Arts & Activities articles from January 2005

Arts & Activities archives from January 2005

Editor's note.(Editorial)
January 1, 2005... Come along as we take flight with fantastic classroom-tested ways to excite students about art history and appreciation. There are different ideas to achieve this goal, and we have assembled lesson plans from around the country that have been...

Encyclopedia of Mosaic.
January 1, 2005... * ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MOSAIC (2004, $27.50) by Elaine M. Goodwin. Trafalgar Square Publishing, P.O. Box 257, North Pomfret. VT 05053. This is a useful reference book for secondary-school students engaged in working on mosaic forms. Its author...

Artists of the 20th Century: Wassily Kandinsky.
January 1, 2005... Artists of the 20th Century: WASSILY KANDINSKY. DVD/50 min./ $19.95. Level: High School and Above. Kultur International Films Ltd., Inc., 195 Highway 36, West Long Branch, NJ 07764, www.kultur.com. This Russian artist's paintings heralded...

Frontier Visionary: George Catlin and the Plains Indians.
January 1, 2005... FRONTIER VISIONARY: George Catlin and the Plains Indians. Video/27 min./$24.95. Level. Middle School and Above. Crystal Productions, P.O. Box 2159, Glenview IL 60025, www.crystalproductions.com. This video tells the story of George Catlin's...

Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ancient Rome.
January 1, 2005... ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ANCIENT ROME (2004, $19.95) by Mike Corbishley. Getty Publications, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 500, Los Angeles, CA 90049. This is a reference book designed for students ages 9 and older. Its more than 200...

The Abuse of Beauty: Aesthetics and the Concept of Art.(Book Review)
January 1, 2005... THE ABUSE OF BEAUTY: Aesthetics and the Concept of Art (2003; $19.95), by Arthur C. Danto. Open Court Publishing Co., a division of Carus Publishing Co., 315 Fifth St., P.O. Box 300, Peru, IL 61354. To put it mildly, there are many...

Peter Pugger Mfg.(shop talk)
January 1, 2005... PETER PUGGER MFG. has recently made an improvement in their vacuum deairing Pugger-Mixers. Not only do three of their five models mix, recycle scrap, vacuum de-air and pug, now they also feature variable speed output. The operator has total...

Liquitex.(shop talk)
January 1, 2005... LIQUITEX is celebrating its 50th Anniversary. Five decades ago, there was no such thing as water-based acrylic colors, no such thing as acrylic gesso, gel medium or texture gels. None of a 100 other products that painters have Collie to take...

National Art Education Association.(shop talk)
January 1, 2005... The NATIONAL ART EDUCATION ASSOCIATION has released an updated volume of their book Elementary Art Programs: A Guide For Administrators. The books addresses fundamental issues central to the administration of elementary art education in...

Zen Brushwork: Focusing the Mind with Calligraphy and Painting.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2005... ZEN BRUSHWORK: Focusing the Mind with Calligraphy and Painting (2004; $28), by Tanchu Terayama. Kodansha America, Inc., 575 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10022. Calligraphy ("sho") is an art inextricably linked to writing. Zen calligraphy...

Augustus Saint-Gaudens: American sculptor of the Gilded Age.(Learning from Exhibitions)(Cover Story)
January 1, 2005... Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907) is generally regarded as the foremost American sculptor of the 19th century. Many of his works are landmarks in cities like New York or Boston, his works can be found in the most major museums and, while many...

Hot tools.(shop talk)
January 1, 2005... HOT TOOLS introduces a new photo tacking iron. The Hot Tools Hot Tacking Tool is a pencil-thin tacking iron that features a Teflon[R]-coated spatula tip for dry mounting photographs and artwork or spot tacking and positioning before placing...

Staedtler.(shop talk)
January 1, 2005... The Mars[R] Plastic Erasers from STAEDTLER are latex-free--and always have been. First is the Mars Plastic (pictured below), a high-quality soft white vinyl eraser for removing graphite marks from paper, vellum and drafting film. Individually...

Generational teaching: turning art students into lifelong learners.
January 1, 2005... Did you ever notice the same parents always attend art events? Those same parents also visit during open house. Conversely, other parents never participate in the arts and may even demonstrate art phobia! Perhaps these parents, former...

Kudos to Kandinsky.
January 1, 2005... LEARNING OBJECTIVES Students will... * learn that a variety of organizational principles can be used to create a successful expressionist work of art. * learn that inspiration for their own work can come from many places one of...

Pinned to Surrealism.
January 1, 2005... LEARNING OBJECTIVES Students will... * learn about Surrealism and many Surrealist artists. * review perspective concepts. * review color theory and color mixing. * employ the characteristics of Surrealism in their work....

"Fans" of art history.
January 1, 2005... MATERIALS * Small examples of masterpiece paintings *Blank white fans (these can be purchased from art supply catalogs or you could make your own) * Acrylic paints (small containers or poured out on a plate) * Mixing surface...

Glass mosaics.
January 1, 2005... MATERIALS * Colored glass * Wooden boards * Sand paper * White gesso and paintbrushes * Glass cullers, hammers and newspapers * Slides or reproductions of mosaic works * Markers, paper or felt * Spackle or...

Triplets, trios & triumvirates.
January 1, 2005... "I started blowing glass and discovered that I liked tall and thin forms, and my pieces have gradually gotten that way. When I make drawings, that's the way they come out: tall and thin. It can take me several years before I am able to make...

Clip & save art notes.(self-portraits)
January 1, 2005... ABOUT THIS SELF-PORTRAIT This painting is humorous because it tells a mixed story about what Norman Rockwell saw and the difference in what he actually painted. First of all, the scene shows the artist seen from behind himself sitting in...

Classroom use of the art print: Norman Rockwell (American; 1894-1978). Triple Self-Portrait, 1960. Oil on canvas. 45" x 35".(self-portraits)
January 1, 2005... THINGS TO LEARN * Norman Rockwell is usually described as an illustrator, whereas most artists who paint pictures are called painters. There is little or no difference between a painter and an illustrator except for the kinds of subjects...

Exchanging ideas with artists on the internet.(Forum: thoughts to share)
January 1, 2005... A couple of years ago, in early September, I began a search via the World Wide Web. I was looking for an internationally known artist whose work I would present to my students in order to broaden their understanding of cultures and traditions....

Masai magic.
January 1, 2005... Constantly on the lookout for ideas and strategies to integrate multicultural art projects with my elementary art curriculum, I was fortunate when one of my friends who had visited East Africa brought back for me beautiful artifacts, cords,...

Talking sticks.
January 1, 2005... The third-grade students at our school study the culture of various indigenous peoples. I therefore wanted to developed an art project that would incorporate some of what they were learning. So I started to research what we could do. I...

Pictographic pouches.
January 1, 2005... In my search for a project that would fulfill a request to coordinate a kindergarten art project with a unit on American Indians, I came across a book on American Indian arts and crafts that had beautiful photographs of beaded leather pouches,...

Young artist.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Art is a big part of my life. I have been interested in it since I was in preschool. My grandma would sit by me and draw simple things when I was young. Since then I have practiced a lot. I always looked forward to certain days of the week...

2005 buyer's guide.(Directory)
January 1, 2005... ARTS & ACTIVITIES' comprehensive directory of sources of art and craft supplies and equipment, schools, publications and services... a ready reference for teachers, administrators and purchasing agents. (* = EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES) Telephone and...