This anthology places art at the center of meaningful urban education reform. Providing a fresh perspective, contributors describe a positive, asset–based community development model designed to tap into the teaching/learning potential already available in urban settings. Rather than focusing on a lack of resources, this innovative approach shows teachers how to use the cultural resources at hand to engage students in the processes of critical, imaginative investigation. Featuring personal narratives that reflect the authors’ vast experience and passion for teaching art, this resource: Offers a new vision for urban schools that reflects current directions of urban renewal and transformation. Highlights successful models of visual art education for the K–12 classroom. Describes meaningful, socially concerned teaching practices. Includes unit plans, a glossary of terms, and online resources. Contributors include Olivia Gude, James Haywood Rolling Jr., and Leda Guimarães. “This terrific, much–needed resource promises to become a classic in the field.” —Christine Marmé Thompson, Penn State University

"A comprehensive look at how the arts (broadly conceived) can improve teaching, learning, and curriculum for all students, written in accessible language for non-academics and non-experts. It contains many evocative examples to illustrate the power of the arts to change education"--

This anthology places art at the center of meaningful urban education reform. Providing a fresh perspective on urban education, the contributors describe a positive, asset-based community development model designed to tap into the teaching/learning potential already available in urban cities. Rather than focusing on a lack of resources, this innovative approach shows teachers how to use the cultural resources at hand to engage students in the processes of critical, imaginative investigation. Featuring personal narratives that reflect the authors' vast experience and passion for teaching art, this resource: * Offers a new vision for urban schools that reflects current directions of urban renewal and transformation. * Highlights successful models of visual art education for the K 12 classroom. * Describes meaningful, socially concerned teaching practices. *Includes unit plans, a glossary of terms, and online resources. Contributors include Olivia Gude, James Haywood R

What makes a good schoolhouse? Beyond the basics of classrooms and library, a good school inspires students and teachers and enhances the learning environment through its architecture and its art. Nowhere is this principle better demonstrated than in the New York City school system, the largest in the United States, where a collection of more than 1,500 artworks has been assembled over nearly 150 years. This extraordinarily diverse group ranges from stained glass by Tiffany Studios to vast mural cycles commissioned by the WPA to modern and contemporary works by Hans Hofmann, Ben Shahn, Romare Bearden, Faith Ringgold, and Vito Acconci. Education has been a priority for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, and school construction and public art have expanded dramatically under his leadership. New school buildings have been commissioned from noted architects including Polshek Partnership, Pei Cobb Freed, and Arquitectonica, with installations by Tony Oursler, Sarah Morris, and James Casebere. Public Art for Public Schools provides a comprehensive and insightful account of the history and future of this program, lavishly illustrated with archival images from the Department of Education and handsome new photographs by the noted architectural photographer Stan Ries, which were specially commissioned for this publication.

At the same time that arts funding and programming in schools are declining, exciting community-based art programs have successfully been able to build community, foster change, and enrich children's lives. Engaging Classrooms and Communities through Art provides a comprehensive and accessible guide to the design and implementation of community-based art programs for educators, community leaders, and artists. The book combines case studies with diverse groups across the country that are using different media - including mural arts, dance, and video - with an informed introduction to the theory and history of community-based art. It is a perfect handbook for those looking to transform their communities through art.

This booklet is designed to give teachers some of the latest ideas about how arts principles and concepts can best be understood, taught, and used in the classroom to improve instruction in the arts and other disciplines. Considering the stance of the U.S. Department of Education, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the Goals 2000 Arts Education Partnership, and the Coalition for Education in the Arts, and the increasing support from research about the value of the arts, the 1990's seems a time of real opportunity. While there are still issues being discussed, the state-of-the-art in arts education may soon properly reflect the importance of this aspect of education to civilization. The booklet's major ideas, organized into one page sections, include the following: (1) make certain all students have daily arts experiences; (2) the arts offer the opportunity to practice decision making; (3) students need to know the elements of the various arts and need to develop the vocabularies with which to discuss them; (4) experiences in the arts provide opportunities for students to learn as much about themselves as they do about the subject matter; (5) provide students with opportunities to develop a craft while exploring originality and analytical thinking; (6) lead students to new ways of solving problems through unique challenges in the arts, both mental and physical; (7) employ modern technology to encourage imaginative use of artistic material; (8) arts specialists are educators who are also skilled in at least one arts discipline; (9) enriching the experiences of all children as they study literature, history, geography, foreign languages, math, or science is a gift arts specialists offer the school; and (10) a major asset of the arts in education is to make schools a more engaging learning environment. In discussing the U.S. Department of Education's support for the arts, Secretary of Education, Richard W. Riley said, "The arts in all their distinct forms define, in many ways, those qualities that are at the heart of education reform in the 1990s--creativity, perseverance, a sense of standards, and above all, a striving for excellence." Contains 53 notes, an 11-item suggested reading list, and a 38-item selected resources list. (CB)