdisciplinary courses are intense, yet…

Throughout history, in all parts of the world, people have struggled with the problem of loss. Moving words have been written and beautiful objects created to preserve the memory of people and their achievements. This theme issue explores the different ways that people have been praised and remembered in works of art. An introduction suggests a…

This teaching packet, designed for students in grades 6 through 9, explores the role of rulers in ancient Mesopotamian society and examines the depiction of those rulers in Mesopotamian art. Students are encouraged to compare present-day political leaders with ancient Mesopotamian rulers. The guide includes: (1) background information for…

This book presents the experiential approach as a method for teaching art history. Through this approach, which may be used with any student age group, art historical problems are explored through self-expressive art production and experienced events. Yet, the focus remains on the art object rather than the student. The approach encourages:…

This paper documents the creation of a procedural model for researching regional art history. It focuses on the region of Central Ohio and identifies art historical resources and a sampling of artists from 1945-1995. Topics discussed include: art history in Europe and in the United States; the problem of researching regional art history; review of…

Increased attention to the importance of the arts in general education demands that we carefully define what we mean by "art" when we argue that it should be included in the school curriculum. Education in the arts has traditionally meant education in the making of art, but while only a few students will go on to produce artistically in…