Art Sites

The world’s Largest Student Art Web Site:

Artsonia :

http://www.artsonia.com

GRADE LEVEL: Pre-K-12

CONTENT:   A

Artsonia boasts the "world's largest student art museum on the Internet!" The site displays artwork from more than 80 different countries. 

AESTHETICS:   A

The site uses a consistent layout and color scheme plus high-quality graphics throughout the pages.

ORGANIZATION:  A

There are several ways to explore this site. Users can browse the artwork by school, country, or project. An online search feature allows searching by student name, project name, school name, or art ID. There is also a top navigation bar present and a handy site map.

REVIEW:   A

Have you been looking for a way to generate a little more enthusiasm about art in your classroom? Publishing student work at Artsonia may be just the venue you have been looking for. Most students enjoy seeing their work published. Having it published along with the artwork from students in 80 other countries around the world is bound to serve as motivation to your students. The projects are divided up into grades Pre-K-3, 4-8, and 9-12. Free registration allows up to 50 pieces of artwork a year. Submitters can send artwork as digital images, or Artsonia will do the scanning for a small fee. The site features an artist of the week for grades K-6 and 7-12, as well as a school of the week and a teacher of the month. Students, parents, and relatives will enjoy browsing and commenting on the art galleries. Teachers could browse the galleries and find great ideas for art projects to use in their own classrooms.

RELATED REVIEWS:

Fine Arts: General

http://www.educationworld.com/awards/past/topics/fine_arts.shtml#General

Students: General

http://www.educationworld.com/awards/past/topics/students.shtml#General

National Gallery of Art: Classroom
Super, easy-to-use site - a great addition to your "favorites" list.
http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2005/r1105-28.shtml

REVIEW: A+
The National Gallery of Art (NGA) Classroom offers lesson plans, activities, worksheets and other resources for teachers and students to integrate the arts into the curriculum

	CONTENT: The National Gallery of Art (NGA) Classroom offers lesson plans, activities, worksheets and other resources for teachers and students to integrate the arts into the curriculum.
	SITE DESIGN: The site is easily navigated and resources can be accessed by curriculum, artist or topic from the main page. Search results give a brief description of the resource.
	REVIEW: The National Gallery of Art: Classroom offers teachers ready to use lesson plans that connect art to each of the major subject areas and a range of grade levels. Each lesson includes an overview, student activities, printable worksheets, resources and a glossary. Additionally, lessons are grouped into a number of topical categories such as portraiture, still life, sculpture, ancient art and dozens of others. Interactive student activities offer students the opportunity to design their own mobile; draw, paint and print their own medal; decorate cakes in the bakery; or become a myth-master with the game of gods and symbols. The NGA also has a host of free loan materials that teachers and home schooling parents will want to check out

Art for Peace:

http://Art-for-Peace.org/

"An effective way to encourage kids ... to think positively about peace."  REVIEW:   A

Everything teachers need to implement the Art for Peace program in their schools can be found at this Web site. Teachers can fill out the form that is provided and receive a complete, free Teacher's Kit with lesson plans, names and addresses of other schools, and tested suggestions for encouraging interest and participation in peace discussions. Students create their peace-oriented artwork, send it to other schools around the world, and receive artwork back from other participating schools. Included at the site are wonderful examples of students' peace artwork

Tour the Met’s art treasures on the net

http://www.metmuseum.org

Teachers can now take your students to the legendary METROPOLITAN museum of ART online and see more than 3,500 works from some of the greatest artists in the world. This site is a wonderful resource not only to art teachers but to Social Studies or English teachers who want t illustrate the pervasive concepts, great thinkers, and moving images from a specific historical period or intellectual movement. And, as one would expect from the foremost art collection in the country, the graphics and text are dazzling.

Art Access :

REVIEW:   A+

Teachers, parents, and students who are interested in multicultural art will find a wealth of resources here. Art Access gives access to four of the institute's collections: Ancient Indian Art of the Americas, African American Art, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, and Modern and Contemporary Art. Resources in each area include lesson plans, family activities, a glossary, books and media, and maps as well as thumbnails of the art. The lesson plans are geared toward particular grade levels but can be adapted for any level, and the art projects in the family activities can be adapted for classroom use.

http://www.artic.edu/aic/artaccess/

3-12, Parents, Teachers

An Interactive Site On Color!

