Blogs

Curator's Corner

Women's (Art) History Month: Vera Klement

Monday, March 29, 2021 | Karl Cole

I have always been fascinated by how progressive (i.e., abstract) styles have continually found their footing as a counterpoint to the pervasive tradition of realism in American art since the early 19 ...

Read More
Curator's Corner

Women's (Art) History Month: Erika Blumenfeld

Monday, March 22, 2021 | Karl Cole

Women’s Art History Month continues with a look at an artist who has a totally unique body of work, pursuing with photography what artists have done since its inception in the 1840s: the use of ...

Read More
Curator's Corner

Women's (Art) History Month: Isabel Bishop

Monday, March 15, 2021 | Karl Cole

If anyone documented the human (women’s) condition extensively, it was artist Isabel Bishop. Her sensitive paintings and prints of working women during the Great Depression (1929–1940) and ...

Read More
Curator's Corner

Women's (Art) History Month: Sofonisba Anguissola

Monday, March 8, 2021 | Karl Cole

Although there are records of women artists from antiquity, women artists between the 1400s and 1700s in the West were either considered anomalies or miracles. The advent of artists' guilds during the ...

Read More
Article

Fun and Function

Thursday, March 4, 2021

Having a great idea is one thing, turning it into a successful project is another. This was all uncharted territory, so questions abounded: How do I go about obtaining enough blank, white expandable p ...

Read More
Article

The Comedian

Thursday, March 4, 2021

When I came upon the 2019 artwork called The Comedian by Maurizio Cattelan, I knew I had to share it with my students. Essentially, The Comedian is a banana duct-taped to a gallery wall. On the surfac ...

Read More
Article

Yayoi Kusama & Notan Mashup

Thursday, March 4, 2021

The primary focus of my elementary art curriculum is contemporary art, but I still connect the present with concepts or artists from the past to reinforce how the latter informs the former. One exampl ...

Read More
Article

Editor's Letter: Contemporary Art

Thursday, March 4, 2021

Contemporary art is vibrant, diverse, exciting, and engaging. It can help you introduce more diverse, living, global artists to your students and spark meaningful discussions. However, many art teache ...

Read More
Article

The Mindful Studio: Drawing

Thursday, March 4, 2021

Drawing teaches students to observe their environment and learn to see what is right before them. Students are often fearful of drawing because they have preconceived notions of exceptional realism th ...

Read More
Curator's Corner

A Great Art Teacher: Alice Tavani

Monday, March 1, 2021 | Karl Cole

The annual National Art Education Association (NAEA) convention is later this week—held virtually this year—and it's the start of Women's History Month, so I’m introducing you to a d ...

Read More
Davis Desk

Understanding, Ideas, Information, Personal Learning Networks = Valuable Tools

Wednesday, February 24, 2021 | Laura & Matt Grundler, The Creativity Department

This month we are excited to share a post from our partners The Creativity Department / K12ArtChat. You can also read this post directly from their website by using this link. In addition to the reso ...

Read More
Curator's Corner

Black History Month: Hughie Lee-Smith

Monday, February 15, 2021 | Karl Cole

For my ongoing celebration of African American History month, let’s honor the life and work of Hughie Lee-Smith. He was one of many artists who matured during the Harlem Renaissance (1918– ...

Read More
Article

All in Pieces

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Passing by my art room, students and teachers couldn’t help but peer through the windows or peek inside the door. They were drawn by the sounds of electric jigsaws gnawing through plywood, the b ...

Read More
Article

Charcoal Cardboard Self-Portraits

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

These portraits are scaled so the subject is not a figure in negative space; instead, it’s a person—an in-your-face expression of personality jutting out at us. Students are asked to fill ...

Read More
Article

Supporting Creativity at Home

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

I noticed that many art educators were attempting to develop resources and support for adults at home. The following is a compilation of what I found during my research in terms of help, support, and ...

Read More
Article

Sharing Environmental Stories

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

As an art educator, I wanted my students to explore the negative effects of plastic on our environment. My purpose was to help them understand not only what is happening to our environment, but also w ...

Read More

Always Stay in the Loop

Want to know what’s new from Davis? Subscribe to our mailing list for periodic updates on new products, contests, free stuff, and great content.

Back to top