art resources

Resources for Art EducationMichael Harms

LIS 704

Purpose of Resource Guide

● Provide resources to foster art appreciation among children and students

● Provide resources to instruct students in various artistic manifestations

● Provide resources for educators, public and homeschool, to foster art appreciation and understanding among students

● Provide resources for students for students to understand art as an integral aspect of history

Circulating ResourcesArt Appreciation

Heine, Florian. 13 Paintings Children Should Know. New York: Prestel, 2012.

This title offers biographies of 13 important painters with full-color reproductions of their paintings. The painters include some of the obvious choices, like Rembrandt, but also includes some lesser known artists such as Hieronymus Bosch. The biographies are put into context with a timeline which highlights world events. This title is accessible to it’s intended audience, fourth through eighth grade, while still being informative to readers of any age.(Booklist, Nov. 15, 2012 (Vol. 109, No. 6))

Essential Artists by David Spence

Each volume of this series offers a biography of an influential artist intended for ages 11 through 15. What sets this series apart is that instead of only giving a biography and some reproduction of the artist’s work, the author includes a discussion of various interpretations of the art works. This is a resource to help students practice in art criticism.(VOYA, August 2011 (Vol. 34, No. 3)

Art and Culture of the Prehistoric World by Beatrice Brooke

Art and Culture of the Prehistoric World offers readers an insight into a little known era of artistic expression. The language in this title is very well suited for readers ages 9 through 12. It will appeal to students interested in art and history. This resource offers a bibliography for further reading, an index, and a glossary of defined words which is especially helpful for students when learning about prehistoric eras.(Midwest Book Review (Children's Bookwatch, January 2010))

Pop Art by Richard Spilsbury

Pop Art is intended for students in 5th through 8th grade. With defined vocabulary words, suggested reading, and clear language this title explains the art movement through the 1950's and 1960's. This title would be a good resource for parents who were homeschooling their children and want to expose them to somewhat modern art.(Booklist, Jan. 1, 2009 (Vol. 105, No. 9))

!Women Art Revolution from Zeitgeist Films

While men tend to dominate discussions of western art, !Women Art Revolution portrays the feminist art movement over the last four decades. It chronicles the rejection of the first wave of feminist art to the actions of the Guerilla Girls. This film incorporates interviews from art critics and curators, feminist artists, and experpts from performance pieces. Although not intended for children, this film would be suitable for mature students and could easily be used in an art or modern american history classroom or lesson plan.

Circuating ResourcesArt Instruction

Inkblot: Drip, Splat, and Squish Your Way to Creativity by Margaret Peot

This title represents a very underrepresented art form. Peot offers clear, step-by-step instructions for users to create their own inkblot art. This title is useful for parents and teachers who want to introduce children to an uncommon and fun form of art. The real appeal behind this title lies in that it can appeal to students who feel they have no artistic talent because inkblots are more abstract and rely laregly on interpretation.(Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2011 (Vol. 79, No. 4))

Cartoons and Manga by Des Taylor

This title will not have universal appeal, but it will have great appeal to children and students who are interested in comic books, graphic novels, manga, and anime. This title is unique among cartooning books because it explains the drawing aspect along with digital illustration and animation. Boldfaced words found throughout the text are defined in the glossary and the text is littered with facts about famous animators and manga artists. (Booklist, Dec. 15, 2011 (Col. 108, No. 8)

Learn to Draw Princesses by Catherine McCafferty

Although this does not seem at first glance to be a good title to refer a budding artist to, this title (with specialized appeal, admittedly) is a great resource to help children practice the details of sharp lines, shape, and color while keeping some interested in characters the already know like Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. Besides only instructing students on how to draw a particular figure, the text also takes another approach and tells the student what does not work in drawing. (Booklist, Mar. 15, 2011 (Vol. 107, No. 14))

Art in Action by Matja Pitamic

This title takes 12 masterpieces and gives step-by-step instructions for two related projects on each masterpiece. This title exposes students to many different schools of art like pop art and cubism. The related projects go beyond simple drawings, but include building theme boxes and making prints out of rubber bands. With some parental or teacher guidance children can learn about famous artists and artistic methods while exploring their own creativity through various mediums.