Color Theory

http://members.home.net/mrsparker2/

GRADE LEVEL: 3-8

CONTENT:   A

Color Theory for Kids is an online lesson for reviewing or learning about how to mix colors and put them together in artwork.

AESTHETICS:   A

The site uses wide margins and nice graphics to keep the pages neat and easy to navigate.

ORGANIZATION:  A

A table of contents on the main page provides access to the major areas of the site, or users can navigate through the lesson sequentially by following the arrows at the bottom of each page. A bottom navigation menu is available on all pages.

REVIEW:   A

These pages were put together to meet the Virginia state standards in visual arts, but they are appropriate for art students anywhere. The lessons were created to be followed in a linear progression using online interactive sites, examples of artwork from the masters and from students, and print or online puzzles and quizzes. The lessons cover such concepts as the color wheel, mixing, schemes, and mood. The Artroom Activities give students the opportunity to apply the knowledge they learn in the lesson. Activity topics covered in the Artroom include Re-Chroma That Character, Non-Objective Paintings, and Feeling and Mood in Paintings. Teacher Resources and Examples of Color Schemes in Master Paintings are also included.

Online Classics – Excite Students Through Fine Arts Videos:

Reviewed at http://www.education-world.com/awards/past/2001/r0401-08.shtml

GRADE LEVEL: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, Advanced

Have you been looking for a way to bring a little culture into the lives of your students? Or perhaps you are just a patron of the performing arts. Either way, this site is for you. The site provides more than 150 hours of videos, including dance performances, concerts, operas, and theater performances. In addition to the streaming video, users will find short informational articles about each performance.

A source for excellent web links in science, math and art:

http://www.lhs.berkeley.edu/HotLinks/#Hotlinks

Art:

1. http://www.artchive.com/artchive/ftptoc/picasso_ext.html
2. http://www.louvre.fr/louvrea.htm - take a virtual tour of Paris' most famous museum
3. http://www.metmuseum.org/home.asp - take a virtual tour of the Metropolitan Museum of NY
4. http://www.kcsd.k12.pa.us/~projects/critic/resource.html - the incredible art department
5. http://www.artswire.org/kenroar - valuable resources for obtaining fine art images information about artists, art styles and periods.
6. http://artsafari.moma.org/safari_sleeping.html - learn about Henri Rousseau, The Sleeping Gypsy
7. http://www.frankfort.k12.mi.us/high/mundo/ALEC/sld001.htm - read about Picasso's life (printable Picasso websheet

Your mission on this site is to capture a piece of artwork in one of the four categories and bring it back to the 21st Century:

http://www.ci.swt.edu/Faculty/Peterson/ArtinTime/7-Mission.html

"Edward Ruscha: Lisp, 1968" explores this painting by one of the

most compelling artists of the last 40 years.  Ruscha is best known

for paintings in which words play a central role.  "Lisp" shows his

interest in words not only for the images & meanings they suggest,

but also as representational imagery & subject matter. (NGA)

     http://www.nga.gov/feature/ruscha/ruscha01.htm

"The Great American Landmarks Adventure" presents 43 drawings &

descriptions of historical landmarks.  Learn about the houses of

the past, Empire State Building, Gateway Arch of St. Louis, U.S.

Capitol, Brooklyn Bridge, Mark Twain house, & others. (NPS)

     http://www2.cr.nps.gov/pad/adventure/landmark.htm

"Van Gogh's Van Gogh" features 9 paintings & a chronology of the

life of this ingenious Dutch painter.  Van Gogh was 27 years old

when he decided to become an artist after unsuccessful attempts at

being an art dealer, a teacher, & a clergyman.  He taught himself

mostly by studying the prints & reproductions he collected.  The

paintings he produced before his death at age 37 set the direction

for many of the expressionist tendencies in 20th century art. (NGA)

     http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/vgbro.htm

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

http://hirshhorn.si.edu/

GRADE LEVEL: 6-12

CONTENT: A+

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is the Smithsonian's museum of modern and contemporary art. The online collections focus on the art of the past 25 years and feature more than 4,000 records.

