Video: Daniel Eatock's Felt-tip Prints

This installation is currently on view at the Walker Art Center through January 22, 2012. I thought it was such an interesting way to make a "drawing." Your kids might like to try to recreate it on a smaller scale.

Author: Mary Ann Kohl

MaryAnn F. Kohl has written some of my favorite art activity books. She has published over 20 titles, from books focusing on American artists to a more global perspective. Unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to read all of her works, but the few that I have are wonderful. Each project is explained well with a short lesson about an artist or art history to go along with it. MaryAnn is a former school teacher with years of experience. She and I have the same view about teaching kids art: "Art is a process, not a product."  I highly recommend her books if you're looking for some inspiration in your art lessons.

I love this book. So inspiring!

And not only does MaryAnn write books, she also founded her own publishing company, Bright Ring. There are free online resources on Bright Ring's site: excerpts from some of the books, a list of project ideas, links to other websites and blogs, and supplements to Discovering Great Artists. They have a Facebook page as well with links to crafts and funny status updates, for those of you who are in to social media. And MaryAnn also has her own blog. There are a ton of projects posted on there with lots of pictures. She also links to other art blogs for more creative idea resources. This woman has a pretty prodigious output, I must say.

Resources: National Gallery of Art

I'm learning that major art museums usually have awesome websites with tons of free resources. The National Gallery of Art (NGA) is no exception. I don't even know where to start, because there is just so much awesome to write about. They have an excellent site that is very easy to use (would I really recommend anything else?). There's no superfluous icons or visual clutter, it's just simple and to the point. Everything is easily accessible from the front page, you don't have to click through multiple links to get to the good stuff. And the site is definitely full of good stuff.

I'll begin with what first led me to the site: the Children's Video Tour. This page contains 50 short videos about various paintings in NGA's collection. Unfortunately you can't link to any of them specifically or re-post the videos on another site, but I can understand them not wanting to strain their bandwidth that way. I've watched a handful of them and found each one to be engaging, piquing my interest in the painting discussed.

There's more to watch on the Videos and Podcasts page. The videos here are more documentary-like, longer in length, focusing on individual artists, exhibitions, and other areas. You can also listen to various podcasts as well, which include lectures on a wide range of topics, conversations about particular artists, art movements or works in the collection, and insight into the inner workings of the museum.

You can choose from a plethora of online tours, arranged according to artist, art works, and themes. These would be a helpful addition to your curriculum, giving a fuller understanding of art history. The tours are educational and informative without going over your head.

Speaking of educational, the Education page is probably what will pique your interest the most. The Children's Video Tour, NGA Kids, Learning Resources and Classroom links are handily grouped together under the Resources heading. NGA Classroom has online lesson plans and curriculum guides, ranging from art fundamentals to more specific subjects. The Learning Resources page is "a place to borrow, browse, and download more than 300 resources." What's really nifty is they have a free loan program for teachers and homeschoolers! You can request a catalogue to find out all the materials available to for borrowing. If you don't like teaching art or don't think you can do a good job of it, this is for you. Seriously, it's free and from one of the best museums in the country, how awesome is that?!

And NGA doesn't neglect homeschoolers, they have a page specifically for you! There's a little bit of redundancy here, as all the sections I've reviewed are listed on the Homeschool page as well. But I thought it was worth mentioning, because you can bookmark that one page instead of half a dozen.

Your kids might like this last section, since it's aimed specifically at them: NGA Kids. This page is really interesting in that you can make "interactive art online." I found it to be a bit of a visual overload, not as easy to find links as the rest of NGA's website. However, there are a lot of fun activities to be found here, and your kids might like playing around with all the different games.

Another good website to bookmark for further browsing.

Fun: Draw a Stickman

This is perfect for all of those who have told me they can only draw a stickman when it comes to art. Draw A Stickman is a cute website with a simple premise: draw a stick person and something will happen. I don't want to give it away, suffice to say it made me smile.

Project: Deconstructed Square

I saw this project in the October 2011 issue of Arts and Activities Magazine, and tweaked it somewhat. After making it myself, I have some suggestions to make it work better for you.

