Examines the rationale and related research supporting inclusion of the arts in secondary English and history courses. Looks at examples from a classroom teacher's experience in including drama, painting, and music into the literature curriculum. (RS)

Describes the drawings of an autistic 8-year-old boy and investigates the role of art in his life considering art's relationship, by style and content, to his emotional and daily experiences. Indicates his four distinct drawing styles along with what these styles suggest about art's narrative qualities and its meaning-making possibilities. (CMK)

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)

Interview of Cliff Joseph, one of the first African Americans to participate in the American Art Therapy Association and to become a registered art therapist and teacher. Details Joseph's impact on art therapy and cultural and social issues, as well as his relationships with other prominent art therapists. (MKA)

Paintings can fulfill many different pedagogical purposes. They can illuminate and bring to life historical events and characters. Paintings and other images can also make students aware of a point of view (the artist's commentary), which enriches and modifies the history they find in books and documents. This article provides examples of teaching…

Lists recommended book titles for children on art, crafts, artists, optical illusions, and drawing. Provides the address for a Web site featuring art activities and information about artists for children. (PEN)

Going to the movies or watching Saturday morning cartoons has become a fixture of contemporary American life, but have you ever stopped to contemplate how those "moving" images on film are conveyed to our eyes and brain? The movement that we see on film is actually a series of still images, every image separated from the next by brief spaces of…

In the recent decades art education has tried to move away from the trends based on practical skills and techniques towards a greater stress on interpreting and understanding visual culture, created by the mass media. This approach implies a revision of the field of study and a redefinition of goals, replacing the study of art with a study of…

Almost all early civilizations had mythological stories. From the great cradles of civilization--Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome--to the Mother Earth and Father Sky of the early Native Americans, myths have been part of the civilization of humankind. Typically, in this teachers' ninth-grade painting class, the students paint landscapes in…

Today, schools are actively looking for new ways to enable their students to develop storytelling skills. These skills should empower children and young adults to practice collaborative learning on many levels, from reading and writing to painting and project management. In this framework, digital painting provides educators with innovative…

Art teachers often draw on their personal experiences when planning. The author of this article had spent time admiring the quilting skills of the Amish and Mennonite people around Lancaster and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. She had also steeped herself in the history of the Civil War. These experiences steered her towards an art problem that involved…

Have you ever thought of using music as a subject for art? When the author discovered that her third graders studied jazz in music class every February, it seemed an opportune time for her to simultaneously focus on music in art, specifically through the work of African-American artist Romare Bearden. To familiarize her third-grade students with…

Art, particularly observational drawing, plays an important role in science. Scientific illustrators combine science content knowledge, observation skills, and artistic ability. For students, creating representational artwork helps develop observation skills and an appreciation of the diverse ways organisms have adapted to life on Earth. In this…

The art education literature has recently given a good deal of attention to the topic of Visual Culture in Art Education (VCAE). VCAE appears to some art educators as the next new emphasis in art education following Discipline-Based Art Education. At least four recent theme issues of Art Education have addressed the topic in various ways. All of…

Ideas are starting points-for thought, discussion, reading, viewing, writing, and making. The two "brainstorms on paper" presented in this article illustrate how taking an idea and examining it from an artistic point of view can generate thematic starting points to help teachers and students connect the visual arts to ideas that ripple across the…