Learn about visual and performing artists. They often use their creativity to raise their voices and share lessons, stories, and important ideas with the world. In this episode of The Creative Corner, two artists from Richmond, Virginia help us explore how art sparks crucial conversations. Public artist Hamilton Glass shares how (and why) he gathered a group of artists to paint murals with a message all across the city after some challenging current events, and musician Victor Haskins talks about storytelling as human nature — and why sound and performance tell stories so well. Then you’re invited to share your own voice through a poster project!

Join Lauren Paullin as she conducts a scavenger hunt around her house to find all kinds of things that can be used to make pictures, prints, paints, and even musical instruments! Learn how to make a mixed media collage and print it with fruits and vegetables. Learn from New Orleans-based musician, artist, and cultural diplomat Charles Burchell how to turn ordinary objects like glasses, wood, plastic, and even paper into musical instruments. Developed for grades 4 through adults. 

This lesson plan is for middle school art, teaching how computer graphics work are designed with pixels and aliasing. It reinforces how a computer shows a picture while refining art skills.

Video Artist Statement. With support from a teacher, young artists can share information about their art making process and product on video.

This resource presents a variety of digital resources hosted by Virginia Museum of Fine Arts that students can use to explore the life and work of renowned African-American photographer Louis Draper.  

Students' eyes are opened to the value of creative, expressive and succinct visual presentation of data, findings and concepts. Student pairs design, redesign and perform simple experiments to test the differences in thermal conductivity (heat flow) through different media (foil and thin steel). Then students create visual diagrams of their findings that can be understood by anyone with little background on the subject, applying their newly learned art vocabulary and concepts to clearly communicate their results. The principles of visual design include contrast, alignment, repetition and proximity; the elements of visual design include an awareness of the use of lines, color, texture, shape, size, value and space. If students already have data available from other experiments, have them jump right into the diagram creation and critique portions of the activity.

Art is often about making ideas and beliefs visible. For centuries, religions across the globe have used images to represent complex and abstract ideas about humankind's place in the cosmos. Students can use this interactive exercise to spend thoughtful time with a religious work of art and become curious about the way art can help communicate sacred and profound ideas.

Use this resource set to guide young learners as they explore and interpret a diverse group of six artworks from the Virginia Museum of Arts collection.

Under the "suggested activities" menu next to each artwork, you will find link to an educator-led "Little Eyes Look" video. Using an inquiry-based approach that fosters curiosity and creative thinking, educators introduce viewers to vocabulary related to both art-making and the subjects depicted in the artworks. Students consider artistic intention and decision-making and are supported by factual content about artists's lives and art-making practices. 

Three open-ended engagement activities are also suggested with each work. These simple exercises can be used to foster extended thinking about each piece.

This webinar and presentation is a previously recorded session, Digital Learning with eMediaVA presented by Lindsey Horner.Webinar Description: This webinar presents information about media and educational resources from WHRO Public Media for fine arts educators. Lyndsay Horner, Manager of eMediaVA will led the one-hour session in July 2020. The session includes how to access eMediaVA and how to find resources to support student learning in fine arts areas of dance, music, theatre, and visual arts.

Games impact high-level thinking in children by aiding the development of problem-solving, analysis, perseverance, and literacy. This session will present teaching strategies and resources for art educators interested in teaching game design, encouraging the development of both traditional and digital art-making skills. Practical suggestions include curricular examples, logistical considerations, and guidance for classroom implementation for multiple age levels.

This webinar and presentation is a previously recorded session, Resources from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.Webinar Description: Join VMFA educators to learn about the new opportunities, resources, and supportive measures developed by Museum staff members in response to the challenges faced by teachers, students, and parents for the 2020-2021 school year. Learn about the major exhibition Treasures of Ancient Egypt: Sunken Cities, and find out about fall opportunities for online Professional Development, distance and digital learning options, remote access to VMFA’s encyclopedic collection, and more.

Use artworks as a laboratory for communication skills across the curriculum! This activity fosters meta-cognition by challenging students to gather and communicate crucial information. It also encourages close observation, problem-solving, synthesizing, critical thinking, and collaboration.

This collection uses primary sources to explore social realism in American art. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

Students learn the value of writing and art in science and engineering. They acquire vocabulary that is appropriate for explaining visual art and learn about visual design principles (contrast, alignment, repetition and proximity) and elements (lines, color, texture, shape, size, value and space) that are helpful when making visual aids. A PowerPoint(TM) presentation heightens students' awareness of the connection between art and engineering in order to improve the presentation of results, findings, concepts, information and prototype designs. Students also learn about the science and engineering research funding process that relies on effective proposal presentations, as well as some thermal conductivity / heat flow basics including the real-world example of a heat sink which prepares them for the associated activity in which they focus on creating diagrams to communicate their own collected experimental data.