A Cherry Blossom Tree Study: Kinesthetic Learning with Children and Parents
Young students connect their own growth to changes around them, observing cherry blossoms blooming outside the classroom.
27 May 2026
Latest Issues
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Place
The Place Issue, Summer 2026
Art teachers and their students learn from, transform, and reimagine the places and spaces around them. Young students connect personal growth to changes in nature, elementary students create abstract faces inspired by Detroit artist Tyree Guyton, middle school students design fantastical digital gardens featuring insects and flora, and high school students use yarn to illustrate cherished childhood memories.
Collaboration
The Collaboration Issue, May 2026
Art teachers highlight the power of collaboration, from foundational concepts and classroom practice to mural-making and community events. Young learners respond to music with abstract compositions, elementary artists build community through large-scale projects, middle-schoolers develop confidence in a teamwork-driven choice-based studio, and high-school students and staff collaborate in a community steamroller printmaking event.
Interdisciplinary Connections
The Connections Issue, September 2025
While teaching students about new artists, processes, and techniques, art teachers also prioritize building relationships and strong foundations. Young students transform the hallway bulletin board into a giant sheet music mural promoting kindness, elementary students develop fantastical illustrations, middle-school students embrace imperfections while making stained glass jewelry, high-school students work with limited materials to create balanced compositions, and more.
Advocacy
The Advocacy Issue, April 2026
Art teachers advocate for their programs, their students, and themselves. Young students foster positivity and intergenerational connection through mandala displays, elementary students collaborate with a local artist to problem-solve and construct papier-mâché houses, middle-school students create illustrated dictionary pages to share with the community, high-school photography club students use their voices to advocate for a full class, and more.
Contemporary Art
The Contemporary Art Issue, March 2026
Art teachers integrate contemporary artists and themes into their curriculum, fostering collaboration, play, and imagination. Young students create a large-scale painting inspired by Mickalene Thomas, elementary students upcycle materials to build unique mini worlds in glass jars, middle-school students draw from personal experiences to create relief-printed interpretations of monsters, and high-school students transform traditional portraits into deconstructed compositions.
Media Arts
The Media Arts Issue, January/February 2026
Art teachers integrate media arts to amplify student voice and foster connection. Young students build emotional literacy through stop-motion animations, elementary students use Adobe Express to create narrated stories expressing their perspectives on winter, middle-school art and STEM students collaborate on animated public service announcements, high-school Digital Design and Illustration students partner with Fashion Design students to develop custom garments, and more.
Mindfulness
The Mindfulness Issue, December 2025
Art teachers support students in slowing down, enjoying the creative process, and grounding themselves in the present. Young learners apply self- and social-awareness skills as they depict emotions through portraiture, elementary students explore watercolor techniques without the pressure of perfection, middle-school students create mixed-media landscapes that connect art with Indigenous botany, high-school students engage in the meditative practice of knitting, and more.
Transformation
The Transformation Issue, November 2025
Art teachers explore the theme of transformation, guiding students to shift perspectives and reimagine materials as new works of art. Young students collaborate on a school-wide clay mosaic inspired by The Very Hungry Caterpillar, elementary students breathe new life into cardboard with landscape-inspired low-reliefs, middle-schoolers transform recycled materials into wearable art, high-school students turn disassembled machine parts into futuristic inventions, and more.
Choice-Based
The Student Voice and Choice Issue, October 2025
Art teachers foster student voice and choice, guiding them to be thoughtful artists and critical thinkers. Young students engage in a three-part insect-drawing unit that blends science and imagination. Elementary students design 3D miniature studios inspired by artist research. Middle-schoolers use mapping to craft conceptual self-portraits reflecting identity. High-schoolers study Naum Gabo’s Constructivist sculptures, then build original works tied to personal interests.
Classroom Practice
The Innovation Issue, Summer 2025
Art teachers share new and exciting art-making experiences in and outside the art room. Young students collaborate to paint a hanging cardboard butterfly installation, elementary students use everyday objects to create illuminating bookshelf dioramas, middle-school students use 3D-scanning technology to print lifelike portraits, high-school students address contemporary issues while creating in an outdoor classroom, and more.
Classroom Practice
The Process Issue, May 2025
Art teachers use a process-based approach to engage students in art-making. Young students apply color-mixing to create vibrant watercolor paintings, elementary students are introduced to the unique process of paper quilling, middle-school students use critical thinking and ideation skills while drawing meaningful self-portraits, high-school students use fused glass techniques to create functional works of art, and more.
Highlights
Editor's Letter | Place
SchoolArts editor-in-chief Frank Juárez emphasizes that places and spaces provide opportunities for people to connect.
27 May 2026
Advocacy | Artivism: Art and Advocacy
Students upcycle materials into art with a message, inspiring change in their school and local community.
27 May 2026
Point of View | Think Less, Make a Move: Tackling Artist’s Block
Students experiment and learn to take creative risks during a ripped self-portrait photography assignment.
27 May 2026
Yesterdays with Yarn: “Painting” Childhood Memories
High-school students discover the yarn paintings of artist Annie Lucille Greene and choose a positive childhood memory to illustrate with yarn.
27 May 2026
Contemporary Art in Context | Ryan Adams
Painter and muralist Ryan Adams creates large-scale community works using a signature “gem style” to break down words and phrases.
27 May 2026Media Arts
Fantastical Digital Gardens: Integrating Science into Art and Design
Middle-school students use Google Drawings to create unique secret gardens—imagined places filled with insects, flowers, animals, and more.
Media Arts, 27 May 2026
Media Arts Essentials from Davis
The new Media Arts Essentials program bundles Davis’s media arts resources with resources on how to facilitate successful implementation. Get sixteen hours of professional development with a wealth of lessons and support for educators across grades K–12.
Media Arts, 27 May 2026
Focus In | Islands of Brilliance: Unlocking Unlimited Abilities through Creativity
An arts education nonprofit offers technology-driven programs for autistic students, pairing them with industry professionals.
Media Arts, 1 May 2026
Advocacy in Focus: Picturing the Impact on Student Engagement
High-school students in Amanda Tutor’s photography club advocate for a full class, gaining skills and recognition far beyond the classroom.
Media Arts, 1 April 2026
Deconstructed Digital Portraits
High-school students transform traditional portraits into imaginative compositions inspired by surrealism and contemporary art.
Media Arts, 1 March 2026Contemporary Art
Yesterdays with Yarn: “Painting” Childhood Memories
High-school students discover the yarn paintings of artist Annie Lucille Greene and choose a positive childhood memory to illustrate with yarn.
Contemporary Art, 27 May 2026
Focus In: Rochester Art Center
Discover a dynamic space for contemporary art that offers personalized, meaningful experiences for students.
Contemporary Art, 27 May 2026Contemporary Art in Context | Ryan Adams
Painter and muralist Ryan Adams creates large-scale community works using a signature “gem style” to break down words and phrases.
Contemporary Art, 27 May 2026
The Freedom of Collage and Abstraction: Faces Inspired by Tyree Guyton
Elementary students learn how artist Tyree Guyton was influenced by his Detroit neighborhood and create abstract face collages inspired by his work.
Contemporary Art, 27 May 2026
Contemporary Art in Context | Rachel Gloria Adams
Multidisciplinary artist Rachel Gloria Adams shares her uninhibited approach to patterns and dynamic color combinations in paintings, prints, quilts, and more.
Contemporary Art, 2 May 2026
Editor's Letter | Collaboration
SchoolArts editor-in-chief Frank Juárez looks back on his favorite collaborative lessons and shares some of this issue’s offerings.
Contemporary Art, 2 May 2026
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