One art critic called it pure Despite the mixed reviews of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's temporary art installation in New York's Central Park, the public reaction to The Gates was largely positive.The Gates consisted of 7,500 orange PVC frames straddling the park's walkways that varied in widths from 5 1/2 feet to 18 feet. Eight-foot-long ripstop…

This brief article describes Charles T. Webber's oil on canvas painting, "The Underground Railroad, 1893." The subject of this painting is the Underground Railroad, which today has become an American legend. The Underground Railroad was not a systematic means of transportation, but rather a secretive process that allowed fugitive slaves…

In this article, the author states that the aim of drawing closer to nature is to employ the artistic processes to draw our selves--mind, body, and spirit--closer to nature. When so repositioned, our thoughts and behaviors--artistic and otherwise take on depth, grace, and richness of expression--just what we want for our life and our art. Sections…

Did you ever wish that you could give students the experience of displaying their work in a gallery setting or attending a gallery opening? It can be done, and for an investment of about fifty dollars. Once organized, the gallery can continue to be maintained at minimal expense. As an elementary principal, the author believed that an art gallery…

Foam printing offers all ages and abilities a way to explore textures in the classroom and to develop personal creativity and imagination. Polystyrene foam trays (commonly known as "meat trays") are readily available, inexpensive, lightweight, portable, and receptive to a wide variety of surface treatments. The printmaking process requires only a…

This brief article describes Winslow Homer's oil on canvas painting, "Sunday Morning, Virginia." "Sunday Morning, Virginia" depicts a group of African-Americans learning to read in a slave cabin after the Civil War. A young teacher, wearing a crisp dress and apron, sits surrounded by three children as she teaches them to read…

This article gives a brief description of the piece of art titled "Bowl with Frieze of Lions Attacking Bulls" which is thought to be the product of a court or palace of the Neo-Assyrian period and dates to the late seventh to eighth century BC, between the reigns of Sargon and Ashurbanipal. The article highlights the piece's most notable…

The painting by Paul Cezanne, The Bridge of Trois-Sautets, was painted near the time of his death. In this rich watercolor, the artist dispensed with notions of traditional painting goals. Rather than solely focus on a realistic rendering of this scene, Cezanne turned instead to the task of recording his sensorial experience and exploring the…

The author of this article is an art specialist at Whiteford Elementary School in Sylvania, Ohio. Following a visit to a Paul Klee exhibition, she cut out all the miniature examples from the exhibition flyer in order to make six art pins. She then wore a different pin each day at both her elementary and high school assignments with amazing…

Dialogue challenges students to answer the basic questions of art production often not thought about by elementary and middle school students: Why did you choose to do that? What are you trying to communicate to the viewer? How does this piece make you feel? Educational theorist Howard Gardner defines the artistic process as one involving the work…

Deep down in the depths of the sea, beautiful fish, mysterious ocean life, and unusual plants glimmer and glow in the eerie atmosphere of an ever-changing ocean. This article describes how, with this vision and a purpose in mind, three teachers pulled open classroom walls and joined forces so their second graders could create a mammoth 30 x 75"…

Meeting the diverse needs of Pamela Malkin's students forced her to really look at what she teaches and how she teaches it. While she was teaching her sixth-grade students to create a mask from clay, she found that many were having a hard time remembering all the steps of my demonstration. Since most of the process was taught through…

The statement "Learning Is Both an Active and Reflective Practice" is very relevant to the authors elementary artroom, where students are encouraged to think about what they are making, to experiment with ideas, and to ask questions of themselves. Art students in grades three through five use digital cameras, computers, PowerPoint, and reflective…

A student sketchbook is not a new idea. However, the appropriate application and assessment capabilities of the sketchbook are often overlooked. Historically, artists were trained via copying the works of master painters and draftsmen. In the same tradition, the author has infused the art curriculum with sketchbook copying exercises to improve…

As part of a unit on Native American art studies, students researched Navajo sand painting. They used Navajo image resources to develop designs for their sand paintings. The process and precautions for this lesson are described in this article.