Materials:

-Cutting mat

-Glue stick (though I think spray adhesive would be much easier to use)

-Exacto knife (I ended up using a pen knife because its shorter blade makes it easier to use and less likely to cut too far)

-Ruler

-Sheet of colored construction paper

-Black construction paper cut into a square (use cardstock instead, it rips less and is easier to cut)

I would suggest this project for kids who have experience with cutting fine details. It was fairly easy for me, but I use an exacto knife frequently for my art making. You could use scissors instead for a simpler design. The point of this craft is to deconstruct the black square as much as possible without taking any paper away. I started cutting without any sort of plan, it would have made more sense to sketch patterns in pencil or chalk first.

It's better to not cut the pieces completely out, but leave them connected just a little bit so you can fold them over as you work. I prefer squiggly shapes, but geometric patterns would make for easier cutting.
When the square is as deconstructed as you like, glue the black cutout to the construction paper in the color of your choice (I chose red for dramatic effect). I used a glue stick, and it was hard to get all the little edges coated. Spray adhesive would be much easier--you can spray the black paper and just set the colored sheet on top of it.

Ta-da!

My picture looks like some sort of creature. I like how it turned out. I think I'll make one more:

Used scissors and spray adhesive--much easier!

Magazine: Arts and Activities

Ask your library to carry it!

I was hanging out at the American Craft Council Library (yet again) the other day and discovered "the nation's leading art education magazine," Arts & Activities. I'd never heard of it before, but after reading this month's issue, I think it's a great publication. They have projects with step-by-step instructions, the grade-level that it's aimed at, skills and knowledge students will gain, lesson plans to go along with it, and follow up ideas to try. It spans pre-K through high school, so I'm sure you could find at least one project to try.

I was impressed by Arts & Activities for several reasons: 1) The projects aren't dumbed down or overly simplified, yet they're explained well and help convey ideas and information about art history--it's not just random "craft time" but has a purpose. 2) I usually am annoyed by ads in magazines, but the ones in Arts & Activities actually caught my attention. The advertisements were for materials that I would use or products that I could see being beneficial in teaching art. 3) The articles are written by teachers for teachers, so the information is coming from real world classroom experience, not just a lesson outline that may or may not pique students' interest.

Their website has a lot of free resources as well: curriculum guides, videos, and online extras that build upon articles from the monthly magazine. You can get the magazine in print or digital form.

Art Tip #8: Use the library

The library is awesome--it's a wonderful resource.

One reason I'm so well-read (besides currently working at Half Price Books) is that I've grown up at the library. Seriously, when I was younger, the librarians knew me and my siblings by name. We'd bike over there in nice weather and hang out for a few hours, use the internet and max out our library cards. (which by the way, if you didn't know, you can only have 100 books checked out at one time...and we had 3 cards maxed out once.) Beyond the obvious resource of books and magazines, libraries also have CDs, DVDs, local publications (like Vita.mn, which I love), notifications of community happenings, and free events. I don't know how many magic and puppet shows, storytimes, and musical groups I got to experience as a kid, but it was a lot. It was free entertainment, I had fun and I usually learned something too.

During college, I could always find resources for my research papers quite easily at the library. Sometimes I didn't even have to buy certain books for class, because my college library kept them on file! I could just check the book out for reading assignments and save a ton of money in the process.

Today, I rarely get to the library, but my Mom and siblings bring home wonderful things for me all the time. I've watched documentaries about the origin of coffee and being a Marine, stayed up to date on what's happening in the arts without paying the pricey magazine subscriptions, discovered great art books (like Art Attack) and new music...all for free.

I also make regular use of the American Craft Council Library to further my artistic knowledge and find inspiration for my art making. They have tons of magazines and hard-to-find books along with a helpful librarian eager to grow your art know-how.

Sadly, most people only view their library as a source of free internet these days and books are getting pushed aside to make room for more and more computers. That is a great service that they offer, but it's hardly the only reason you should step foot in there. You might as well go to a coffee shop if that's all you want. There are so many free resources and services the library provides that people don't even use!

So, make the library your friend. And like any good friendship, you have to see each other often.