Abstraction can be hard for older students to understand, and it usually involves simplifying or rearranging natural objects to meet the needs of the artist, whether it be for organization or expression. But, in reality, that is what young artists do when they draw from life. They do not have enough experience--and sometimes the patience--to see…

Henri Matisse (1869-1954) was a very prolific Impressionist/Post-Impressionist artist whose longevity allowed him to produce many wonderful, brightly colored pieces of art that spanned different styles, movements and media. Elementary-school children love color and appreciate any project that does not require their work to be exact or totally…

The author's fifth-graders are usually easy to motivate, especially with an assignment as exciting as dragons and mythical beasts! Since many of the author's projects are "typical" subjects such as flowers, animals, still life and so on, the idea of creating mythical creatures really caused a stir in her classroom. In this article, the author…

This paper presents some internet aesthetic texts collected over a period of two years through chain message communications with colleagues located in different parts of the world. The aesthetic texts are grouped into four themes of mathematical magic, values, beauty, and prediction. Mathematical magic aesthetics show fascinating things that can…

Virginia Lee Burton was one of the first author-artists to fully integrate text with images on the printed page, captivating generations of children. She was the founder of the Folly Cove Designers, which is an artist collective known for block printed textiles and design, an artist and a writer, entwining the visual image and written word into a…

Many of the paintings of 20th-century American artist Philip C. Curtis defy clear classification. Curtis's artworks often show dreamlike and fantastical qualities and are therefore frequently pigeonholed as Surrealistic. While this classification is not completely erroneous, it fails to acknowledge some subtle differences between Curtis's artwork…

The Studio Thinking Framework (STF) focuses on habits of mind taught through studio arts rather than disciplinary content or media-specific techniques. It is well suited to integrate studies of arts learning and teaching in a range of contexts, and it provides a framework for understanding how visual arts participation is dramatically changing…

This study was presented at the American Educational Research Association 2012 conference in Vancouver, Canada. The study explored how action research of arts-based teaching (ABT) impacted at-risk students in three urban public schools in southern California, USA. ABT was defined as using arts, music, drama, and dance in teaching other subjects. A…

In this article, the author profiles Robert Motherwell (1915-1991) who is universally regarded as one of the most important painters and printmakers of the mid-20th century, and was a prominent figure in the movement known as Abstract Expressionism. The author also discusses the exhibition, "Lost in Form, Found in Line: An Exhibition of Works by…

In this article, the author discusses the importance of the placement of action lines to show the direction of movement. The author shows some visuals of angels and discusses in details the texture of the wings, the hair and the clothing.

This article presents an analysis of Nilaja Sun's one-woman play, "No Child" . . ., that applies the Studio Habits of Mind framework to reveal essential features of great teaching artistry and great teaching. The play conveys much about twenty-first century schools and the policies that control them; about respect, equity, justice, and the lack of…

In this article, artist, educator, and activist Luis-Genaro Garcia describes the development and impact of the "May Day service learning project" on his advanced painting class in a high school in South Los Angeles. The project emerged from students' interests: their ideas, concerns for their community, socio-political consciousness, and…

The value of human rights in a democratic South Africa is constantly threatened and often waived for nefarious reasons. We contend that the use of visual graphics among incoming university visual art students provides a mode of engagement that helps to inculcate awareness of human rights, social responsibility, and the public good in South African…

Classroom teachers have been encouraged to incorporate more multimedia production in the classroom as a means of helping students develop critical media literacy skills. However, they have not always been well trained in how to evaluate the work students create; many teachers struggle to know which criteria to use in assessing student work. This…

In the current testing environment, high school reading teachers may often rely on a multiple-choice assessment as the best practice. This study suggests that a visual arts assessment of reading comprehension can rigorously measure critical thinking. This action research study follows 21 high school juniors through the selection, creation, and…