SchoolArts and Davis

12/21/2024

Exciting news 📣 The deadline has been EXTENDED to submit your student art for the 2025–26 Art Advocacy Planner!

You now have until January 6 to get your student art submissions in for a chance to be featured on the front or back cover!

🏆 PRIZES:
Front cover artwork:
Teacher and student each receive $100 Blick gift certificates, plus 10 planners

Back cover (several will be selected):
Teachers and students each receive $25 Blick gift certificates, plus 10 planners

Submit here: https://hubs.ly/Q030mjmM0

12/20/2024

The January/February 2025 issue, Collaboration, is here!

This issue highlights several ways in which art teachers have integrated collaboration into their teaching practice, such as providing students with opportunities to problem-solve and work together throughout the year, learning about the Sustainable Development Goals and creating a tile installation symbolizing them, inviting a local florist to teach an art lesson, collaborating with an artist to create an outdoor installation using materials reclaimed from the ocean, and more.

Plus, check out our exclusive Q&A with installation artist and sculptor, Cheng-Tsung Feng!

Read the digital edition: https://hubs.ly/Q030mjn70

On the cover:
Cheng-Tsung Feng, Beside, 2016. Image courtesy of the artist.

12/19/2024

’s 200th episode is here! Join us in celebrating with by listening to this special conversation featuring Julian Wade, President of Davis Publications, reflecting on the past, celebrating the present, and looking toward the future of art education!

Listen now: https://hubs.ly/Q030cZ-v0

Also available on your favorite podcast app!

12/13/2024

Our cover feature for December 2024, the Storytelling issue, is "Cellphones and Comics: Keys to Visual Storytelling" by Rachel Wintemberg 🐇

Rachel writes: "My design students start the year taking photos and end the year creating their own hand-drawn comic books or animatics (animated storyboards). If you want your students to create art that communicates, my advice is to have them take lots of photos with their cellphones (both in and out of the classroom) and read comic books. This is a quick and fun way to improve and artist’s sense of visual composition."

Read the full lesson now in our December issue! https://hubs.ly/Q02_F_550

Student artwork:
1: Bryanna C., Where the Rabbits Hide, grade twelve.
2: Sheyla F., Valentineʼs Day, grade eleven.
3: Melina D., Yet She Realized Her Worth, grade eleven.

12/12/2024

Southeastern Region Vice President, Joshua Drews (), joins to discuss the evolution of media arts. As technology is integrated more and more, students are embracing all things digital. Listen to episode 199 now at https://hubs.ly/Q02_wJvp0 or wherever you get your podcasts.

12/11/2024

Artist Birthday for December 11th: Alfred Jensen (1903–1981, US, born Guatemala) 🎂

Alfred Jensen, born to Danish parents in Guatemala, became a leading abstractionist in the US with a style distinct from Abstract Expressionism. His grid-like compositions recall Adolph Gottlieb’s pictographs but align more with Bauhaus geometry and Auguste Herbin’s Abstraction-Création. Works like That is It (1966) reflect meticulous planning, blending influences from Minimalism, Abstract Expressionism, and Op Art.

Background:
Post-WWII American art was shaped by Abstract Expressionism, which artists explored through action painting, color fields, or personal research. Jensen stood out with his grid-based abstractions inspired by the Mayan calendar, Goethe’s Theory of Colors, and Leonardo da Vinci’s color studies.

Raised in Denmark, he studied in San Diego and later under Hans Hofmann in Munich but rejected Hofmann’s Bauhaus-influenced curriculum as too restrictive. By 1957, Jensen developed his signature style, combining structured abstraction with scientific and mathematical concepts.

Shown Here:
That is It, 1966, oil on canvas, 106.7 x 91.2 cm. Courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, © 2024 Estate of Alfred Jensen / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

This image is part of the Davis program Davis Collections, STEAM: Mathematics.

12/09/2024

AIDS Awareness Month, December: Patrick Kelly (1954–1990, US)

The CDC established AIDS Awareness Month in 1987 as the epidemic grew severe. Many creatives lost their lives to AIDS, including Patrick Kelly, a trailblazing American fashion designer known for his bold, joyful designs.

Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, during the Civil Rights Movement, Kelly began sewing as a teenager. He studied art and fashion in Atlanta and New York but faced racial barriers in the U.S. Ultimately, supermodel Pat Cleveland gifted him a ticket to Paris, where his creativity flourished.

Kelly’s work incorporated vintage buttons, bows, hearts, and whimsical elements, often reflecting Black history and resilience. Hearts became a signature motif tied to his concern about AIDS, the disease that tragically ended his life.

In 1988, Kelly made history as the first American accepted into the French Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter, earning global acclaim. His designs were loved by icons like Princess Diana, Madonna, and Grace Jones, leaving a legacy that inspires to this day.

12/06/2024

🚨 Two weeks left!! 🚨

Want a chance to win a $100 gift certificate from for yourself AND your student? Submit your student art for the 2025–2026 Art Advocacy Planner contest!

🏆 PRIZES:
Front cover artwork:
Teacher and student each receive $100 Blick gift certificates, plus 10 planners

Back cover (several will be selected):
Teachers and students each receive $25 Blick gift certificates, plus 10 planners

📌 The deadline for the contest is December 20 (TWO WEEKS!). Find out more details on the submission page: https://hubs.ly/Q02-M-d70

12/05/2024

Oil painter and host of the CANDYcolored studio podcast, Katrina Berg, joins for the latest K12ArtChat episode! Listen in for insight on balancing a creative career, teaching, and personal life.