Art Skills by Stephanie Turnbull

Art Skills is a resource which shows users how to create art through various forms such as drip painting, watercolor, making prints with fruit, body painting, and collage. Teachers and parents will be able to find many fun projects to do with children throughout this book. Also, this book includes a discussion on careers in the arts. There is included lists of art-related websites and a glossary defining the terms used throughout the text.

African Americans in the Visual Arts by Steven Otfinkski

African Americans in the Visual Arts contains biographies of African American artists who worked with various mediums such as performance art, sculpting, and installation art. Each biography offers a bibliography with websites for users to view the artists work. This is an informative resource for students to begin their research into the visual arts or for students researching an African American artist.(American Reference Books Annual 2012)

Non-circulating Resources

American Folk Art by Kristin Congdon

It is often easier for students to find biographical information on well-known artists like Picasso than folk artists. This reference title catalogs American folk artists who the author deems as innovative in the way they produced art. This title is well organized with indexes in the front which lists artists by media, region, and alphabetically. There is included a glossary, bibliography, and a list of American museums which exhibit American folk art.(American Resource Books Annual 2013)

America: A History in Art by W.G. Scheller

This reference resource offers users a glimpse of history through the eyes of art. It is separated into general periods like "First Americans" and "The Gilded Age". It shows what forms of art dominated America at certain times - from painting in the beginning, to photography, to utilitarian architecture. This resource is unique in that in chronologically shows the evolution of American art as American history unfolded. The title offers photographs of many art works along with a description, where it is housed, and how the work was created. This resource is valuable to students interested in art or American history.(American Reference Books Annual 2009)

Atlas of Egyptian Art by Prisse e'Avennes

This is a very valuable resource for public and school libraries as many students, at one point or another, do some project on Egypt. This resource chronicles trips to Egypt from French artist Prisse e'Avennes and the photographs he took of the pyramids and tombs in the 1860's along with his notes. Many of the photographs include descriptions and cross-references making this an informative and enjoyable resource for students interested in ancient Egypt.(American Reference Annual 2009)

The Concise Dictionary of Art Terms by Michael Clarke

This is a pretty straightforward resource. It is an alphabetical list of about 1,900 art terms with definitions. The terms include techniques, schools of art, mediums, and eras. Although it is not intended for children, older children in middle school and high school would be able to understand the definitions making this a useful resource for school projects or for those students who study art independently. This is a very informative resource and at a price of under $20 is affordable for just about any library.(American Reference Books Annual 2011)

Arts and Crafts for Favorite Themes by The Mailbox Books Staff

This title has 250 themes commonly used for preschoolers and toddlers along with easy to follow crafts and art projects. This resource will have great appeal to children's librarians, preschool teachers, and caregivers. It is well organized with an index of themes for quick use for educators to develop simple lesson plans which incorporate hands-on activities for young children.

Icons of Beauty: Art, Culture, and the Image of Women by Debra Mancoff

This resource provides insight into one of the permeating themes throughout the history of art - the image of women. The content spans through different times and cultures and examines how the female form was portrayed and it's significance in a cultural context. This resource is valuable to students who are researching either the topic of the female form or are researching given works of art, or artists, which utilized the female form in their works. Included is an index to names, works, and topics.(American Reference Books Annual 2010)

Art and Architecture of the World's Religions by Leslie Ross

This is a very well balanced analysis of the world's religions, from the prehistoric to the modern, and their artistic manifestations. Ross provides the same treatment to each religion to maintain fairness. The orign and belief system is outlined with every religion along with it's major artistic and architectural representations. The balnced nature of this work provides users with a quick study when researching religions or different manifestations of art from different cultures, times, and religions. The price of these volumes may prevent some libraries from aquiring the titles, but it is a welcome resource to those libraries with the financial resources.(American Reference Books Annual 2010)

Axis: the Online Resource for Contemporary Art

Axis offers information to over 2,500 contemporary artists and curators. It needs to be noted, however, that Axis deals exclusively with art from the United Kingdom and with contemporary art. However, because it is a completely free resource which makes it a very valuable resource for anybody researching contemporary art. Axis offers users biographies, videos, photographs, art news, and discussions.

