Published on 1 March 2024
Description:
Art teachers emphasize process-based, expressive arts experiences to help students develop mindfulness and present-moment awareness. Young students create observational paintings of peace while immersing themselves in nature; elementary students participate in a series of multisensory mark-making activities; middle-school students collaborate on a mural inspired by interconnectedness; high-school students express gratitude through printmaking; and more.
Categories:
Early ChildhoodElementaryMiddle SchoolHigh SchoolK-12Classroom PracticeContemporary ArtManaging The Art RoomMedia ArtsSocial Emotional LearningTherapeutic PracticesCollaborationCommunicationCommunityEmotionsIdentityMessagesMindfulnessNatureObservationCollageDrawingFiber ArtGraphic DesignInstallationMixed-MediaMuralsPaintingPhotographyPrintmakingColored PencilsInk MarkersPaintPaperTextilesCardboardMedia Arts44 articles from this collection:
The Mindfulness Issue, March 2024
The Mindful Studio from Davis
Throughout The Mindful Studio, you will discover centering practices to begin creative endeavors, mindfulness-based visual arts lessons with reflection questions, and lesson extensions to explore mindfulness in a variety of art modalities. Visit DavisArt.com/MindfulStudio to learn more!
L&L Kilns
School-Master Kiln. The Only Kiln Designed Just for K-12 Schools. HotKilns.com
SKUTT
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Editor's Letter: Mindfulness
Editor-in-Chief, Nancy Walkup, discusses mindfulness in the art classroom.
Bailey
Bailey Ceramic Supplies & Pottery Equipment.
Table of Contents
The Mindfulness Issue, March 2024
Professional Development from Davis
Davis provides learning that is relevant to contemporary approaches and issues. Presented on-demand, virtually, or in-person by master teachers who are experts in the most current classroom pedagogy and the practical, discipline-specific, targeted application of research-backed content. Learn from educators who are recognized leaders with a plethora of applicable classroom successes.
Co-Editors' Letter
Whether you come to practice mindfulness out of sheer necessity or conscious decision, the outcome of this type of creative and contemplative practice is the same. Jane discovered mindfulness as a natural connection to her own art-making. She learned that engaging in slow, repetitive movement and suspending judgment while creating streams of consciousness improved her overall well-being and creative output.
ClipCard: Color Monsters
Students will use primary and secondary colored markers and air-dry modeling clay to demonstrate emotions in art.
ClipCard: Expressive Doodles
Students will explore doodling and the process of mark-making to create symbols and imagery.
ClipCard: String Art
Students will engage in mindfulness to create a work of nonobjective art based on the breath using acrylic paint and string.
ClipCard: Personal Mandala
Students will create a radially symmetrical design using watercolor paint with a style and color that reflects themselves.
A Personal Journey
The significance of mindfulness in the classroom becomes all the more apparent when we consider that art, in and of itself, is a form of mindfulness when approached with intention.
Mindfulness Meditation: 5-4-3-2-1
How do you create focus when students are distracted or anxious? A plethora of studies have revealed the benefits of a mindfulness practice as an effective tool for enhancing emotional and physical well-being. Mindfulness is the practice of purposefully focusing attention on the present moment and accepting it without judgment.
Modes of Mindful Art-Making
The act of making art is a great way to introduce students to mindfulness, and many art teachers are already doing this in their classrooms, even if they don’t realize it. I categorize mindful art-making as either repetitive work or sensory work. Both reinforce the brain-body connection that is mindfulness.
Royal & Langnickel
Royal Brush is proud to offer quality brushes, art materials, free lesson plans, professional development opportunities and more!
Erasure Poetry: A Mindful Practice for Educators
Erasure poetry is just one of hundreds of creative writing formats. With this approach, educators can create introspective practices that reflect on their own words and the thoughts of those who have inspired them.
Mayco
Mayco Colors is one of the world’s leading producers of quality ceramics products. Founded in 1954, our company has been serving artists of all levels and backgrounds ever since.
The SchoolArts Collection books
In each of the SchoolArts Collection titles, SchoolArts editor Nancy Walkup and the editorial team from Davis Publications compile articles written by experienced art educators sharing their expertise. Each title, focused on a specific topic, is designed to help educators understand and implement lessons about that topic in their own classrooms.
The Mindful Art of Keeping Others in Mind
I wanted to come up with a way to contextualize mindful strategies so students could practice self-regulation while talking through an uncomfortable feeling with a friend or listening to another person without jumping to conclusions. The solution was surprisingly simple. I would give students a collaborative assignment with no obvious solution, and we would mindfully work through the difficulties we encountered with painting and conversation.
The Garden of Joy
Finding moments of calm and mindfulness in a classroom setting can be difficult. As art teachers, we have the ability to bring serenity into our classrooms and guide students to embrace their creativity while practicing mindfulness. Welcome to the garden of joy—an inspiring lesson that encourages students to embark on a mindful adventure while using their senses to create art amidst the beauty of nature.
Mindfulness in Motion
I showed students figurative sculptures and asked them to mimic the poses with their bodies. They enjoyed it so much that I continued doing it throughout the year. I scoured art books, searched art museums’ digital collections. I put in the time to do research and find figurative sculptures that would provide students with an enjoyable challenge. Ending with a seated figure became a natural way to get students into their seats and ready for their art lessons.
