Curated OER
When Art's a Craft
What would it be like to restore modern works of art? By acting as modern art conservators, learners assess the first-hand difficulties faced in restoration efforts. In addition, they create modern art pieces from random materials. Then,...
Curated OER
20th Century American Art
See the changes, controversy, and innovations that define postwar American art. The onset of the modern art era in American history is well-defined in this slide-show. You'll see how Abstract Expressionism shifted into conceptual, pop,...
Museum of Modern Art
Modern Art and Ideas
The Museum of Modern Art provides this educators' guide to Dada and Surrealism. Featuring the works of such artists as Jean Arp, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, and Meret Oppenheim among others, the guide is ideal for art history and...
Curated OER
Art and Revolution
Explore art and revolution that dawned in the mid 20th century. Constructivism, Bauhaus, and de stijl are all covered in this visually stimulating presentation.
Curated OER
Degenerate Art
A successful unit on art includes the subjects, goals, and messages of the works that are studied.
Curated OER
Humourous Head Planter Spike: Ceramics Lesson
What a great activity. Kids create humorous ceramic character (heads) spikes to enliven a planter. Modern art is full of expressive and exaggerated forms and your class gets to create them out of clay. This would be a lovely activity to...
Art Authority
Art Authority K-12
Image field trips to museums that display over 1000 major works of western art. Imagine no airfare, no long lines, and only one admission fee. Imagine viewing at your convenience, with your own private docent providing information about...
Curated OER
Nouveau Réalisme
Art is a form of expression that can be controversial, obtuse, and completely driven by the political and social times. Explore Nouveau Realism and Pop Art, which exemplify the nature of modern thought and expression. This visually rich...
Curated OER
Landscape Confection: Pre-visit Activity
Upper graders explore the concepts of landscape art, man, nature and their inter-relationship. This is a critical thinking and analysis activity intended to prepare the class for an up coming trip to a local art museum. They analyze,...
TED-Ed
A Brief History of Religion in Art
Did you know that some languages have no word for art? The English language does and the narrator of this short video discusses the aesthetic dimension of religious art as it "visually communicates meaning beyond language."
Curated OER
Pinwheel Modern Art Styles
Students explore artistic design by creating pin wheel models in class. In this modern art lesson, students examine historic art work of Van Gogh, O'Keeffe and Mondrian before emulating their work on construction paper. Students utilize...
Curated OER
Modern Art Lesson Plans
Learners explore the history and examples of Modern Art. In this Modern Art lesson, students read background information about Modern Art and a biography of Andy Warhol. Learners complete a criticism and aesthetics, art creation...
Curated OER
African Masks And Their Impact On Western Art
Explore the influence of African-style masks on Western art. Learners create individual masks using construction paper. They discuss and explore the techniques used to create these types of masks. The resource includes links to...
Curated OER
Lesson: Extra! Extra! Read All About It!
A great idea for a fun homework assignment! The class fully and critically analyzes Daniel Sprick's painting, Your Plans. They then generate questions to ask the artist as they attend a mock press conference. They pretend to ask the...
Thirteen Ed Online
What is Conceptual Art?
Research, art history, and web page creation! Sounds too good to be true. With tons of links and resources, the instructional activity provides you with everything needed to engage the class in an amazing art and research activity. They...
KERA
Matisse and Picasso
Discover Modernism through the eyes of artists. Over the course of six well-thought-out lessons, learners examine works by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse while completing a range of collaborative and hands-on activities. A great resource!
Curated OER
Play a Painting
Students examine music and art together and see the distinctive elements of each form. It can also demonstrate how their characteristics are interrelated. They create musical interpretations of two works of art.
Curated OER
Huichol Yarn Painting
Young artists of many ages apply yarn painting techniques in combining their ideas and their art. After viewing actual examples of yarn paintings created by the Huichol people, learners choose an important scene from their own lives...
Curated OER
Painting Modern Life
Examine three Cubism art pieces by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque with your students. They will research how Cubism was advanced due to Picasso and Braque. and then compare and contrast Cubist works through image based discussion. Your...
Curated OER
Modernism in Poetry, Painting, and Music
Are you teaching Modernism to your class? Connect different areas of artistic expression in the Modernist Era. Learners read T.S. Eliot, view art by Pablo Picasso, and listen to a Modernist musical composition. This final assignment is...
Curated OER
Counting on Art
Explore the life and painting style of African-American artist Horace Pippin by looking carefully at its parts, then create a "secret number" painting for a classroom counting book.
Art Institute of Chicago
Lesson Plan: A Writer’s Odyssey
Looking for a fresh approach to an end-of-unit project for The Odyssey? Check out a resource that has class members write their own hero's journey short story and then craft an illustration that depicts their tale. Apollonio di...
Curated OER
Lesson: Mary Heilmann: To Be Someone
Kids consider the pure abstraction and minimalism found in Mary Heilmann's work. They analyze several of her pieces through critical discussion and then think about her use of a song title as the title of her exhibit. Learners then use a...
The New York Times
Perspective and Leonardo’s “Perspectograph”
Filippo Brunelleschi's invention of linear perspective during the Renaissance was further developed by his apprentice, a young artist named Leonardo da Vinci. Now modern artists can give da Vinci's famous perspectograph a try with a...