AESTHETICS: A+

This well-designed site is attractive and user-friendly. A Java-enabled browser and Macromedia Flash 5 Player are needed for viewing some of the pages. Included is a very informative Help page for setting up your computer for the best viewing.

ORGANIZATION: A+

There are a number of navigation options at this site. Users may choose the navigation bar at the top of the page or the handy site map, or they may search the collections by keyword or featured artist.

REVIEW: A+

The online archives of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden give students of contemporary and modern art a great opportunity to view the collections and exhibits. The collections can be searched by artist or topic, and each record includes historical information about the piece and the artist. A Flash movie of the Hirshorn Story is available that includes a timeline and information about the architecture and Joseph H. Hirshhorn, the founding donor. A few sample pages from the educational packets can be downloaded. Students can visit Art Interactive to learn how artists have used different methods and materials to convey their ideas, or they can try their hand at making their own art online in Create a Sculpture.

RELATED REVIEWS:

Fine Arts: General

http://www.educationworld.com/awards/past/topics/fine_arts.shtml

Fine Arts: Art History

http://www.educationworld.com/awards/past/topics/fine_arts.shtml#Art%20History

Draw On
Fun online drawing tool that can be used collaboratively.
http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2005/r0405-25.shtml

URL:
http://www.ge.com/en/company/companyinfo/
advertising/geadv_int.htm

REVIEW: A+
Draw On will keep kids of all ages entertained for hours. By simply clicking on the pen and dragging it around the screen, users can create a drawing online then save it, send it to a friend, invite a friend to collaborate in the drawing, or replay the drawing stroke by stroke. Users can use any of several tools such as the pen, stamps, shapes, lines and text as well as a variety of pen options plus colors to create their masterpieces. The drawing can be created using the grid or without and with or without background color. The site could be used in the classroom as a learning tool and as a means to collaborate with other classes and students for online projects.

A Brush With Wildlife: Create a Composition With Carl Rungius

http://www.wildlifeart.org/Rungius/

GRADE LEVEL: 6-8, 9-12, Advanced

CONTENT:  A

This site offers visitors lessons in composition and an opportunity to create an artistic composition of their own.

AESTHETICS: A+

Color and balance are used to make the site appealing. Flash Player is required for the animations, and the Composition Studio works best in Internet Explorer.

ORGANIZATION: A

A navigation menu appears on the main page, and internal pages link back to the home page.

REVIEW: A

A Brush With Wildlife uses the art of Carl Rungius (1869-1959), considered to be one of the country's finest wildlife artists, to illustrate the concepts and principles involved in creating a visual composition. This art lesson covers the concepts of balance, contrast, movement, pattern/repetition, and proportion with animated designs and artistic illustrations. Users are invited to create their own work while learning the seven principles of composition by choosing the elements from Rungius's works to include. The compositions can then be saved and submitted to the Critique Gallery to be published and reviewed.

Edward Hopper site:

http://metalab.unc.edu/cjackson/hopper 

Rembrandt House Permanent Collection:

http://www.rembrandthuis.nl/english.htm 

Vaudeville:

http://vaudeville.org 

Cezanne in Provence
National Gallery of Art online exhibit honoring this founder of modern art.
http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2006/r0406-14.shtml

URL:
http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/cezanneinfo.htm

REVIEW: A
This exhibition marks the centenary of the death of Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) a leading figure in the impressionist and post impressionist movements. It focuses on his works that were painted in and around the countryside of his birthplace in Aix-en-Provence. Visitors will want to begin with the Exhibition Feature with audio that includes an introduction, a discussion of his motifs, a chronology, maps in and around Aix where Cezanne painted specific works, image list and comparative images, and glossary. More than thirty of his paintings and drawings are available for viewing online including Chateau Noir, Landscape Near Paris and At the Water's Edge. Visitors to the site will also find a short biography, a slideshow of images by art historian John Rewald, known for his study of Cezanne. While visiting the site be sure to click on the Online Tours in the left sidebar to enjoy the National Gallery's in-depth study tours that explore dozens of artist, works of art and themes.