The Senses Project
What do you think of when you hear the word mindfulness? For me, it means finding peace through being in the moment. When you think about it, that’s just what a photographer does—observe and focus in on the visual importance of a moment, preserving an experience to share or revisit in the future. It is this aspect of photography that I recently found to be most helpful in reaching my students and encouraging them to slow down.
Contemporary Art in Context: Morel Doucet
Morel Doucet is a Miami-based, Haitian-American multidisciplinary artist and arts educator who explores climate change, gentrification, and displacement among communities of the African diaspora through sculpture, printmaking, and illustration. He views his art as a celebration of nature within the Afrofuturism movement. Afrofuturist art incorporates futuristic and science-fiction themes with elements of black and African culture.
The Flower of Life
The Flower of Life is a symbolic representation of life and the interconnectedness of all things. It is associated with the Sacred Geometry school of thought, an ancient science that studies the spiritual significance of shapes and proportions and how they reflect the universe. The circles that make up the flower symbol can be arranged in an infinite number of ways, each creating a new and unique pattern.
Redrawing the Classroom as a Model of Mindfulness
Welcome to our art lab. Today, we will discover what it feels like to be mindful in and through drawing class. We’ll participate in a series of activities that incorporate physical manipulation of materials, visual thinking and storytelling, mark-making on paper, sculpture, creative movement, and body-breath work.
The Gratitude Project
The best mindfulness projects are the ones that impact the culture in a meaningful way; the Gratitude Project is one such project. A few years ago, my school district implemented a social-emotional learning program that had a direct influence on my teaching. One aspect of the program focused on the importance of gratitude and how being in touch with what and who we are grateful for keeps us in a positive mindset.
A Moment of Mindfulness
After sharing the picture book I Am Peace: A Book of Mindfulness, I introduce students to the work of abstract artist Nadja Gabriela Plein, who creates artworks that are playful reflections and observations of her surroundings. Students then create large peaceful paintings to reflect a moment of mindfulness while carefully observing their environment.
Threads of Love and Meditation
Teaching embroidery comes from a deep-seated desire to slow down the hurried nature of our lives. In gathering together to learn the art, we begin to share a practice of meditation and mindfulness, or being in the moment.
NAEA National Convention 2024
National Art Education Association Convention, Minneapolis, April 4-6, 2024. Hundreds of options for professional learning, connectivity, and creativity! Join visual arts, design, and media arts educators from around the world at this epic event! Register now! www.arteducators.org
Focus In: Youth Art Month
For more than sixty years, Youth Art Month (YAM) has continued to cultivate and foster visual art education for K–12 students. This year’s theme, Dream in Art, speaks to the power of art for all.
RGB/CMY Digital Color Wheel from Davis
The RGB/CMY Digital Color Wheel poster (18x24") and teacher’s guide provides a framework for teaching learners some of today’s most foundational color concepts to ensure their interaction with color on digital screens is based on understanding digital color as opposed to intuition or trial and error.
THE SHOP
Products, educational opportunities, and more.
Kutztown University
Kutztown University’s nationally recognized programs lead the field in art education.
Experience Clay from Davis
This contemporary guide to clay techniques, tools, and traditions is as inspirational as it is practical. This comprehensive resource details a range of handbuilding and wheel-throwing techniques, and is a wonderful source for exploring ancient traditions and historic innovations in the world of ceramic art. Visit DavisArt.com/Clay to learn more!
Tape Art Showcase
Student artwork examples using Piktotape™. Get a box of PiktoTape™ and find lesson plans and more resources at DavisArt.com/PiktoTape.
Kiss-Off® Stain Remover
Kiss-Off® Stain Remover is unique because it needs just water to remove stains. No harmful fumes, no liquid to spill, so it is safe to use at home, office, school, traveling, etc. Its convenient size makes it handy to take along anywhere a stain might find you. generalpencil.com/kiss-off-stain-remover
The Visual Experience
The Visual Experience is the leading visual art curriculum in the country, with more images of student artwork, art by women artists, and contemporary and multicultural art than any comparable high-school art curriculum.
Davis 2024–2025 Monthly Planner & Art Education Advocacy Guide Contest
Student artwork winners and submissions. Every year, Davis Publications creates a Monthly Planner and Art Education Advocacy Guide to share with art teachers and administrators at the National Art Education Association Conference, state conferences, and more. For this reason, we share an annual call for student artwork to adorn the front and back covers of the planner.
The Masters Artist Soap
The Masters Artist Soap has been used by makers, painters, artists, and crafters since 1979.
Touchstone Center for Crafts
Touchstone Center for Crafts is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance excellence in the arts and crafts by educating and encouraging individuals to develop technical skills, good design, and innovative expression.
AMACO brent
AMACO (American Art Clay Company, Inc.) continues to be a leader and innovator for ceramics in the areas of art, technology, and education. Get ideas and inspiration for your next Lesson Plan project.
BLICK Art Materials
As a leading art supply company, we provide artists, educators, students, and our associates with the tools, assistance, and training needed to grow, innovate, and reach their creative potential. BLICK Art Materials is family-owned and serving artists since 1911.
SchoolArts Magazine
A national art education magazine committed to promoting excellence, advocacy, and professional support for educators in the visual arts.