Blogs

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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Curator's Corner

Summer's Here: Mary Petty

Monday, June 26, 2023 | Karl Cole

It always seems a long time coming—and then it’s over before we know it—but summer is here! Let’s mark the occasion with a truly gifted illustrator of books and magazines, Mary ...

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Curator's Corner

Celebrating Juneteenth: Norman Lewis

Monday, June 19, 2023 | Karl Cole

In celebration of Juneteenth, or Freedom Day, let’s honor Harlem Renaissance (ca. 1920s–1930s) (and beyond) artist Norman Lewis, one of the earliest African American artists to embrace abs ...

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Curator's Corner

Gem for Pride Month 2023: Anne Ryan

Monday, June 12, 2023 | Karl Cole

Our Gem for this Pride Month is Anne Ryan, an artist who was one of the first women who dedicated a large portion of her body of work to collage. She was one of the many gay artists who were active ar ...

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Curator's Corner

Pride Month 2023: Ellsworth Kelly

Monday, June 5, 2023 | Karl Cole

Let’s celebrate the life of one of the pioneers of the Color Field movement in American modernism, Ellsworth Kelly, to mark the beginning of LGBT Pride Month. Kelly was one of the many gay artis ...

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