The Smithsonian American Art Museum has created and will tour an exhibition on a most unusual but extremely popular art form--"The Art of Video Games." As one of the largest and first of its type, this exhibition will document and explore a 40-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium, with a focus on striking visual effects and the…

Japanese ceramics enjoy a long and distinguished history, and the Japanese aesthetic of elegant simplicity, along with their approach to materials, has influenced ceramic artists around the world for centuries. Women in Japan have been involved in the production of ceramics for thousands of years, but with few exceptions, their names have remained…

During the Great Depression, following the stock market crash of 1929, the nation's greatest financial crisis, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's administration created the Public Works of Art Project. It was the first federal government program designed to support the arts by putting artists back to work. The program's purpose was to alleviate…

Many painters use lines to express powerful emotions. Both Vincent van Gogh and Jean-Michel Basquiat had difficult lives filled with hardship, and died at a young age. They both used art to deal with their emotions. It seems like the stronger the feelings were in them, the faster the strokes were put down in their work. In this article,…

Students have completed their two-dimensional drawings, paintings, prints or collages, and there they are--in a neat stack on a shelf. They deserve to be shown to the students, fellow teachers, visiting parents and administrators. They need to be matted or mounted, and placed on exhibit in a corridor, hallway or special bulletin board. By matting…

The author's art program includes students from kindergarten through eighth grade. In pondering the "nearly impossible," he wondered how the entire student population could work together on one art project that could be exhibited at the same time. He wanted each of his 700 students to create an original artwork that would display individual and…

This article profiles Romare Bearden (1911-1988), one of the most talented American artists and well-known and influential African-American artists of the 20th century. An acknowledged master in many media, Bearden was especially innovative and preeminent in the medium of collage and printmaking. A native of North Carolina, he grew up in Harlem…

Three years ago, the author and Linda Arbuckle (University of Florida ceramic professor and internationally known majolica clay artist) were on the phone discussing how electric kilns just don't have any artistic design flair to them. The round kiln has basic properties that allow it to function properly, but its looks are far from exciting. They…

As soon as they graduate from arm-length viewing in shopping-cart seats, children take off to adventure in aisles, touching just about everything. Kids will pocket fallen signs and lug unusual, empty shelves and packaging materials in hopes of taking them home. Kids recognize and compliment supermarket artists--stock clerks who create container…

This article profiles Patrick Dougherty and features his installation at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. With the help of 100 volunteers and a time span of just three weeks, sculptor Patrick Dougherty harvested the materials and constructed the installation entitled "Lookin' Good! Lookin' Good!" on a lawn adjacent to the entrance of…

In this article, the author profiles Robert Motherwell (1915-1991) who is universally regarded as one of the most important painters and printmakers of the mid-20th century, and was a prominent figure in the movement known as Abstract Expressionism. The author also discusses the exhibition, "Lost in Form, Found in Line: An Exhibition of Works by…

Clay is one of the oldest materials known to humanity and has been used for utilitarian purposes and creative expression since prehistoric times. As civilizations evolved, ceramic materials, techniques, purposes and design all became more sophisticated and expressive. With the addition of different minerals and firing methods, clay was used to…

In the San Fernando Valley of Southern California, the entire community participates in Youth Art Month through the Annual Valley Wide Student Art Show. The mission of the show is to provide students with an opportunity to exhibit their work publicly and to promote school arts programs during Youth Art Month. Apart from promoting arts education…

Animals have always been close to the heart of humankind. They appear in the earliest imagery as the very first subjects of art. Household pets are a fixture for many a family. This is true in art as well. In shifting the balance away from animals as pure symbols, the Impressionists identified them as members of the household. One of the most…

A new traveling exhibition and catalogue produced by the Smithsonian's American Art Museum features works by 31 artists from the United States who came to maturity in the mid-20th century. These artists have become the most significant and influential artists over the past 50 years as their works adorn the modern galleries of hundreds of museums.…