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Every Thursday evening, ten high school students meet at the Riverdale Art Project, a New York City-based art program that I cofounded ten years ago. Students are participating in a [...]

Public art exists for a variety of reasons--expressions of remembrance, contemplation of place, and celebration of identity. And while usually impressive in scale, such works are typically fixed and stationary, [...]

I'll admit it. I hate bugs. Sorry, insects, to be more accurate. I get annoyed at anything that buzzes in my ear and cringe at the sight of a spider. [...]

Materials: Royal Greeting Card 50 Pack Soft Grip™ Assorted Round and Flat Taklon brushes Essentials™ Watercolor Paints Water Basins, Paint Palettes, Pencils, and Paper Towels Essentials™ Oil Pastels (optional) Objective: [...]

Materials: Royal Potters Select™ Wooden Sculpting Tools--at least 2 different tools per student Royal Big Kids Choice Grippers[TM ]brushes Cups for Glaze and Water Low Fire White Clay Lead Free [...]

Materials: Essentials™ Chalk Pastels Royal Blending Stumps 12' x 18' Black pastel paper Paper Towels Hairspray or Fixative Small pieces (2'x2') of black construction paper Objective: Students will learn to [...]

This middle school introductory lesson encourages experimentation as an essential part of the creative process. In this lesson, students experiment with different types of media and tools to create an [...]

Students in my third and fourth grade classes were given the task of creating a life-size, standing self-portrait. The idea was not just to create a picture of themselves to [...]

There's something about opening up a brand-new box full of color. Whether crayons, watercolors, acrylics, or oils, the familiar smells and sights of those sixty-four waxy points, shiny ovals, and [...]

It took me years to balance the need to teach high school students the 'grammar' of art--the principles and elements of art and design--with the desire (and pressure!) to teach [...]

The Art Problem In our kindergarten classes, students learn about owls and dissect owl pellets. To reinforce that lesson in art, students learn more about the natural history of owls [...]

The Art Problem This lesson provides students with a chance to practice various value techniques prior to working on a more realistic still life drawing. Students interpret a set of [...]

Materials * pictures of rainforest reptiles and amphibians * pencils * 80# 12 x 18' (30.5 x 46 cm) white drawing paper * assortment of colored tissue paper (bleeding) * [...]

The Art Problem Students create a design utilizing penny candy. Each work will exhibit student understanding of unity, visual movement, and balance while refining their expertise of value. Consider looking [...]

The Art Problem The Very Busy Spider is a picture book by Eric Carle that shows the development of a spider's web with Carle's characteristic painted paper illustrations and simple [...]

A formerly dark corner of our school's entry plaza has been illuminated by a sparkling mosaic mural. Third, fourth, and fifth graders worked in small groups to form the letters [...]

Art is the universal language that gives voice to imagination, hopes and dreams. Each time I meet with my class of special education students something magical happens. When given paint, [...]

Picture This: In Hinche, Haiti, a boy named Makson gets in line with the others to receive his midday dish of rice. There are seventy-seven boys in total, and they [...]

The Art Problem How do we find beauty, joy, and meaning in scraps from our immediate environment? How do we help the ecology? How do we recycle discarded pieces into [...]

The Art Problem After visiting with a local artist who specializes in Sumi-e painting, students were asked to apply their knowledge of this art form in a series of paintings [...]

Significant Problem How do we express the concept of 'celebration' in a universal manner, showing joy, friendship, love, giving, and sharing in a language that transcends all religious, cultural, and [...]

The Art Problem Living in a community involves an awareness of the ever-changing flow of people. How does a student become appreciative of the connections among community members going about [...]

What is clay? Where did it come from? What is a glaze? How is it different from paint? What is a kiln? What does it mean to 'fire' a clay [...]

After attending a local art teacher in-service in which we were introduced to a wet tissue multicultural project, I decided to incorporate this technique with an upcoming line lesson with [...]

I teach art at Queen of Peace School in Madison, Wisconsin. I have a wonderful principal who has really let me run with my ideas. His only request is that [...]

A great way to work with shape recognition and manipulation, pattern design, glue control, and fine-motor abilities for kindergarten art students is to use the quilt as a starting place. [...]

Imagine yourself sitting at your desk after completing the first week of school as the elementary art specialist. Contemplate how years of experience have fine-tuned your art class into an [...]

This idea grew from several of my past lessons which gave students insight into artists and their work. For example, a former student-teacher presented a lesson on Grant Wood while [...]