Eye on Art Series

The Eye on Art Series is specifically written for middle school and high school students. Each volume deals with a specific form of art, from Egyptian art to manga. Each title explains the roots of the form of art and includes many high quality, full color photographs and illustrations. Each volume costs around $30. Libraries can either purchase the whole set or specialize their collection for their population.

Works Cited

Arts & Crafts for Favorite Themes: Over 250 All-new Art

Activities. Greensboro, NC: Mailbox, 2010. Print.

Brooke, Beatrice D., and Roberto Carvalho De. Magalhães. Art

and Culture of the Prehistoric World. New York: Rosen Pub.

Group, 2010. Print.

Clarke, Michael. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms.

Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.

Congdon, Kristin G., and Kara Kelley. Hallmark. American Folk

Art: A Regional Reference. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO,

2012. Print.

D'Avennes, Prisse, Maarten J. Raven, and Olaf E. Kaper. Atlas of

Egyptian Art. Cairo: American University in Cairo, 2007.

Print.

Favorite Princesses: Featuring Tiana, Cinderella, Ariel, Snow

White, Belle, and Other Characters!. Irvine, CA: Walter

Foster Pub., 2010. Print.

Lucent Books. Eye on Art. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Cengage

Learning, 2007. Print.

Mancoff, Debra N., and Lindsay J. Bosch. Icons of Beauty: Art,

Culture, and the Image of Women. Santa Barbara, CA:

Greenwood, 2010. Print.

Otfinoski, Steven. African Americans in the Visual Arts. New

York: Facts on File, 2011. Print.

Peot, Margaret. Inkblot: Drip, Splat, and Squish Your Way to

Creativity. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills, 2011. Print.

Pitamic, Maja. Art in Action¹: Introducing Children to the World

of Western Art with 24 Creative Projects Inspired by 12

Masterpieces. Hauppaugue, NY: Barron's, 2010. Print.

Ross, Leslie. Art and Architecture of the World's Religions. Santa

Barbara, CA: Greenwood/ABC-CLIO, 2009. Print.

Scheller, William. America, a History in Art: The American

Journey Told by Painters, Sculptors, Photographers, and

Architects. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2008. Print.

Spence, David. Essential Artists. Tunbridge Wells, Kent:

Ticktock Entertainment, 2009. Print.

Spilsbury, Richard. Pop Art. Chicago, IL: Heinemann Library,

2009. Print.

Taylor, Des. Cartoons and Manga. New York: PowerKids, 2012.

Print.

Turnbull, Stephanie. Art Skills. Mankato, MN: Smart Apple

Media, 2013. Print.

"Welcome to Axis!" Axis: The Online Resource for

Contemporary Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

Wenzel, Angela. 13 Paintings Children Should Know. Munich:

Prestel, 2010. Print.

!Women Art Revolution. Zeitgeist Films, 2011. DVD.

Spence, David. Essential Artists. Tunbridge Wells, Kent:

Ticktock Entertainment, 2009. Print.

Spilsbury, Richard. Pop Art. Chicago, IL: Heinemann Library,

2009. Print.

Taylor, Des. Cartoons and Manga. New York: PowerKids, 2012.

Print.

Turnbull, Stephanie. Art Skills. Mankato, MN: Smart Apple

Media, 2013. Print.

Axis: The Online Resource for Contemporary Art. N.p., n.d. Web.

17 Apr. 2013.

Wenzel, Angela. 13 Paintings Children Should Know. Munich:

Prestel, 2010. Print.

!Women Art Revolution. Zeitgeist Films, 2011. DVD.