Inspired by an extraordinary "Textiles in the Museum" workshop at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the author was motivated to plan an engaging fiber lesson for her Studio in Creative Crafts course. In this article, she describes how her students made self-portrait tapestries that were inspired by Coptic weavings. The multiple tasks required to…

Developing kindergarten lessons can be very challenging, especially at the beginning of the school year when many students are just learning to cut paper and hold crayons. The author's favorite beginning unit of the year is "mice paintings," a practical introduction to drawing, color theory, and painting. This unit also incorporates children's…

Educator Ernest Boyer believed that well-educated students should do more than master isolated facts. They should understand the "connectedness of things." He suggested organizing curriculum thematically around eight commonalities shared by people around the world. In the book "The Basic School: A Community for Learning," Boyer recommends that…

Middle School students present unique challenges to visual arts teachers, who wonder how they can touch the academic, emotional, and social lives of students entering their early teen years. If lessons are to rate high with them, they must not only appeal academically to their inquisitiveness, but also to their social an emotional development as…

As college deadlines loom, teachers may wonder if there is a magic portfolio formula for their students to follow. After twenty years of thought on portfolio development and the opportunity to review over 10,000 individual portfolios, the author is convinced that there is no single formula for success. With hard work, careful planning, and…

This article introduces the art of three-dimensional modelling. Three-dimensional modelling is gaining acceptance as a new medium for self-expression. Students must first master the software programs, learn the tools and functions, the menu choices and settings, and use them to create realistic objects. (Contains 4 online resources.)

In this article, the author describes an after-school project he reactivated at RHAM Middle School. The author embarked on the Mural Project, which he hoped would engaged students in a year-long cycle to depict just what the seven pillars mean to the social and academic well-being of the school community. What emerged from the project was a…

One contemporary artist that kindergarten students can easily relate to is Jasper Johns. In this article, the author discusses how she introduced John's numeric and alphabetic paintings to her kindergarten students. The young artists were amazed that art can be created from the familiar symbols that they are learning to make in their regular…

In this article, the author describes a self-portrait project she developed for her students. The project emphasizes personality and pattern as the main objectives through a series of steps that include drawing exercises, observation skills, stream-of-color, intense patterning and texturizing, and colored pencil techniques. By drawing down the…

In this article, the author shares an activity she introduced to her students. In this activity, students recognize the beauty of their own neighborhood and learn about cropping a photo for better composition. (Contains 1 online resource.)

In this article, the author shares a lesson that uses the Message in a Bottle concept. This lesson combines social studies, language arts, technology, and art, particularly studying and drawing portraits and utilizing values within a drawing. As part of their grade-four art curriculum, students are required to correctly proportion the face and the…

In this article, the author shares a painting unit she introduced to her students. In this unit, her students painted pictures of barns and discussed the historical significance of barns in Wisconsin.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has changed the face of education in America. Now that the law is coming up for renewal, it is time to deal with the problems and inequities it has created. In this article, the author discusses the two factors at work that NCLB has failed to address: the student and the parent. She also discusses how art can help in…

The Comic Book Project (CBP) celebrates its eighth anniversary this year. The project, which just originated with one school in New York City, had grown to encompass thousands of students nationwide. The goal of the CBP is not to create comics the "Marvel way" or to develop the next Stan Lee. Rather, the goal is to give students the opportunity to…

The author finds clay a wonderful introductory medium for high-school studio art. It is not intimidating and gives students the opportunity to express directly with their hands. This article describes the author's clay project that she introduced to her students. The clay project required students to portray their inside and outside personalities…