The Contemporary Art Issue, March 2026

Published on 17 February 2026

Description:

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.

33 articles from this collection:

The Contemporary Art Issue, March 2026

Editor's Letter: Contemporary Art

Frank Juárez, SchoolArts editor-in-chief, reflects on how contemporary art informs teaching and curriculum while deepening student engagement.

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.

Table of Contents

Azusa Pacific University

Boost your career with a Master's degree in the arts. Azusa Pacific University offers three innovative programs in the arts perfect for working professionals.

Managing the Art Room: Prints and Their Makers

Art educators engage in a hands-on printmaking workshop with artist Steve A. Prince, exploring monoprinting techniques to use in their classrooms.

Meeting Individual Needs: Buddy Crafts: Making Inclusion the Focus

An art educator designs an inclusive curriculum where students with disabilities and their non-disabled peers collaborate as equals.

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.

Advocacy: The Art of Selling

High-school students sell their work at art markets, gaining experience in branding, marketing, financial responsibility, and more.

Point of View: The MOST Contemporary Art

An artist and educator discusses how students engage more deeply with contemporary art when it reflects their shared time, place, and community.

Bailey

Bailey ceramic supplies and pottery equipment.

Early Childhood ClipCard: Clay Fossils

Young students shape clay and imprint textures using various objects to create fossil designs.

Elementary ClipCard: Balanced Flower Designs

Students use simple lines and shapes to create expressive floral compositions.

Middle School ClipCard: Mixed-Media Constellations

Students research, draw, and embroider constellations onto painted mixed-media backgrounds.

High School ClipCard: Not Your Average Mug

Students design and build functional mugs using slab-building and sculptural techniques.

The SchoolArts Collection: Contemporary Art

This book is filled with lessons that will encourage your students to learn about, respond to, and create contemporary art. Organized into chapters on Identity, Social and Emotional Issues, and Collaboration, you’ll find studio lessons based on concepts and essential questions. Engage students in projects that are meaningful and discover what their voices add to the contemporary conversation.

Contemporary Art in Context: Jeffrey Gibson

Interdisciplinary artist Jeffrey Gibson creates vibrant works that fuse Indigenous cultural traditions with contemporary global practices.

What Is a Monster? Interpreting, Perceiving, & Making Meaning

Middle-school students use storytelling to connect personal experiences and create symbolic, relief-printed interpretations of monsters.

Reverse Realities

Elementary students upcycle various materials and use found objects to create unique mini worlds inside glass jars.

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.

Damon Lamar Reed: Inspiring Hope through Art

Frank Juárez, SchoolArts editor-in-chief, talks murals and more with one of NAEA26’s Artist Series speakers.

Deconstructed Digital Portraits

High-school students transform traditional portraits into imaginative compositions inspired by surrealism and contemporary art.

Mayco Colors

Mayco Colors has been helping art educators inspire creativity in the classroom since 1954. We provide high-quality ceramic products, along with ready-to-use lesson plans and educational resources designed specifically for the classroom.

Even Bigger Than Us: Imaginary Portraiture Inspired by Mickalene Thomas

Young students collaborate on a large-scale painting of an imaginary heroine, adding nontraditional materials to bring their ideas to life.

Navigating Nonobjective Art

High-school students step out of their comfort zones to create themed nonobjective compositions inspired by two contemporary artists.

NAEA Curated Collections

NAEA is thrilled to introduce its Curated Collections, a dynamic new resource designed to provide members with easy access to topic-specific resources. Through Curated Collections, educators can explore relevant materials, best practices, and tools organized around key themes in art education.

Inspired by Nature

Elementary students explore color, texture, and shape through a nature-based lesson inspired by contemporary artist Melissa Scherrer Paré.

Sweet Art: Wayne Thiebaud–Inspired Desserts

Middle-school students use chalk and oil pastels to capture colorful, textured desserts in the playful spirit of Wayne Thiebaud.

Skutt

The #1 kiln used in schools. Kids Need Clay helps schools start and sustain ceramics programs with full support.

Focus In: Connected Arts Networks: From Local Networks to National Impact

An arts organization connects arts educators nationwide, strengthening teaching through professional learning communities.

The Visual Experience from Davis

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.