Art teachers develop lessons inspired by contemporary artists and artworks. High-school students interpret contemporary issues through symbolic game cards, middle-school students research common themes found in contemporary art and create personalized landscapes, elementary students illustrate digital compositions inspired by the optical works of Jen Stark, young students use ceramic bowls as a canvas for experimenting with colorful inks, and more.
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Contemporary art is around us more than we may think. It exists in our communities, on social media, in the news, in magazines, and even on billboards. It serves multiple purposes driven by the artist’s intent, which can become interpretive or a point to take action. Regardless, it’s a vehicle for creativity, authenticity, truth, awareness, and advocacy.
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I was pleased to take students to see Sol LeWitt’s 2003 sculpture Splotch. Students examined the colorful towers from all sides and sketched it. I asked them for words to describe the work. “Maze,” “colorful,” and “dripping” came up, but they landed on versions of “random” many times. There’s something special about a work of art that truly gives the feeling of being both intentional and disorderly. This work has been described as “organized chaos,” and students were quick to pick up on the oxymoronic feeling in this piece.
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I have known about Jen Stark’s colorful paintings and sculptures for many years, but it wasn’t until last spring that I finally settled on a Stark-inspired digital drawing project for my fifth-graders. This project was originally taught virtually, but with my fully masked students back in the art room, it became an in-class assignment. Each student’s work is unique with a nod to Stark’s amazing techniques, even though the work produced by my students is completely digital.
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In 2016, I attended a drawing workshop led by artist and illustrator Calef Brown. The event was part of the Sheboygan Children’s Book Festival, and I stumbled upon it by accident, not knowing anything about Brown or his work. During that hour, Brown demonstrated his drawing process via projector while participants were encouraged to doodle along. I found his simple and humorous approach to drawing so fun and accessible that I knew I had to bring it back to my elementary art room.
Contemporary art is an essential part of my Expressive Scene Project. I’ve used this project as a jumping-off point for students to further develop skills in creating the element of space on a two-dimensional surface while using color, marks, and subject matter choices to express their intentions as artists. When I first formulated this project, I used Edward Hopper to inspire research, but I’ve continued to add contemporary artists to this initial discussion over the years, including Lois Dodd and Richard Mayhew.
By pairing contemporary local artwork with ancient artifacts, students see themes emerge in how art is part of everyday life in any era. The concept of rules in society is especially rich for young adolescents to consider critically as they enter a stage in human development known for challenging rules. Students appreciated the opportunity to discuss their opinions about rules in school, at home, and in public, and to share what rules are most important to them in a creative way.
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In visual arts classes, students in grades nine through twelve investigated how games represent the values of a culture or time. Students reinvented a card to be relevant to 2021 or created an entirely new card that addresses a contemporary issue. The artistic process for all students was to research the symbolism of the cards in the deck and interpret those symbols through the contemporary lenses of the artists who inspired the project.
Showing students that art can be drawn on nontraditional substrate materials was a great introduction before allowing them to draw or paint on their own flying discs. For inspiration, we explored a variety of contemporary artists such as Malaysian-born Cheeming Boey, known for his permanent marker drawings on polystyrene cups and paper coffee cups. Other influences included Roy Lichtenstein, an Etsy shop called FlyDiscs, and references to African Zulu telephone wire designs.
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As an educator who loves all things history, I try to give my K-3 students a solid knowledge of art history by exposing them to as much of it as I can. As is likely the case with your students, the first question mine always ask is how and when the artist died. Seven years ago, I decided to break this cycle by diving into all things contemporary.
Victoria Lomasko documents everyday life in Russia through graphic illustrations, murals, and drawings. Her work draws on Russian traditions of Social Realism and documentary drawings executed during World War II (1939–1945) by people in detention camps and within the military. She often sheds light on aspects of Russian life that authorities would probably prefer no one sees—stories of political protests, exploited immigrants, and the poor.
