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.

Video: Off Book - Street Art

Off Book is a web only series from PBS. Each video is under 10 minutes and discusses different aspects of modern art, from online culture to light painting to typography. My favorite so far features the street artist Swoon whose work I really love:

Video: Highpoint Editions - Decade One

The Highpoint Center for Printmaking currently has an exhibit on display at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Here's a sweet little video about Highpoint and the exhibition:

Another blog!

I'm going to do a little self promotion here and toot my own horn. I've tried to keep Art Helpline focused on art (duh) which makes up a pretty big majority of my passions. Mainly what I post here are resources I find that I think would be beneficial for you in teaching your kids about art. When I tag posts as "real life" it's in relation to my doing art or struggling/triumphing/whatever with being a creative, art-making person. However, I do have a life and actually am interested in other subjects as well. So, this week I started a more personal blog over at elisabethpreble.blogspot.com. I won't be trying to teach anybody anything or posting links from around the Internet (if I do, it'll just be stuff that I find interesting), it's just a place for me to share about my life for any interested readers. So, if you want to tune into my stream of consciousness, go ahead and take a look. If you're just here for the art stuff, that's fine too.

Book: Art Attack

Another book has been added to my must-own list: Art Attack: A Brief Cultural History of the Avant-Garde by Marc Aronson. The title sounds way more pretentious and overtly academic than the book actually is.  "Avant-garde" simply means "advance guard;" in relation to the arts it refers to work that's innovative or cutting-edge, that pushes the envelope of what's acceptable. Art Attack gives an overview of the last 200 years or so of art and world history.  I powered through the entire book in one day, I enjoyed it so much. The whole thing comes in at just under 175 pages, yet it's full of great information. What could be an overwhelming and confusing topic, the author makes accessible and interesting. Art Attack is aimed at curious teens, but it's so well written, I could see it being used in a college classroom.

Each chapter begins with suggestions for music to listen to or a movie to watch to give the reader a better feel for the time period discussed. I pulled up Youtube and easily found all the suggested composers' works. Listening to the different music styles really helped each section come alive. Most chapters took me under 10 minutes to read, which fit nicely with the length of the accompanying musical selections.

Art movements aren't discussed as abstract concepts but through stories of individual artists. I really appreciated how the author shows what happens in the arts isn't separate from world events, but affects and is affected by what happens in the wider world. So often art books can present artists as working in a vacuum  when really they are so influenced by and are responding to what's happening in the culture around them.

Art Attack leaves the reader with some great questions to ponder: When what is avant-garde becomes acceptable, where can you go from there? When it's normal for everyone to push the envelope, how do individuals stand out? This book was published in 1998, but the issues it discusses are still relevant today, especially with the continuing growth of the Internet. One quote that really stuck with me: "The avant-garde is, and is meant to be, disturbing. Is that because it forces us to see the shocking world in which we already live?"

Articles: Why I Make

American Craft Magazine has a section on their blog called Why I Make. Each article is written by an artist about what inspires them to create. Some of the reasons are pretty simple (ex: therapeutic release), others go much deeper (ex: creating a lasting legacy). Browsing the articles brings to mind why I make art. If I were to sum it up into a short headline, I think it would be something along the lines of: As an Act of Worship.
Whenever I work on art, I feel like I'm doing what I was created to do. Eric Liddell's quote from the movie Chariot's of Fire really speaks to me: "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure." I've paraphrased that for myself: God made me with a love for art. And I when I create I feel His pleasure.