Argues that creativity is the essence of true learning and explores its role in art education. Studies the creative process at work in several artists. Considers David Perkins' work on the creative process, identifying characteristics of a creative environment. Concludes creativity is more akin to problem solving than to spontaneous and mysterious…

Explores the sensory, formal, and symbolic orientations for studying environmental aesthetics. Points out that environmental aesthetics are related to both the natural and built environments. Discusses implications for art education in developing aesthetically oriented individuals. Maintains that learning something in environmental aesthetics is…

Maintains that philosophical aesthetics must be an integral part of art education. Examines existing methods and materials for teaching philosophy to children from the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children (New Jersey). Describes a sample unit showing philosophical aesthetics in action in a fifth grade class. (KM)

Describes objects from everyday life and analyzes artworks by four contemporary artists whose works make use of familiar objects (Louise Nevelson, Claes Oldenburg, Mitchell Syrop, and Betye Sarr). Divides lesson into four steps: (1) discussing everyday objects; (2) viewing artworks; (3) studying artists; and (4) class activities related to the…

Examines a curriculum experiment in a university art education course titled "Women and Their Art." Explores how classroom dynamics and educational outcomes were affected by the introduction of a quilt-making project. Addresses the historical functions of quilts and the evolution of a participatory curriculum. (KM)

Maintains that in recent years there has been an increasing interest in the history of art education and art education associations. Describes how the Texas Art Education Association has collected and documented material from its past. Points out that art education students can use this information to place current trends in perspective. (KM)

Proposes an art curriculum framework that reduces aesthetics to three theories of art: imitationalist, formalist, and emotionalist. Fits each theory into the curriculum at the appropriate developmental stage of the student. Applies these theories to art criticism, art history, and studio production. (LS)

Presents a lesson that introduces students in grades K-three to sources of design inspiration in contemporary urban settings. Using Don Eddy's painting of a jewelry store window display, asks students to describe and analyze the interplay of shape, pattern, and color. Suggests studio activities, including an activity in which students build a…

Provides a lesson to familiarize students in grades four-six with the many ways that artists use the technique of collage. Students observe and discuss ways artists make use of materials other than paint on canvas. Examines how the introduction of foreign materials to a surface affects the illusion of space. (LS)

Introduces students in grades seven-nine to the sometimes ambiguous differences between abstract and realistic art. Explores ways in which the same idea can be expressed in both formats, using Cy Twombly's "Synopsis of a Battle" as an example. Students research a war and create both abstract and realistic pictures of the battlefield experience.…

Describes a lesson that shows high school students a work of art derived from literature, acquainting them with methods an artist can use to present a story in visual form. Students discuss how Anthony van Dyck controlled and manipulated light, color, gesture, and composition in his painting to depict a moment from literature. (LS)

Offers a comprehensive evaluation/grading scheme that can handle the four domains of discipline-based art education, outlining an approach for each. Addresses both norm-referenced and criterion-referenced goals, and methods for assessment. (LS)

Shows how the advertisement copy for "collectible art" can be used to develop a definition of art. Suggests that middle and high school students should look at the criteria for art offered in the advertisements. Recommends they analyze the terminology used to convince the lay person that the object is "genuine" art. (LS)

Criticizes the approach towards literacy taken by E. D. Hirsch, Jr. in "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know." Compares Hirsch's list of "What Literate Americans Know" with lists in books on trivia. Expresses concern about the narrow sense in which Hirsch conceives context in relationship to literacy. (LS)

Asserts that multicultural approaches to art education have increased in number and variety in recent years. Describes an in-school museum elementary art program that teaches students to appreciate the everyday art found in their ethnically diverse homes. (CFR)