Blogs

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Honoring Kindness

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted,” is one of my favorite quotes from Aesop. It’s from the fable The Lion and the Mouse, where the spared mouse later frees the ...

Article

One of the most important objectives I have for students when they enter my classroom is to experience art beyond the base level of media manipulation. It is important that students have a fundamental ...

Article

Microscopic Worlds

Monday, October 5, 2020

How can we see relationships in nature and in the subjects we teach every day at school? How can commonalities motivate students and aid in the understanding of both scientific and artistic concepts? ...

Article

Magnetic Personalities

Thursday, September 3, 2020

After reading Pick Your Nose & Make a Face by Anne Maxwell- Weisbrod (A. Weisbrod Designs, 2003), I knew I had the perfect project idea for my students. The book features head, neck, and shoulder ...

Article

The Cracker Box Sketchbook

Friday, July 24, 2020

The quote, “A pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty” is often attributed to Winston Churchill. Whether Churchill said it or not, ...

Davis Desk

Call to Artists—Submit Your Art for an Online Gallery Show

Friday, July 10, 2020 | Barbara Place

In these days of COVID-19, the digital community is becoming an increasingly important part of our lives. We teach online, we learn online, and we visit family members online. We even have doctors&rsq ...

Article

Choice-Based Self-Portraits

Monday, May 4, 2020

I’ve been teaching students how to draw using a grid for years. Before the current digital age, I showed students how to create a grid on a page protector using a permanent marker so that when t ...

Davis Desk

Best Practices for Teaching Art Online

Tuesday, April 14, 2020 | Barbara Place

Teaching online is a challenge that educators across the country are learning to address. To support the unique needs of art educators, Davis has created a handout, “Best Practices for Teaching ...

Article

Set into Motion

Thursday, April 2, 2020

I presented my students with a challenge to create an engaging sculpture that possesses a sense of movement and harmony, using a variety of materials such as metal, recycled plastics, cardboard, beads ...

Article

Issue-Based Stencils

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Building relationships is important to me as an art teacher because of the diverse population of eighth-grade students I teach. Forming these relationships has provided me with an understanding and fi ...

Article

Magnificent Marbling

Friday, February 7, 2020

Wow!” “That’s so cool!” “Can I do another one?” These are some of the comments I frequently hear when paper marbling with my middleschool students. It’s a fun ...

SchoolArts Room

Drawing in the Round

Tuesday, January 14, 2020 | Annemarie Baldauf

Drawing on a cylindrical curved surface such as a paper cup has endless possibilities and creative results. Drawing on a 3D surface has its unique challenges and students learn, improve, and grow from ...

Article

Fabulous Accessories

Monday, January 6, 2020

I always look for strange and unusual art to share with my middle-school students—they love all that is peculiar. For this lesson, I shared designs by Fred Butler, a London-based designer who cr ...

Article

The Power of Vulnerability

Friday, December 6, 2019

Middle school is an uncertain place. Our students are moving through significant physical, emotional, and social changes that leave them trying to figure out who they are and how they want to be. Empa ...

Article

Pyramid Assemblages

Friday, November 8, 2019

Right outside the windows of my artroom is the sculpture Visual Dialogue (1982) by Lynda Rockwood. In Washington State, public art is supported by the state arts commission by a policy to foster cultu ...

Davis Desk

4 Ways to Build Your Own Community

Thursday, October 31, 2019 | Toni Henneman

We all know being an art teacher can be isolating. This makes collaboration even more difficult than it naturally is. ...

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Honoring Kindness

Wearable Works

Microscopic Worlds

Magnetic Personalities

The Cracker Box Sketchbook

Call to Artists—Submit Your Art for an Online Gallery Show

Choice-Based Self-Portraits

Best Practices for Teaching Art Online

Set into Motion

Issue-Based Stencils

Magnificent Marbling

Drawing in the Round

Fabulous Accessories

The Power of Vulnerability

Pyramid Assemblages

4 Ways to Build Your Own Community

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