Ten Lessons the Arts Teach

The arts teach children to make good judgments about qualitative relationships.
Unlike much of the curriculum in which correct answers and rules prevail, in the arts, it
is judgment rather than rules that prevail.

The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution
and that questions can have more than one answer.

The arts celebrate multiple perspectives.
One of their large lessons is that there are many ways to see and interpret the world.

The arts teach children that in complex forms of problem solving
purposes are seldom fixed, but change with circumstance and opportunity. Learning in the arts requires the ability and a willingness to surrender to the unanticipated possibilities of the work as it unfolds.

The arts make vivid the fact that neither words in their literal form nor number exhaust what we can know. The limits of our language do not define the limits of our cognition.

The arts teach students that small differences can have large effects.
The arts traffic in subtleties.

The arts teach students to think through and within a material.
All art forms employ some means through which images become real.

The arts help children learn to say what cannot be said.
When children are invited to disclose what a work of art helps them feel, they must reach into their poetic capacities to find the words that will do the job.

The arts enable us to have experience we can have from no other source
and through such experience to discover the range and variety of what we are capable of feeling.

The arts’ position in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young
what adults believe is important.


SOURCE: http://www.naea-reston.org/tenlessons.html
Eisner, E. (2002). The Arts and the Creation of Mind, In Chapter 4, What the Arts Teach and How It Shows. (pp. 70-92). Yale University Press. Available from NAEA Publications. NAEA grants reprint permission for this excerpt from Ten Lessons with proper acknowledgment of its source and NAEA.

The Day "The Mona Lisa" Was Stolen

On Monday, August 21, 1911, the world's most famous work of art--Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa--was stolen from the Louvre museum in Paris. That morning, many museum employees noticed that the painting was not hanging in its usual place. But, they assumed the painting was taken off the wall by the official museum photographer who was shooting pictures of it up in his studio.
By Tuesday morning, when the painting hadn't been returned and it was not in the photographer's studio, museum officials were notified. The painting was gone!

The police were contacted immediately and they set up headquarters in the museum curator's office. The entire museum was searched from top to bottom. This took a week because of the size of the Lourve: it's a 49-acre building which runs along the Seine river for 2,200 feet. The only thing a detective found was the heavy frame that once held the Mona Lisa. It was discovered in a staircase leading to a cloakroom.

Once the news became public, French newspapers made several claims as to the nature of the theft. One newspaper proclaimed that an American collector stole the work and would have an exact copy made which would be returned to the museum. This "collector" would then keep the original. Another newspaper said that the entire incident was a hoax to show how easy it was to steal from the Louvre.

Many people were questioned about the theft--from museum employees to people who worked or lived nearby. Perhaps somebody might have seen someone acting "suspiciously?" The police even questioned Pablo Picasso. Picasso had previously bought two stone sculptures from a friend named Pieret. Pieret had actually stolen these pieces from the Louvre months before the Mona Lisa was stolen. Picasso thought that perhaps his friend might have also stolen the Mona Lisa.

Fearful of the implications and bad publicity, Picasso had the sculptures given to a local newspaper in order for their return to the museum. Picasso wished to remain anonymous, but someone gave his name to the police. After an interrogation, the police concluded that Picasso knew nothing about the theft of the Mona Lisa.

Luckily, the painting was recovered 27 months after it was stolen. An Italian man named Vincenzo Perugia tried to sell the work to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy for $100,000. Perugia claimed he stole the work out of patriotism. He didn't think such a work by a famous Italian should be kept in France. What Perugia didn't realize was that while the Mona Lisa was probably painted in Italy, Leonardo took it with him to France and sold it to King Francis I for 4,000 gold coins.

How did Perugia steal the Mona Lisa? He had spent Sunday night in the Louvre, hiding in an obscure little room. Monday morning, while the museum was closed, he entered the room where the painting was kept and unhooked from the wall. In a staircase, he cut the painting from it's frame. While trying to leave the building, he came to a looked door. He unscrewed the doorknob and put it in his pocket. He then walked out of the Louvre and into the pages of history.

Interestingly enough, ten months before the painting was stolen, the Louvre decided to have all masterpieces put under glass. Perugia was one of four men assigned to the job. Police questioned Perugia after the theft, but his easy-going, calm demeanor settled any doubts of his involvement.

Source: The Art Stealers by Milton Esterow, New York: Macmillan Company, 1966. pp 100-152.

Principles of Art

• Emphasis in a composition refers to developing points of interest to pull the viewer's eye to important parts of the body of the work.
  
  
• Balance is a sense of stability in the body of work. Balance can be created by repeating same shapes and by creating a feeling of equal weight.
  
  
• Harmony is achieved in a body of work by using similar elements throughout the work, harmony gives an uncomplicated look to your work.
  
  
• Variety refers to the differences in the work, You can achieve variety by using difference shapes, textures, colors and values in your work.
  
  
• Movement adds excitement to your work by showing action and directing the viewers eye throughout the picture plane.
  
  
• Rhythm is a type of movement in drawing and painting. It is seen in repeating of shapes and colors. Alternating lights and darks also give a sense of rhythm.
  
  
• Proportion or scale refers to the relationships of the size of objects in a body of work. Proportions gives a sense of size seen as a relationship of objects. such as smallness or largeness.
  
  
• Unity is seen in a painting or drawing when all the parts equal a whole. Your work should not appear disjointed or confusing.

Source: http://www.msdsteuben.k12.in.us/jrider/elements_and_principles_of_art.htm

Elements of Art

• Form is an element of art that is three-dimensional and encloses volume. Cubes ,spheres,and cylinders are examples of various forms.
  
  
• Line is an element of art which refers to the continuos mark made on some surface by a moving point. It may be two dimensional, like a pencil mark on a paper or it may be three dimensional(wire) or implied( the edge of a shape or form) often it is a outline,contour or silhouette.
  
  
• Shape is an enclosed space defined by other elements of art. Shapes may take on the appearance of two-d or three- objects.
  
  
• Color is an element of art with three properties:
  
  
  
  1. Hue-the name of the color, e.g. red, yellow, etc.
     
  2. Intensity-the purity and strength of the color such as bright ness or dullness.
     
  3. Value-the lightness or darkness of the color.
     
  
  
  
• Texture refers to the surface quality or "feel" of an object, such as roughness, smoothness, or softness. Actual texture can be felt while simulated textures are implied by the way the artist renders areas of the picture.
  
  
• Space refers to the distance or area between, around, above or within things. It can be a description for both 2 and 3 dimensional portrayals.
  
  
• Value describes the lightness or darkness of a color. Value is needed to express volume.

Source:http://www.msdsteuben.k12.in.us/jrider/elements_and_principles_of_art.htm

Graphic Design Theory

This explains the different aspects of design which are considered when composing a piece of fine art or producing a graphic layout in commercial art. Itis called classic theory because it forms the basis for many decisions in design.

Elements of Design

• Line
  
• Shape
  
• Texture
  
• Value & Color
  
• Space

Principles of Design

• Movement
  
• Balance
  
• Emphasis
  
• Unity
  

source: http://www.usask.ca/education/coursework/skaalid/theory/cgdt/designtheory.htm