Listen now: https://hubs.ly/Q02-BZKh0

12/05/2024

We're excited to feature Ryan Gardell (Artifakt Studios) in our Contemporary Art in Context feature for December 2024: Storytelling!

Ryan Gardell is a mixed-media artist who works primarily in painting both on canvases and walls. He embodies the contemporary street art ethos of community involvement, beautification of neighborhoods, and uplifting community spirit. Gardell is also a graphic designer who enjoys illustration, photo-editing, motion graphics, and animation. It is his street art that he considers his most powerful tool because of its ability to communicate complex emotions to the widest possible audience.

Read our exclusive article and Q&A (and share with your students!), in the December issue: https://hubs.ly/Q02-x3zV0

🖼️ Image credits:
1: Ryan Gardell with his favorite medium.
2: Basquiat, 2021, Worcester, Massachusetts, painted in support of The Bridge Academy ().
3: The Elders, 2023, located in Worcester, Massachusetts.
4: Detail of indoor mural at the Worcester Public Library, Worcester, Massachusetts, 2021, assisted by Ivy Orth and Grhimm Xavier. Images courtesy of the artist.

12/04/2024

Happy National Wildlife Conservation Day, December 4th!

Wildlife Conservation Day was proclaimed by President Obama in 2012 to raise awareness about endangered species.

These rock-cut temples are actually miniature renditions of wooden temples built during that period. The designation “temple” is a misnomer because none of these were ever completed. As a result, these structures were never consecrated or used for worship. Their unfinished state may be attributed to the death of the Pallava ruler Narasimhavarman I (died 668 CE), son of Mahendravarman I, who commissioned them. All the temples share the same rock platform.

The Arjuna Rath, while imitating a post-and-lintel structure, introduces a complex sculptural program on the side walls and an early form of tower that later became prominent in southern temples. The large elephant figure (unfortunately now deprived of tusks) was carved out of the same granite as the temple. It has the same monumental character as the elephant figures in the Descent of the Ganges group.

In Hinduism, the elephant represents royalty, power, wisdom, fertility, and longevity. In both Hinduism and Buddhism, man and the elephant make their first appearance in the cosmos together, and in both, elephants are associated with water and rainfall—the primordial givers of life to dust. They are also associated with Shiva and Parvati's son, Ganesha.

Unfortunately, in the 21st century, elephants are still endangered, hunted for their ivory, which continues to be valued in regions for jewelry and certain medicines.

Shown here: Mamallapuram, India, Freestanding elephant sculpture, Arjuna Rath rock-cut temple, south side. Image © 2024 Davis Art Images (10036).

11/28/2024

Wishing you warmth and joy this Thanksgiving! will be back next Thursday with a new episode of K12ArtChat!

11/26/2024

Introducing the newest title in our Art Education in Practice series: Ethical Decision-Making in Art Education by Cristina Bain, PhD!

How do art educators learn how to make effective professional decisions, especially when teaching encompasses diverse situations and environments? This book will help all art educators understand how beliefs and values form the cornerstone of ethical decision-making practice.

Learn more: https://hubs.ly/Q02ZzLMN0

11/25/2024

Less than a month left—get your student art submissions in now!! ⏳

🌠 Submit your student art for a chance to win a $100 gift certificate from Blick Art Materials for yourself AND your student, and front or back cover placement in the 2025–2026 Art Advocacy Planner!

🏆 PRIZES:
- Front cover artwork: Teacher and student each receive $100 Blick gift certificates, plus 10 planners
- Back cover artworks (several will be selected): Teachers and students each receive $25 Blick gift certificates, plus 10 planners

📌 The deadline for the contest is December 20. Find out more details on the submission page at https://hubs.ly/Q02Zp3jp0

11/22/2024

The December issue is a trove of lessons that harness the power of storytelling.

For a fun, cross-curricular lesson that can be adapted for all grade levels, look no further than The Illustration Game by Rama Hughes. Rama writes: "I studied illustration in art school. One way that we practiced was by dividing a text into portions that each student illustrated. After a given time – sometimes a very brief amount of time – everyone hung up their artwork, and we read through them like a picture book. It was an engaging, exciting, surprising way to see how different artists approach the same challenge and how different readers interpret the same text."

Check out the full article now! https://hubs.ly/Q02ZcD-j0

11/21/2024

Renowned footwear designer & former design director for Air Jordan, Dr. D’Wayne Edwards joins in Ep 197. Hear ways to help students identify & explore the many creative careers in art & design. Visit https://hubs.ly/Q02Z6Wq_0 for episode link & resources.

11/19/2024

🌟 HUGE congratulations to Leigh Haywood, 2024 North Carolina Charter School Teacher of the Year! gifted her a set of STEAM Art Cards to help inspire her classroom. Well-deserved! 🏆

And of course we'd like to shout out the North Carolina Art Education Association () for a successful conference! They've also raised over $1000, and put together over 1000 art kits, for those affected by Hurricane Helene in western NC. Way to go!

11/15/2024

🎉 The December 2024 issue, Storytelling, is here!

In this issue, art teachers provide a variety of lessons for students to communicate their unique stories and ideas. Young students identify starting-place symbols in various texts before designing their own personalized letter designs; elementary students create a mural based on local food systems after learning about where their food comes from during farmer visits; middle-school students create nine-panel digital collages with symbols representing their likes and interests; and high-school students learn how cellphones and comic books can be powerful tools for visual communication.

Read the digital edition now: https://hubs.ly/Q02Yqfkt0

On the cover:
Bryanna C., Where the Rabbits Hide, grade twelve, from "Cellphones and Comics: Keys to Visual Storytelling" by Rachel Wintemberg.

Art teachers provide a variety of lessons for students to communicate their unique stories and ideas.