Kids always seem to like Surrealism and Op Art. This is a fun project that is popular with students. With Op Art patience and attention to details are required while Surrealistic collage needs strong composition skills for the image placement. Often, many images must be left out to create a clean design. Artistic decisions must be based on the art…

Abstraction has long been a concept difficult to define for students. Students often feel the pressure of making their artwork "look real" and frustration can often lead to burnout in the classroom. In this article, the author describes how her lesson on abstraction has alleviated much of that pressure as students created an abstract acrylic…

Kinder-artists at Oakhurst Elementary love rodeo time, which is an annual event in Fort Worth, Texas. The spirit of the Old West pervades as children don jeans, hats, boots, and bandannas to be a cowboy or cowgirl for the day. Furthermore, Fort Worth is a city that celebrates not only its history as "Cowtown" but also the fine arts! An…

Students love the colors of Monet prints. The sunny yellows, misty blues, soft lavenders, and outrageous oranges. Using this as inspiration, Michelle Maroni wanted her students to discover new painting techniques and ways of planning a composition with more spontaneity. In this article, she describes how she introduced Claude Monet to her students…

Traveling to other countries to see other cultures rejuvenates one's spirit and broadens one's perspective. In this article, the author, who is an elementary art teacher shares his experiences on his visit to South Korea in the spring of 2005. The purpose of the tour was to visit potters who fire their work in traditional wood fired, hill-climbing…

Fifth grade students explore the public and private dimensions of poetry through the medium of poetry banners. The author maintains that poetry belongs in public spaces and serves as a counter to the "junk text" that surrounds us. A poetry banner is a nice addition to other banners and messages that students, teachers, school…

Every Thursday evening, ten high school students meet at the Riverdale Art Project, a New York City-based art program that the author co-founded ten years ago. Students are participating in a semester-long color workshop where they learn about color theory in a structured and engaging way. Focusing on five essential characteristics of color…

This article demonstrates a totem project for the author's eight-grade students. Research on totems not only deepened the author's understanding of their meaning and value within the Native American culture of the Pacific Northwest, but also made her curious about contemporary totem forms. While searching online, she came across the work of two…

This resource guide contains listings and descriptions of 12 experimental visual arts programs, 29 audiovisual materials, and almost 200 printed materials on many aspects of visual arts. An index of the printed materials is provided alphabetically by disabling condition, covering behavioral disorders, communication disorders, general, gifted and…

Developed for handicapped artists, Degraded Imagery is a technique whereby images can be extracted and refined from a photograph or a collage of photographs. The advantage of this process is that it requires a lower degree of fine motor skills to produce a quality image from a photograph than it does to create a quality image on a blank piece of…

Briefly describes one teacher's approach to integrating art activities into the curriculum. (JMB)

Presents innovative arts and crafts ideas including weaving a sculpture, painting living plants, making clay hearts, and heart art for Valentine's Day. (JMB)

Technique of tie dying is explained. (RW)

Making and using masks can be a fun classroom project. Directions for creating many styles of three-dimensional masks are presented. Suggestions for using masks in the classroom are offered. (MT)

A color-blot exercise is described as a way of getting students involved in abstract thinking by a low risk, confidence-building activity. Students are asked to combine poetry and art. (CL)