Blogs

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Nonobjective Sculpture

Monday, January 4, 2021

Students’ creativity is so often stifled by insecurity in their artistic abilities. As with any subject, it’s important to allow our students a means for success. I wanted my students to e ...

Article

Teaching Abstract Composition

Monday, January 4, 2021

Give students a sheet of 12 x 18" (30 x 46 cm) dark charcoal paper and some drawing supplies: vine, charcoal block, a charcoal pencil, and a tortillion—but no erasers. Ask them to draw some ...

Article

Standing with my dry-erase marker in front of fourthgraders, I start drawing that one flower...it has a circle in the center, five petals, a stem, two leaves, some grass, and a sun in the corner. I as ...

Article

Editor's Letter: Realism/Abstraction

Monday, January 4, 2021

Up until last March, I was a docent at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe. Our governor shut the state down quickly because of the coronavirus and, as a result, all of the museums were clos ...

Curator’s Corner

Auspicious Friend for the New Year

Monday, January 4, 2021 | Karl Cole

Pine trees are one of the three “auspicious friends”—plants (along with bamboo and plum blossom) that help welcome the New Year in Japan. Pines are auspicious because they survive an ...

Curator’s Corner

National Pear Month

Monday, December 21, 2020 | Karl Cole

In 2004, the U.S. Department of Agriculture declared December as “National Pear Month.” I did not realize that pears have as much potassium as bananas. And they are certainly interesting a ...

Curator’s Corner

Winter's Almost Here

Monday, December 14, 2020 | Karl Cole

Winter is near. Although I’m often drawn to brilliant color palettes in landscapes, I find this winter example just as enticing to walk into. Remember the common wisdom established by Song ...

SchoolArts Room

High School: Practicing Mindfulness

Tuesday, December 8, 2020 | Megan Bellucci

When choosing art lessons, I aim to create something that will not only be of interest to my students, but also challenge and help them in a setting outside of my art room. I’m incredibly happy ...

SchoolArts Room

Compassion

Tuesday, December 8, 2020 | Nancy Walkup

Has there ever been a time in your memory when compassion and kindness were more needed? What does it mean to have compassion? Compassion is active. To have compassion is to show kindness and empathy ...

Curator’s Corner

National Illinois Day

Monday, December 7, 2020 | Karl Cole

Being an art historian originally from Illinois, you just know that I have to celebrate National Illinois Day with some art. I chose two fascinating artists from Chicago. ...

Article

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

Planting Acorns

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Flint, Michigan, has seen better days. Loss of manufacturing coupled with the Flint water crisis has taken its toll. In 1913, General Motors attempted to build 1,000 houses in one year for the influx ...

Article

Helping Hands

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Who doesn’t need a helping hand at some time in their lives? It could be the support of professionals, family, friends, or an organization. How do we increase awareness of those who are in need ...

Article

Anti-Racist Art Educators

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Facebook has very active art education communities, some with more than 18,000 members. Numerous teachers wanted to use these groups to share and discuss anti-racist art education pedagogy and lessons ...

Article

Editor's Letter: Compassion

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Curator’s Corner

The Month of Frost

Monday, November 30, 2020 | Karl Cole

It’s the last day of November 2020. In Japan, the historical (traditional) calendar was based on the Chinese lunar calendar, which meant that months began three to seven weeks later than the Gre ...

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Nonobjective Sculpture

Teaching Abstract Composition

Revisiting O'Keeffe

Editor's Letter: Realism/Abstraction

Auspicious Friend for the New Year

National Pear Month

Winter's Almost Here

High School: Practicing Mindfulness

Compassion

National Illinois Day

Honoring Kindness

Planting Acorns

Helping Hands

Anti-Racist Art Educators

Editor's Letter: Compassion

The Month of Frost

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