As a middle school art teacher, the author has learned that it is difficult to get to know students in just one quarter. At her school, each student in grades six through eight takes one quarter of art every year. This means she has roughly nine weeks to teach them content, proper use of tools and media, and art history. The author describes a…

Teenagers' bedrooms are reflections of their personalities. Their bedrooms showcase their individuality and define the world as they see it. Their bedrooms are private and public--shared with some and off limits to others. Each day students wake up and begin the rituals of the day, and in the evening they return to their sanctuaries and close the…

Photography students spend a considerable amount of time working on technical issues in shooting, composing, editing, and processing prints. Another aspect of their learning should include the conception and communication of their ideas. A student's memories and dreams can serve as motivation to create images in visual art. Some artists claim that…

Sepia tones range from pale neutral cream, tan, and amber all the way to deep chocolate brown; some even have dark green undertones. Sepia tones are used primarily by photographers. Photographers opt to print their photos in sepia because of the warmer, almost old-fashioned look it has. Art is considered "anthropomorphic" when an object or an…

A powerful thing happens when one object is placed next to another: A relationship is suggested and a visual dialogue of sorts is created. Sculptors and architects are especially sensitive to the fact that harmonious relationships between elements can sometimes be more interesting than the elements themselves. Two-dimensional visual interaction…

In this article, the author describes how students can create a stunning as well as economical mosaic utilizing fall's brilliantly colored leaves, preserved at their peak in color. Start by choosing a beautiful fall day to take students on a nature walk to collect a variety of leaves in different shapes, sizes, and colors. Focus on collecting a…

In this article, the author describes how his first-grade students made their own compositions based on James Rosenquist's collage series in which long shards of faces were painted over a background that appeared to be abstract. The background was made up of enlarged details of things such as flowers, leaves, fire, and water. The students'…

The history of the photomontage spans artistic movements and political history. In the early twentieth century, Dada artists used the new media of mass-produced photographs to assemble collages that reflected their expression of the absurd. Russian Constructivists utilized their access to photographs and ability to quickly distribute completed…

In this article, the author describes an art project wherein students used simple shapes and photo references to imagine what they might look like when they are one hundred years old. The project challenged the students technically, intellectually, and emotionally. The artwork stimulated their imagination and their imagination informed their…

The process of finding inspiration for a class project is fascinating and intriguing. In this article, the author describes a class project inspired by the gyre, a widespread circulating rotation or vortex of ocean currents, known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This particular gyre is the location of an enormous floating mass of garbage,…

Shepard Fairey's famous poster of Barack Obama with the word "HOPE" surely contributed to Obama's public persona. In this article, the author presents a lesson inspired by the contemporary relevance of the poster. In this lesson, students will learn that photographs can be altered to create a work of art and that art can be used to create a…

Listening to people complain about the hardships of winter and the dreariness of the nearly constant gray sky prompted the author to help her sixth graders recognize and appreciate the beauty that surrounds them for nearly five months of the year in western New York. The author opines that if students could see things more artistically, the winter…

Two classrooms on opposite sides of the world happened to be working on a very similar project at the same time. In both Shanghai, China, and Palm Springs, California, students were learning how to turn their flashlights and other light-emitting objects into paintbrushes. Light painting is a form of long-exposure photography in which the shutter…

Louisville, Kentucky is an eclectic town of architectural styles from Greek revival to Renaissance Revival to Post modernism, not to mention an entire street dedicated to artsy mom and pop stores. Louisville is second only to the New York City Soho district in terms of the number of its cast-iron facades. Many of these building's fronts have…

A variety of subject matter, including foliage, tree roots, branches, and flowering plants, provides opportunities to study spaces and shapes and offers connections to interdisciplinary study and environmental concerns in the artroom. This article presents a lesson that encourages students to investigate their local environment and take photos for…