Apr. 29, 2009: A New Deal for Artists

The Mini Page is a syndicated, four-page tabloid written for young children found each Wednesday in The Denver Post. This issue of The Mini Page is available through the eEdition Archive to registered eEdition subscribers. Click here to learn about subscribing to the eEdition at no cost to you (for Colorado teachers).

Activities:

1. Paste a headline about an event in your community on a large piece of paper. Now use watercolors or poster paints to create a painting about that event.

2. Create a "Symbols of the American Scene" poster. Cut out pictures of people and things that show something about America. Paste your pictures on your poster.

3. Make a list of the different places in your daily life where you could see examples of public art. You may find student art posted in your school hallways, statues or other sculptures in front of buildings, paintings or mosaics on the sides of buildings, or even paintings on the sides of buses. How many different places did you find? How many different kinds of art did you see?

4. Look through the community events section of your newspaper. Use a colored marker to circle any notices of public art shows or exhibits. Now use a different colored marker to circle any notices or ads for places where you could develop your own art skills.

5. Select a place in your school or community that you think might be a good place for an art project -- a painting, sculpture or mosaic. Draw a design for the type and topic of art that you would recommend. Now write a letter you could use to convince a public official or group that they should support your project.

This week's standards:

• Students identify specific works of art as belonging to particular cultures, times and places. (Fine Arts: Understanding the Visual Arts in Relation to History and Cultures)
• Students understand how people¹s experiences influence the development of specific artworks. (Fine Arts: Assessing the Characteristics of the Works of Others)
  
  

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)