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All Levels: Supporting Equity

Melissa Purtee reflects on three things we can do to improve our art practice through an equity lens: sharing a range of artists, looking at art with open-ended questions, and allowing personal points of view.

All Levels: Fostering Respect

This art lesson provides a broad look at respect in the classroom. It includes a list of practical tips designed to elevate mutual respect, humility, and humor in the classroom.

All Levels: Scribble It Out

Dr. Lisa Kay provides a therapeutic drawing lesson for students who are experiencing high levels of stress and trauma.

Early Childhood: Sweethearts

Young students collaborate to create encouraging street art messages of love and empowerment.

Early Childhood: Heroic Portraits

An exciting early childhood art lesson celebrating black contemporary artists Mickalene Thomas and Kehinde Wiley.

Elementary: Mindful Moments

This art lesson covers emotional learning and provides a variety of ways for students to practice mindfulness and identify their feelings.

Middle School: The Power of Vulnerability

This art lesson encourages a classroom community where students can grow empathetically and build sincere emotional connections to the feelings of others.

Middle School: Clay Cottages of Hope

This art lesson relates to student community activism. Students create and donate clay cottages to raise money for hurricane relief efforts.

High School: Advocacy to Action

This art lesson incorporates a thoughtful approach to teaching empathy. Students create work that starts with direct experiences, volunteering, and face-to-face interviews.

High School: Concrete Poetry

High School students create visual poems using typography to communicate messages that speak out against discrimination, bullying, and gender bias.

High School: Who Is American Today?

Students use digital storytelling to articulate their personal views on topics such as identity, immigration, racism, and nationalism in America.

NAEA Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion

From NAEA’s website: “Representatives from every NAEA division and our membership at large have collected, curated, and shared strategies, approaches, lessons, units, and tools to support you as we are faced with the challenges of and opportunities for distance learning.” Use the link below to access the equity, diversity, and inclusion resources curated for their tool kit.

Teaching Tolerance

The mission of Teaching Tolerance as stated on their website is “to help teachers and schools educate children and youth to be active participants in a diverse democracy. Teaching Tolerance provides free resources to educators—teachers, administrators, counselors and other practitioners—who work with children from kindergarten through high school. Educators use our materials to supplement the curriculum, to inform their practices, and to create civil and inclusive school communities where children are respected, valued and welcome participants.”

Art21

The mission of Art21 as stated on their website is “to inspire a more creative world through the works and words of contemporary artists.” Click through to their website to search the vast array of resources they’ve created that embrace and promote equity, diversity, and inclusion and support the “contemporary conversations of a multicultural community” we must have.

Middle School: Significant Self-Portraits

Inner-city high school students break stigmas and negative stereotypes and define themselves through their words and meaningful self-portraits.

Looking & Learning with Taylor Bystrom

From the interview:
SA: What can art teachers do to better support their LGBTQ+ students?

TB: Art teachers can help their LGBTQ+ students by providing safe spaces for them to talk about and show their work. The most thoughtful thing one of my professors did for me was give me a platform to tell my story my way. When I am able to show my artwork and talk about my life experiences, there is a feeling of being understood exactly the way I intend to be heard. The teachers who have listened to me and have seen me cry have made the biggest impact on my life. I have had so many teachers rally behind me during struggles when I have needed their mentorship the most.

All Levels: Nick Cave Sounds Off

An interview between SchoolArts author Frank Juarez and Nick Cave prior to his keynote address at the 2018 NAEA National Convention.

From the interview:
FJ: “What message would you like for us to leave with?”

NC: “How do we collectively find ways to look to the arts to talk about compassion, empathy, and togetherness, and recognize that each individual we encounter is different? There is a creative spirit in all of us, and how do we nurture that? If we existed in a world where creativity was at the core of our existence, we could live extraordinary lives.”

Middle School: Senior Portraits

Young students get to know and understand senior citizens and learn about Alzheimer’s Disease.

Meeting Individual Needs: Dog Days

An art teacher brings her dog to class and witnesses amazing transformations in student artwork, behavior, and inclusion from students with autism spectrum disorder.

Meeting Individual Needs: Reaching for the Sun

A unit examining Vincent van Gogh’s struggles with mental health provides opportunities for students to practice exercises in mindfulness and address mental health issues without judgment.