Blogs

Curator's Corner

Gem of the Month: Robert Hudson

Monday, September 11, 2023 | Karl Cole

Robert Hudson’s birthday was on the 8th of September, and seeing this piece again made me elect him to my vaunted Gem of the Month club. His art is part of the West Coast assemblage phenomenon t ...

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Curator's Corner

Art about Working People

Tuesday, September 5, 2023 | Karl Cole

The earliest ideas about a day to honor working Americans came about from labor unions in the 1880s. In fact, the idea of a national holiday is thought to have come from labor union officials in New Y ...

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Curator's Corner

The Week of Weir

Monday, August 28, 2023 | Karl Cole

Since I’m always a sucker for American Impressionism, I’ve chosen one of my favorites for the closing week of August: Julian Alden Weir. His birthday is the 30th of August, so let’s ...

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Curator's Corner

August Gems of the Month: Franz Marc

Monday, August 21, 2023 | Karl Cole

My own painting and way of approaching color is very much influenced by certain German Expressionists. Their unbridled revelry in color always puts a smile on my face, and I’m willing to bet it ...

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Curator's Corner

An August Painting: Mark Tobey

Monday, August 14, 2023 | Karl Cole

I know we’re no longer on the “edge of August,” but this painting’s title gives me an excuse to showcase the work of one of the less-hyped New York School artists. Like many of ...

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Curator's Corner

Keep Summer Going with Color: Theodore Earl Butler

Monday, August 7, 2023 | Karl Cole

Although I guess technically August is the last full month of summer, once August rolls around New Englanders are prone to saying, “well, summer’s over!” The only way an art historia ...

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Article

Editor’s Letter: Groundwork

Thursday, August 3, 2023 | Nancy Walkup

What is the bedrock of your curriculum? Upon what foundations do you build your art program? No doubt these questions are on your mind with the start of a new school year. You may want to start with t ...

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Article

A Proven Winner

Thursday, August 3, 2023 | Linda Schober

My third-graders focus on the concept of organic and geometric shapes and the vocabulary associated with it throughout the year. Using a guessing game approach, we find the shapes in representational ...

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Article

Alter-Ego Books

Thursday, August 3, 2023 | Trish Klenow and Slater Mapp

What if there was a way to connect all of the beginning art exercises like perspective, value scale, and faces into a cohesive story? What if there was choice and depth from day one of your first art ...

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Article

Finding One’s Strengths

Thursday, August 3, 2023 | Heather McCutcheon

The Strengths Assessment helps people become more self-aware, engaged, positive, and goal-focused. Studying my own strengths and having these discussions with students sparked an interest. After I ask ...

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Article

What Is Mindfulness?

Thursday, August 3, 2023 | Jane E. Dalton

Mindfulness is the state of being fully aware, receptive, and focused on the senses within the present moment. It is also a form of meditation that can be practiced anywhere, anytime. Students who int ...

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Curator's Corner

Saying Goodbye to World Watercolor Month 2023

Monday, July 31, 2023 | Karl Cole

Watercolor can be a very unforgiving medium—boy, don’t I know it! I started out studying for an MFA in painting using gouache and watercolor, but my professors suggested that what I was tr ...

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Curator's Corner

Do Not Deface! Historic Sites to Visit Respectfully

Monday, July 24, 2023 | Karl Cole

As an art historian and artist, I am appalled by recent incidents of tourists defacing the Colosseum (72–80 CE) in Rome and Toshodai-ji (founded 759 CE) in Nara, Japan, with their initials. It i ...

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Curator's Corner

The Psychedelic Poster

Monday, July 17, 2023 | Karl Cole

This fabulous poster advertised a rock show at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco that occurred on this date in 1966. The Fillmore was a “temple” to rock music at the time. It is con ...

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Curator's Corner

Gem of the Month: Morgan Russell

Monday, July 10, 2023 | Karl Cole

As I did with Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827) last week, I'm presenting another American original today: Morgan Russell. Russell was one of the first American artists to exhibit nono ...

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Curator's Corner

An American Original: Charles Willson Peale

Monday, July 3, 2023 | Karl Cole

In England’s American colonies, it was natural for colonial artists who were eager for a vital school of painting of their own to look to British art for inspiration. By the time of the American ...

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