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.

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.

The Contemporary Art Issue, April 2025

This issue focuses on various interpretations of contemporary art and what art means for students today. Young students connect to the natural world and print with leaves, elementary students combine elements from historical and contemporary artworks to create a new work of art, middle-school students explore the large-scale sculptures of Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, high-school students channel contemporary themes into a self-portrait photo composite, and more.

The Advocacy Issue, March 2025

This issue introduces various ways to address advocacy through different lenses, ranging from cultural perspectives to embracing mistakes and self-expression. Young students use creative thinking skills to connect with themselves and the world around them, elementary students turn mistakes into works of art, middle-school students make clay puzzle pieces with symbolic objects representing their interests, high-school students create detailed fabric portraits, and more.

The Nature Issue, November 2024

Art teachers use nature to inspire students become more in tune with themselves and their world around them. Young students take a mindful approach as they collage an place in which they feel calm, elementary students create drawings that evoke empathy for those experiencing environmental disasters, middle-school students collaborate to create a felted planter for a community garden, high-school students build birdhouses for residents at a retirement village, and more.

The Connections Issue, October 2024

Art teachers share lessons that students can relate to, fostering a sense of self and community. Young students identify emotions and facial expressions while collaging, elementary students trace their countries of origins and share their findings through self-portrait photo compositions, middle-school students create aquatic themed rug canvases with important ecological messages, high-school students draw alongside Tibetan monks as they create a sand mandala, and more.

The Beginnings Issue, September 2024

Art teachers start the school year with lessons that engage students while teaching them foundational skills and techniques. High-school students create paintless paintings with tissue paper; middle-school students complete the second half of their self-portraits in the style of a chosen artist; elementary students use the elements and principles to draw realistic and abstract landscapes; young students learn about personal preferences while designing paper shoes; and more.

The Contemporary Art Issue, May 2024

Art teachers inspire bold creative expression while incorporating contemporary art into their lessons. Students discover the large-scale paintings of Sean Scully and create multi-panel patterned compositions, investigate the landscape art of Dahlia Elsayed and assemble collaborative and individual collages, embrace mark-making as a whole-body exercise while using charcoal-taped drawing sticks, and more.

The Choice Issue, April 2024

Art teachers present a variety of lessons that emphasize student choice and the Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) approach. Students work in groups to create a project using unfinished artwork; participate in an afterschool TAB program based on the Studio Habits of Mind; use the concept of the lighthouse to create personal pieces that honor who or what inspires them; embrace brainstorming and media exploration through sketchbook art journals; and more.

The Media Arts Issue, December 2023

Art teachers provide engaging opportunities for students to explore the world of media arts. Elementary students contribute 3D-printed prototypes and mini robots to a collaborative CAD sculpture garden, middle-school students apply the elements and principles while designing donuts in Microsoft Paint 3D, high-school students combine digitally altered photographs of hands to create a powerful narrative, and more.

The Interdisciplinary Connections Issue, November 2023

Art teachers share a variety of meaningful and engaging interdisciplinary lessons. Students create space suit helmets and souvenir photos of their imaginary journeys through the solar system, use architectural principles in a cardboard construction project inspired by abstract artist Elizabeth Murray, make STEM connections to origami and use unfolded paper figures to create geometric paintings, and more.

The Groundwork Issue, September 2023

Capture students’ attention and engagement with lessons that lay the groundwork for a memorable school year! In this issue, students learn about art room procedures while participating in a scavenger hunt, identify key strengths and how they can use them, develop personal connections to drawing exercises through altered books, create abstract compositions during a virtual artist visit, and more.