In this article, students build a prototype guitar. One way to get students to take creative risks is to allow playful approaches to their designs--let them come up with wild or silly ideas. By starting from such a wide-open place, many students will change their definitions and assumptions of what a guitar has to be. The result will be a wider…

To compete in the global workforce, educators know that their students must be well educated in science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. But, as outlined in the NETS, they must also develop the key skills of creativity and innovation. How can educators teach the typically left-brained STEM subjects along with the more…

In this article, the author describes a project in which his ninth-grade art students utilized a vinyl record as an unusual medium to create a work that exhibited solid design, great creativity, and strong craftsmanship. Students presented their pieces to the class for critique, explained the process, the media, and their feelings about their…

Highlights "Celebrating the Creative Spirit," a traveling exhibition featuring the work of 25 furniture-makers from nine southern states who use furniture as a means of personal artistic expression. Provides background on five different artists and an example artwork from each. (CMK)