The National Visual Arts Standards (NVAS) present ways for students in the United States to create, present, respond, and connect to the world of art and artmaking. This article focuses on the practices of one visual arts educator, Educator A, who taught in a state-sponsored specialist music high school, guided by the following question: "How…

Advocacy is not new to art education. Over the years, Goldfarb (1979), Hodsoll (1985), and Erickson and Young (1996) have written about the importance of arts advocacy, but the concept of advocacy has evolved with the times. For example, in the 1970s, arts advocacy was described as a "movement" and brought together art educators,…

When displayed in museums and classrooms, Renaissance-era (1420-1600) painting, architecture, and drawing masterworks are often decontextualized from the social reality of the Academy system under which they were produced. For centuries, the artworks of the Italian Renaissance have seduced viewers with technical mastery, exquisite pigments, and…

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…

A result of the industrial age was a short-lived but powerful new American art movement called Precisionism, most evident in painting, but visible also in drawing, photography, and print-making, focusing on industrial and mechanical subjects. Precisionism originated in the 1920s, allied with European Cubism's fascination with shape and geometric…

In this article, the author takes a look back at several scholars of the 1960s (Vincent Lanier, June King McFee, and Corita Kent) and their contributions to the discussion of visual culture in art education. He asserts that, though these scholars were not successful in implementing changes within their own time, their ideas provide powerful…

Offers an art lesson for grades K-3 based on an early 19th century sculpture of the head of a Benin Queen. Presents background on the relevance of Queen Mother's position in Benin culture. Discusses importance of regalia and scarification associated with Benin heads. Includes suggestions for classroom activities. (BR)

Presents an art lesson for grades 4 through 6 based on the wooden sculpture entitled Daruma. Daruma was the founder of religion of Zen Buddhism. The lesson's goals are to introduce student to Buddhist legends and to cultivate respect for a culture different from their own. (BR)

Offers an art lesson designed to introduce junior high school students to a Shiva sculpture and to Hindu symbolism. The lesson is based on a full-color photograph of a 500 year-old bronze sculpture entitled Shiva Nataraja, King of Dancers. (BR)

Provides criteria, formulated by the Committee on Lifelong Learning for art education, for programs in the visual arts for adults. Specifically covers instructor qualifications, program goals and standards, program/curriculum content, instructional spaces, class size, and potential art hazards. (AEM)

This tongue-in-cheek article calls for the critical reexamination of the history of modern art. The author believes that modern art is neither an extension of the Renaissance aesthetic nor a collective by-product of artists possessed of creative genius. Creators of modern art were actually representational artists suffering from visual stuttering.…

A review of reports, a survey, and national assessments of art education shows that visual art students are not learning art knowledge and skills because art teachers do not teach art appreciation, art history, or design and drawing skills. Priorities concerning art education content and teaching methods must be changed. (RM)

The initial efforts of the Getty Center for Education in the Arts center on developing more holistic art teaching. Projects include case studies in twelve school districts; educational programs for teachers, administrators, and school board members; applying electronic media to art education; and using the Getty museum to educate visitors. (IS)

Throughout European history, artists have celebrated the values of their patrons. Today, the schools are the largest employer of artists. To justify art education according to current Back-to-Basics values, art teachers should explain visual art as a language, which they can teach students to read and use. (SJL)

Presents a series of instructional resources that includes three color plates illustrating the work of three sculptresses. Portrays the historical subjects: colonial America's Virginia Dare, the biblical Hagar, and ancient history's Zenobia. Activities include researching the artist, the subject, and the historical period. Discusses the White…