Sites to See:
Photo Editing Software

Okay, now you've got a digital camera, so what's next? How can you create slide shows, crop photos, add funny effects, and organize your photo libraries? Education World spotlights the Web's best free tools for editing and organizing photos. Included: Links to downloadable photo editing, organizing, and publishing tools for PC, Mac, and Linux users.

Okay, you've got a digital camera, so what's next? How can you create slide shows, crop photos, add funny effects, and organize your photo libraries -- without breaking the bank? Try some of the free online tools we found!

IrfanView
Ask any techie and you'll probably hear IrfanView mentioned as one of the top two or three pieces of freeware around. For PCs only, IrfanView helps you crop, add effects (sharpen, blur, color depth), create a slide show, and convert images from one format to another (.jpg to .pict). And, you can do many of these things in batches (multiple photos at once), saving time! Lastly, this is a small program, saving valuable space on your hard drive.

iPhoto Diet
True confession here -- with a toddler in the house, this author's iPhoto library has grown to 3000 photos and videos! Because photos and videos take up so much space, this photographic binging has slowed down the computer. It's time to go on a photo diet. iPhoto Diet to the rescue! A free download for Mac users, iPhoto Diet looks for duplicate photos and eliminates them, removes iPhoto's backups of modified or rotated photos, deletes thumbnail icons, finds photos that are floating outside of albums, deletes needless folders and files from iPhoto, and more. (Note: A warning on iPhoto Diet's Web site says you should back up your photos -- on a zip drive or external hard drive probably -- before using the program.) iPhoto Diet is available in eight languages.

GIMP
Want the power and features of PhotoShop without the expense? Try Gimp, an open source alternative. GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. This freeware program is truly cross-platform (PC, OS X, Unix, and, gulp, Source itself!), and it offers many of the high-powered image-viewing and image-editing features as PhotoShop. Edit in layers, paint, transform, use effects filters, and perform channel and color operations like the pros. Best used by high school students in design courses or by teachers with intermediate (or higher) tech skills.

Picasa
Love your PC, but wish you had iPhoto like some of your fellow teachers? Check out Google's free downloadable photo viewer and editor called Picasa (PC only)! As soon as you open Picasa, it searches for all the photos on your computer, finding even those great photos you long forgot you had. Picasa then organizes photos into date-specific albums, like iPhoto. The program is invaluable for the elementary classroom teacher with lots of candid shots from every field trip, performance, and other special event in the last five years. The program also offers simple editing tools -- get rid of red eye, change color settings, get artsy with sepia tones, write captions, zoom in, and, for you photo hounds, manipulate photos shot in manual mode. Great for any teacher at any skill level -- and easy for students in grades 4 and up to use as well.

Pixia
For PCs only, Pixia is free program best used in middle- or high-school art or design classes. Also included are advanced tools for painting and retouching images, working layers, lighting adjustments, and multiple, undo/redo. Originally developed in Japan, Pixia is available in several languages. Note that the Web site can be challenging to navigate, but tutorials by fans (linked on the site) provide screen shots and step-by-step help with some of the basic tasks.

ALSO WORTH A LOOK

• PhotoPlus 6.0: photo and image editing freeware (PC).
• VCW VicMan's Photo Editor: photo editing freeware (PC).
• fxFoto. Another program similar to Apple's iPhoto that helps PC users organize images as well do simple editing tasks.
• FunPhotor. FunPhotor (PC only) is a photo "blending" program, allowing you to place your students at the steps of the Taj Mahal or orbiting earth in a shuttle.
• Jalbum. This cross-platform program that allows users to create photo albums for their Web pages is available in 28 languages.

Learn about more great sites for students, parents, and educators by visiting Education World's Site Reviews Archives.

Article by Lorrie Jackson
Education World®
Copyright © 2006 Education World

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