Blogs

Curator's Corner

Art about Working People

Tuesday, September 5, 2023 | Karl Cole

The earliest ideas about a day to honor working Americans came about from labor unions in the 1880s. In fact, the idea of a national holiday is thought to have come from labor union officials in New Y ...

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Curator's Corner

The Week of Weir

Monday, August 28, 2023 | Karl Cole

Since I’m always a sucker for American Impressionism, I’ve chosen one of my favorites for the closing week of August: Julian Alden Weir. His birthday is the 30th of August, so let’s ...

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Curator's Corner

August Gems of the Month: Franz Marc

Monday, August 21, 2023 | Karl Cole

My own painting and way of approaching color is very much influenced by certain German Expressionists. Their unbridled revelry in color always puts a smile on my face, and I’m willing to bet it ...

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Curator's Corner

An August Painting: Mark Tobey

Monday, August 14, 2023 | Karl Cole

I know we’re no longer on the “edge of August,” but this painting’s title gives me an excuse to showcase the work of one of the less-hyped New York School artists. Like many of ...

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Curator's Corner

Keep Summer Going with Color: Theodore Earl Butler

Monday, August 7, 2023 | Karl Cole

Although I guess technically August is the last full month of summer, once August rolls around New Englanders are prone to saying, “well, summer’s over!” The only way an art historia ...

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Article

Editor’s Letter: Groundwork

Thursday, August 3, 2023 | Nancy Walkup

What is the bedrock of your curriculum? Upon what foundations do you build your art program? No doubt these questions are on your mind with the start of a new school year. You may want to start with t ...

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Article

A Proven Winner

Thursday, August 3, 2023 | Linda Schober

My third-graders focus on the concept of organic and geometric shapes and the vocabulary associated with it throughout the year. Using a guessing game approach, we find the shapes in representational ...

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Article

Alter-Ego Books

Thursday, August 3, 2023 | Trish Klenow and Slater Mapp

What if there was a way to connect all of the beginning art exercises like perspective, value scale, and faces into a cohesive story? What if there was choice and depth from day one of your first art ...

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Article

Finding One’s Strengths

Thursday, August 3, 2023 | Heather McCutcheon

The Strengths Assessment helps people become more self-aware, engaged, positive, and goal-focused. Studying my own strengths and having these discussions with students sparked an interest. After I ask ...

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Article

What Is Mindfulness?

Thursday, August 3, 2023 | Jane E. Dalton

Mindfulness is the state of being fully aware, receptive, and focused on the senses within the present moment. It is also a form of meditation that can be practiced anywhere, anytime. Students who int ...

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Curator's Corner

Saying Goodbye to World Watercolor Month 2023

Monday, July 31, 2023 | Karl Cole

Watercolor can be a very unforgiving medium—boy, don’t I know it! I started out studying for an MFA in painting using gouache and watercolor, but my professors suggested that what I was tr ...

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Curator's Corner

Do Not Deface! Historic Sites to Visit Respectfully

Monday, July 24, 2023 | Karl Cole

As an art historian and artist, I am appalled by recent incidents of tourists defacing the Colosseum (72–80 CE) in Rome and Toshodai-ji (founded 759 CE) in Nara, Japan, with their initials. It i ...

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Curator's Corner

The Psychedelic Poster

Monday, July 17, 2023 | Karl Cole

This fabulous poster advertised a rock show at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco that occurred on this date in 1966. The Fillmore was a “temple” to rock music at the time. It is con ...

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Curator's Corner

Gem of the Month: Morgan Russell

Monday, July 10, 2023 | Karl Cole

As I did with Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827) last week, I'm presenting another American original today: Morgan Russell. Russell was one of the first American artists to exhibit nono ...

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Curator's Corner

An American Original: Charles Willson Peale

Monday, July 3, 2023 | Karl Cole

In England’s American colonies, it was natural for colonial artists who were eager for a vital school of painting of their own to look to British art for inspiration. By the time of the American ...

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Curator's Corner

Summer's Here: Mary Petty

Monday, June 26, 2023 | Karl Cole

It always seems a long time coming—and then it’s over before we know it—but summer is here! Let’s mark the occasion with a truly gifted illustrator of books and magazines, Mary ...

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