Researching whimsical and spirited artists can inspire new ideas and methods of communicating how art remains a valuable part of people's lives both in and out of the classroom. This instructional resource explores one such contemporary artist who, driven by a curiosity in human interaction, continues to explore the world in fanciful and…

Creating a self-portrait of having fun "riding a wave" is a very enlightening and engaging experience for students of all ages, but the author's second-graders had an especially wonderful time with this art experience. To begin the unit of study, the author and her students looked at self-portraits created by Vincent van Gogh, Rembrandt,…

In this article, the author describes an art project for second-grade students based on American Regionalist Grant Wood's most famous painting, "American Gothic," which was modeled by his sister, Nan, and his dentist. This well-loved painting depicting a hard-working farmer and his daughter standing in front of their farmhouse is the project's…