In Kathleen Loomis's preschool classroom at the Bennington College Early Childhood Center, the goal for children is not to produce beautiful and expressive artworks or to learn specific methods of working with art media--although those things do happen. Here, the curriculum is built around the philosophy that learning to think and create with art…

The author of this article, an art teacher, describes a high school studio lesson about sculptural reliefs using Sheetrock. She describes how students can work with and prepare Sheetrock and how they can create a design and transfer it onto the dry Sheetrock plaster. Making repairs to the surface, coloring and finishing, and the tools required are…

In this article, the author, an art teacher at a Pennsylvanian high school, tells of methods she has used to help "open up" students in her Intermediate Studio Art class who are timid but talented individuals who will not risk embarrassment by expressing themselves. Her methods involved having students serve as models for sketches and…

Describes origins of the constructed relief and shows some examples of contemporary artists' work. Suggests using this history to motivate students to construct their own reliefs. Outlines a four-step lesson: preliminary drawing, finished drawing, mock-up relief, and finished construction using durable materials, such as wood, acrylic sheet, or…

Presents four lesson plans for teaching K-12 students about public sculpture and contemporary sculptors. Highlights the following works: "Playscapes" by Isamu Noguchi, "The Dallas Piece" by Henry Moore, "Old Glory" by Mark di Suvero, and "Face of the Earth" by Vito Acconci. Includes background information on…

In this concluding article of a six-part series on children's art, the author reviews the stages of children's development in relationship to the use of three-dimensional materials and suggests teaching methods which will help children to develop artistically. (Editor/SJL)

Presents a high school art teacher's views of and experiences with masks. Outlines a maskmaking activity in which students were required to create variations on existing masks. Emphasizes use of experimental materials. Displays examples of student-created masks. (DB)

Profiles a course that challenges college seniors to gain new perspectives, skills, experiences, and insights into their own creative and imaginative processes. The course uses the work of Joseph Cornell who constructed enigmatic, box-like assemblages from found objects. Students construct their own boxes and consider future applications of this…

Identifies and discusses four instructional strategies that represent important aspects of studio instruction: (1) key ideas related to interpretive meaning; (2) knowledge transfer between the artist and the student; (3) personal connections between students' lives and subject matter; and (4) problem-finding. Includes illustrative examples. (MJP)

Provides a sculpture analysis lesson on aesthetic scanning designed to avoid the monotony of step-by-step discussion of sensory, formal, technical, and expressive properties of works of art. Offers four questions on sculpture analysis. Concludes that variety in aesthetic scanning is essential to keep both students and teachers motivated. (KM)