Blogs

Curator's Corner

Chrysanthemum Day and Festival

Monday, September 9, 2019 | Karl Cole

I’ve shown this print on this blog before, but only in passing with other works concerning vacations. I’ve never gone into depth about a holiday that I think should be adapted around the w ...

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Curator's Corner

Art for a California Vacation: Sam Francis

Wednesday, September 4, 2019 | Karl Cole

I went to California for vacay last week. Combining that sensibility with my addiction to color, I present you with one of my favorite California artists (usually associated with New York School): Sam ...

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Curator's Corner

Gem of the Month: Tokuyama Gyokuran

Monday, August 19, 2019 | Karl Cole

A nice way to spend a summer day: imagining yourself wandering in this landscape by my Gem of the Month, Tokuyama Gyokuran. (As a side note, Chinese scholars considered a painting successful if it inv ...

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Curator's Corner

California Bound: Isamu Noguchi

Monday, August 12, 2019 | Karl Cole

I’m going to California, namely Los Angeles, on vacation to visit dear friends in a couple of weeks. And what artists come to mind when I say “Los Angeles,” you might ask? Well, ...

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Curator's Corner

Simplicity: Sakai Hōitsu

Monday, August 5, 2019 | Karl Cole

The first week of August is called National Simplify Your Life Week. What says “simplicity” more than a series of paintings inspired by the Zen Buddhist philosophy of finding Enlightenment ...

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Article

Don't Judge a Box by Its Cover

Friday, August 2, 2019

For this lesson, students designed the outside of a box to represent how they are perceived by others, and the inside to represent how they know themselves to be. They were encouraged to work symbolic ...

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Article

Reflections on the Future

Friday, August 2, 2019

How do our thoughts about the past or the future shape our present lives? How can our hopes and dreams cause us to reach toward our best selves? These were the questions I asked myself in designing th ...

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Article

Why Art Really Matters to Me

Friday, August 2, 2019

To kick off Youth Art Month last March, NAEA President Kim Definbaugh encouraged members to post photos and stories of Why Art Matters with the tag #VisualArtsEdMatters. I thought about it and realize ...

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Article

Robot Personifications

Friday, August 2, 2019 | SchoolArts magazine

Have you ever wondered if we are learning more from the students we teach than they are learning from us? If we take the time to observe our students, we can see that they are filled with their own id ...

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Article

Editor’s Letter: Testimony

Friday, August 2, 2019 | SchoolArts magazine

When I taught preservice classes at the University of North Texas, I required my students to each write and present a mission statement, a kind of testimony to their philosophy of art and art teaching ...

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Curator's Corner

Gem of the Month: Mughal Architecture

Monday, July 29, 2019 | Karl Cole

Aside from painting, architecture is one of the most stunning legacies of the Mughal Empire that ruled most of India between 1526 and (technically) 1857, when it was dissolved by the British East Indi ...

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Curator's Corner

Cool Off with Cool Colors: Asano Takeji

Monday, July 15, 2019 | Karl Cole

July can be moderately hot in Massachusetts, but I understand some regions of the world are having the hottest July ever recorded (probably due to climate change). So, if it’s hot by you, just s ...

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Curator's Corner

Happy July 2019: Edward Penfield

Monday, July 8, 2019 | Karl Cole

What better way to celebrate a new month than with examples by one of the pioneers of the American Poster Renaissance (my term, covering the period from ca. 1890–1920, others call it the “ ...

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Davis Desk

Pride All Year

Tuesday, June 25, 2019 | Barbara Place

As Pride Month celebrations wind down for the year, we acknowledge the importance of recognizing diversity and inclusion throughout the year. Pride is the celebration and simple joy of being your true ...

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Curator's Corner

Recognizing Pride Month: Glenn Ligon

Monday, June 24, 2019 | Karl Cole

Last week I featured an artist from the 1800s, Mary Ann Willson, for Pride Month 2019. Today I continue my Pride Month posts with a look at contemporary artist Glen Ligon. ...

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Curator's Corner

Recognizing Pride Month: Mary Ann Willson

Monday, June 17, 2019 | Karl Cole

In recognition of Pride Month, I am presenting two gay artists, both of whom you’ve seen before on this blog: Mary Ann Willson and Glenn Ligon. I chose these two artists because their stories ar ...

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