In the past, the newspaper was one of the world's most used sources of information. Recently, however, its use has declined due to the popularity of cable television and the Internet. Yet the idea of reading the morning paper with a hot cup of coffee holds many warm memories for children who watched their parents in this daily ritual. In this…

People are immersed in visual culture and, therefore, are usually not aware of how power and privilege are enacted and how they operate in works of art from past and present times. Two premises infuse individuals' thinking on visual culture. First, that an activity-based approach to its study seeks to recognize how power and privilege function in…

Did you know that a hummingbird weighs less than a penny? Or that an elephant swims twenty miles a day? These are just two of the many facts that Snapple prints on the lids of their drink bottles. When Snapple first introduced the Snapple Real Facts the author was excited to see that something so trivial was also educational. She asked herself if…

Even very young children can start observing, thinking about, and talking about elements of the visual culture that surrounds them. A good place to start is right underneath their feet--the designs on the bottoms of their shoes. Students become aware of the designs, compare them with the designs of their neighbors, speculate on the possible…

Quilting, the tradition of stitching together layers of fabric and padding, probably began as a way to provide protection in clothing, but one most often associates quilts with the warmth and comfort of bedding. As so often happens with objects created for a particular purpose, quilts have come to be valued, not only for their function, but also…

Symphony, as Daniel Pink defines it in his book "A Whole New Mind," is "the ability to put together the pieces" in a unified whole. It is the capacity to "see the big picture," to notice relationships between seemingly unrelated fields or things, to think metaphorically, and to invent something new by combining elements that nobody else thought to…

This article briefly discusses a seminar that will focus on the fifth annual Folk Art Festival at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, with additional emphasis on Georgia O'Keeffe's life and art in New Mexico, and Hispanic and Native American cultural traditions. Activities include museum visits, field trips, invited speakers,…

Visual arts rarely seem to receive the accolades that are bestowed upon other special subject areas such as music and sports. In this article, the author describes a way in which publicity could be generated for students involved with the visual arts. The mural-painting process provides a creative outlet for students and gives them the opportunity…

In his book "A Whole New Mind," Daniel Pink describes the aptitude of Symphony as the ability to synthesize, or to put pieces together. Symphony is the capacity to see relationships, detect broad patterns, and to create by combining diverse elements together. The artist Wassily Kandinsky exemplifies Symphonic thinking. A pioneer in nonobjective…

In this article, the author explores the digital artwork of Brian Evans, a composer-artist who creates visualizations of sound. Through the years Evans' love for music and visual art led him to explore ways to work concurrently with image and sound. Digital technology proved to be such a means. Digital technology is based upon the transcription of…

In this article, the author describes how she prepares her middle school students for their Regional Junior Scholastics and the lessons they have learned through the process. Just as coaches never let athletes prepare without a clear understanding of the rules, her students ground themselves in how different art competitions work. Preparation for…

This article describes how Viktor Schreckengost's work had been a learning experience for the students of Grant Elementary School. Viktor's most famous work, "Jazz Bowl," was the focus of the author's curriculum. Viktor created this punch bowl for Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1930s. The bowl was so popular that a series of them were produced. The…

When working with very young children and/or students with special needs, it is beneficial for teachers to think "outside the box" in order to preserve and enhance a child's natural curiosity. In an effort to teach young children to control their drawing tools, they are often presented with coloring book-type pages and instructed to "stay inside…

This article presents a lesson called Memory Palaces. A memory palace is a memory tool used to remember information, usually as visual images, in a sequence that is logical to the person remembering it. In his book, "In the Palaces of Memory", George Johnson calls them "...structure(s) for arranging knowledge. Lots of connections to language arts,…

Teachers often hurry from student to student giving out encouraging comments: "Nice," "Good work," "I like your picture." However, the author believes that a more honest kind of art discourse based upon the teachers' feelings will bring both the students and the teacher more satisfaction if they respond to the students' efforts not from their…