The Lineage Of Many Popular Educational Materials Used In Schools Today Can Be Traced Through Art History.

Color plate from the 1922 publication, "Christmas Pictures by Children." This illustration was made by students of Austrian artist and educator, Franz Čižek. Čižek established his Juvenile Art Class in Vienna, Austria in 1897. His student-centered approach to teaching, and his philosophy that children's art should be a unique genre (and not compared to adult art), led to the foundation of the Child Art Movement.

“Art is literacy of the heart.” -Elliot Eisner

Hennessy Youngman's "Art Thoughtz episode on institutional critique.

Graphite drawing of a lady with a parasol, made by Paul Klee between ages 4 and 6. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Read more about the childhood artwork of well known artists in my latest Artfully Learning post here.

Louise Berliawsky, (no title), c. 1905. Courtesy of the American Art Collaborative.

This is an early twentieth century interior scene by a young girl named Louise Berliawsky, who grew up to become renowned for her modernist monochromatic, wooden sculptures under the name Louise Nevelson. Read more about the importance and influence of children's art in modern and contemporary culture via my Artfully Learning post "Conference of the Animals & 120 Years of Children Drawing New York City."

Helen Levitt's artful photographs of children's chalk drawings. Read more about her work in my blog post "Photographing Children’s Play and Art"

helen levitt

Ant Farm, DOLON EMB 2 (drawing by Curtis Schreier), 1975. Hand colored brownline, 18 x 22 in. Courtesy of University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.  Alt text: A colorful architectural rendering of an imaginary floating vessel.

"Although Dolphin Embassy was never realized beyond a blueprint, the enduring understandings are fascinating and serve as an educational model for future sustainable and relational architecture. With growing concerns regarding climate change and sea levels rising, there is a very real threat and high probability we will need to focus our efforts on building new habitats to address the displacement of both human and other animal species." Read more about the inter-species design of Dolphin Embassy in my latest Artfully Learning blog post "Architecture for All".

Playground sculptures. A fun, whimsical and culturally universal way to inspire learning!

Fiastyúk (then Thälmann) street housing estate, Budapest, 1960. From the Budapest Municipal Photography Company archive. 

My latest blog post "The Beuys and the Bees," is about Joseph Beuys' socially engaged impact on art and education. Read it on Artfully Learning: https://theartsandeducation.wordpress.com/2022/11/13/the-beuys-and-the-bees/

Sister Corita Kent’s "10 Rules for Students, Teachers, and Life," 1967-68.

Corita Kent’s list for students, educators, and everyday experiences, serves as sagely and flexible advice for living life in a more creative capacity. It incorporates the trials and tribulations, as well as the joys of being an artist (or being artful) and/or an educator. Read more about the pedagogy behind Kent's list in my Artfully Learning post "Making a list, checking it twice, going to receive some artistic advice"