29 Pieces: Artists Making a Kinder World

An arts organization called 29 Pieces, based in Dallas, seeks to engage, involve, and inspire our country’s youth and educators to use art to explore, communicate, and practice the values of nonviolence and kindness. Since its inception in 2005, 29 Pieces has trained more than 1,500 teachers in twenty-four states and Washington, D.C. in a hands-on, project-based visual arts education program, 29 Pieces: Artists Making a Kinder World.

Artwork from the class of Anne Flight, Stratton School, Stratton, Maine. The artwork is based on the Artists Making a Kinder World lesson, Principles of Flight.

Making a Kinder World
In 2022 and early 2023, 29 Pieces collaborated with twelve art educators from coast to coast who represented the elementary through high-school levels. Four teams of educators worked with 29 Pieces to develop four new lessons for the Artists Making a Kinder World curriculum using art for social-emotional learning. These project-based lessons can be tailored to knowledge objectives across your curriculum. More than 2,000 students participated in piloting the lessons. Each lesson is inspired by a positive social value such as respect or hope. Lessons begin with a moment of quiet centering, followed by an interactive presentation in which students participate in integrative understanding of the lesson’s theme. 

Lesson 1: Seeds
Students consider how planting a single seed can result in thousands of beautiful plants. What “thought seeds” do we want to plant in our hearts, minds, and world, and what steps will we need to take to cultivate those seeds?

Four teams of educators worked with 29 Pieces to develop four new lessons for the Artists Making a Kinder World curriculum using art for social-emotional learning.

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