In this article, the author describes The Button Project. It started as a dream, a need to educate future generations about the Holocaust, to teach tolerance, and to remember the past. Under the auspices of the Jewish Federation of Peoria, a small band of people joined together with the goal of teaching people about the Holocaust so that it will…

This brief article describes how a Anne Young taught her students to make a monoprint out of a coffee filter. A monoprint is a one-of-a-kind picture. This lesson taught students to use art materials and tools in a safe and responsible manner.

A book is a treasure that can hold fascination and wonder within and capture our attention with exterior beauty as well. With this in mind, the author had her students explore the rare book covers of the Middle Ages, when books were handwritten by monks on handmade paper. They created their own large-format books (12 x 13" or 30.5 x 33 cm) that…

Students get excited when they realize that they can transform a flat sheet of paper into a box. By using different sizes of paper, they can make different sizes of boxes and put a box inside a box, inside a box. These magical boxes within boxes can contain unwanted emotions or special treasures. The project described in this article incorporates…

Each time John Senz starts an art lesson with tattoos, the frenzy of fun is predictable, even for staff. Senz looks forward to a busy day when he reaches for the airbrush and cosmetic paint. Students pick up the technique of airbrushing quickly and can't wait to paint designs on their skin. Although topics such as history, design, business, and…

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…

In the lesson described, the middle school students had been studying the artist Georgia O'Keeffe and the history of her work. Students enhanced their flower portraits by adding a matching border and connecting the lesson to other subject areas. Students dissected a flower and drew a small diagram of the flower and labeled the parts. This is an…

Relief sculpture is an art form that is midway between painting and sculpture in the round. It is a process in which the subject stands out or projects a surface from the background. The surface has several levels. It can be low relief or high relief (deep or almost round) or anywhere in between. The most common example of low relief is a coin…

Tracey Hunter-Doniger is an elementary visual arts teacher who is fortunate enough to work in a school that realizes the value and influence art has on technology. Twice a year, her first-through fifth-grade classes meet in the computer lab to create computer-generated works of art. the class discusses the importance of art in technology, such as…

Often we find great ideas around the artroom. One day, the author spotted several pieces of construction paper that had gotten wet near the sink. They had stained the white paper they were lying on. He noticed a design of strong contrast exhibited by the stains. Layers of transparent color had created textural nuances resembling a multicolored…

Jodi Esher, an art teacher at teach at a very large kindergarten through second grade school, finished a continuing ed course entitled Preparing a School Community to Cope with Crisis, and came away completely inspired to make a difference in her school. The object of her new project would be to design, then ultimately create, a mural to become a…

Since 1997, the author coordinated a large-scale billboard project. Coordinated to coincide with the National Art Education Association's celebration of Youth Art Month, strong commitments from faculty, students, administrators, public-relations liaisons, local press, radio, TV, and community businesses have made this project a success. The first…

Louise Berliawsky was born in Kiev, Russia. In 1905, she immigrated to Rockland, Maine, where her father established a lumberyard. Often she worked on collages with wood scraps from her father's lumberyard. Although interested in dance and theater, Nevelson always knew she would be a sculptor. In 1920, Louise Berliawsky married Charles Nevelson,…

Professional development through the advanced planning of themed exhibitions provides art instructors in Howard County, Maryland, the impetus for many of the ideas that may become artful problems presented to students. In this installment of the series Artful Collaborations, Stacey McKenna and Gino Molfino share their response for the spring 2001…

The lesson described in this article provides a wonderful opportunity for fourth graders to integrate reading and writing into a visual art experience. After an exploration of books, students create an artist's book that uses language as respiration. Through this lesson, students explore and understand prospective content for works of art.