"Designed for children ages nine to twelve, Art in action 2 is the second of a two-volume set. The companion volume, Art in action 1, presents more elementary projects that are suitable for children ages five through eight." - book cover.

Communities are often rich in art and cultural tradition, and sometimes students need a little push to explore this world beyond their boundaries. Congdon demonstrates how art education programs in schools and other sites can be expanded to address community-based and folk-life traditions. The text explains how art and aesthetic choices are at the heart of communities, and discusses how folk-life and community practices are associated with the natural and built environment, different occupations, recreational activities, and ethnic traditions.

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The field of expressive arts is closely tied to the work of therapeutic change. As well as being beneficial for the individual or small group, expressive arts therapy has the potential for a much wider impact, to inspire social action and bring about social change. The book's contributors explore the transformative power of the arts therapies in areas stricken by conflict, political unrest, poverty or natural disaster and discuss how and why expressive arts works. They look at the ways it can be used to engage community consciousness and improve social conditions whilst taking into account the issues that arise within different contexts and populations. Leading expressive arts therapy practitioners give inspiring accounts of their work, from using poetry as a tool in trauma intervention with Iraqi survivors of war and torture, to setting up storytelling workshops to aid the integration of Ethiopian Jewish immigrants in Israel. Offering visionary perspectives on the role of the arts in inspiring change at the community or social level, this is essential reading for students and practitioners of creative and expressive arts therapies, as well as psychotherapists, counsellors, artists and others working to effect social change.

Action Art: Hands-On Active Art Adventures is A Collection of Over 100 Active Hands-On Art Experiences for Children 2-12, Full of Adventure, Movement, and Discovery. FOR SCHOOLS &• HOMESCHOOLS &• MUSEUMS&• LIBRARIES &• CHILDCARE &• HOME Shelving: ART ACTIVITIES &• EDUCATION &• PARENTING Over 100 action-packed art activities bring discovery and adventurous creativity to children's art experiences that will delight and challenge kids of all ages. Each child-tested art activity is grouped into engaging action categories including: Smacking &• Squeezing &• Tapping Rolling &• Spinning &• Swinging Blowing &• Exploding &• Smooshing Tools &• Toys &• Utensils Up &• Down &• All Around Full color photographs highlight all activities including painting, photography, collage and sculpture, each with helpful icons indicating levels for both children and adults. Action Art experiences are built on the knowledge that art for children is a creative process and not just a finished product. MaryAnn Kohl is famous around the world for encouraging children to experience creative art exploration best known as &“process art&”. Action Art offers 5 chapters of exciting and adventurous creative art activities, all with surprise outcomes, including &– Blowing Glitter, Dancing Blottos, Bubble Wrap, Boot Walk, Clear Color Squish

The Chicago-based art program "Culture in Action" addressed such pressing urban issues as minority youth leadership and gang violence, HIV/AIDS caregiving, public housing, multicultural demographics and neighborhood, achievements by women, labor and management relations, and ecology. "Culture in Action" took place from 1992 through 1993 and was organized by Sculpture Chicago, a decade-old visual arts organization that specializes in unique public art and education programs. Seeking to bridge art and life, eight innovative artist and community partnerships unfolded with results as diverse as a storefront hydroponic garden, a new line of candy, and an ecological field station. These investigations into urban artmaking were activated by participating artists selected by curator Mary Jane Jacob for their interest in critical social issues and testing the boundaries of public art.

"With its gentle affirmations, inspirational quotes, fill-in-the-blank lists and tasks — write yourself a thank-you letter, describe yourself at 80, for example — The Artist’s Way proposes an egalitarian view of creativity: Everyone’s got it."—The New York Times "Morning Pages have become a household name, a shorthand for unlocking your creative potential"—Vogue Over four million copies sold! Since its first publication, The Artist's Way phenomena has inspired the genius of Elizabeth Gilbert and millions of readers to embark on a creative journey and find a deeper connection to process and purpose. Julia Cameron's novel approach guides readers in uncovering problems areas and pressure points that may be restricting their creative flow and offers techniques to free up any areas where they might be stuck, opening up opportunities for self-growth and self-discovery. The program begins with Cameron’s most vital tools for creative recovery – The Morning Pages, a daily writing ritual of three pages of stream-of-conscious, and The Artist Date, a dedicated block of time to nurture your inner artist. From there, she shares hundreds of exercises, activities, and prompts to help readers thoroughly explore each chapter. She also offers guidance on starting a “Creative Cluster” of fellow artists who will support you in your creative endeavors. A revolutionary program for personal renewal, The Artist's Way will help get you back on track, rediscover your passions, and take the steps you need to change your life.

From FirehousePublications.com comes the elementary version of our bestselling book, The Art Student's Workbook. This elementary version was created by a 20+ year certified veteran teacher and curriculum writer for classes in drawing, painting and sculpture designed for grades three through eight. The lessons are broad and easily adjusted to accommodate different grade levels, special needs students, and material appropriate for many environments from the school classroom, or home based instruction, to a fine arts camp program. It includes nearly three years worth of lesson ideas in painting, drawing, sculpture, and clay, project samples, vocabulary, worksheets, sample tests, research paper samples, grading rubrics, sketch and note taking pages, and short creative five minute writing assignments, critiquing pages, and daily closure statements to meet district observational requirements. This book is also a helpful aid in fulfilling State and Federal accommodation requirements (504/ IEP) by providing special needs students additional documented and written material that may be taken home. Every lesson is designed to be personal and expressive fine art. There are NO "crafty" projects or "cookie-cutter" lessons where everyone has the same outcome. This book stresses a "divergent thinking processes" approach and creative problem solving, with an art therapy undertone. Most lesson suggestions may be done in different media to work within tight budgets. Anecdotal evidence from the author's guidance department indicates that students who take this course with this workbook are 50% less likely to fail standardized testing. These are real numbers that can grab the attention of your administration and Board of Education if you have the same results. These lessons combine information from core curriculum and merge it with fine art. Art is the meeting place for all subjects. When we grid-we use geometry. When we make sculptures-we use engineering. When we mix colors-we reveal information about physics. When we create illustrations for stories-we learn about literature. When we review the styles of art from da Vinci to Warhol-we teach history. Students not only come to understand the concepts, but use them, and manipulate them for deeper understanding on multiple sensory levels of thinking. This workbook is divided by multicurricula units so that this concrete connection to academic "core courses" is more easily seen. ALL projects are designed to have successful divergent results, incorporate creative problem solving, and bring relevant connections to students' lives. This book is built for student success on many levels from gifted to challenged. This in turn is helpful in fulfilling mandated accommodations so that no child is left behind. We recommend that you pair this book with the student edition of the same name. For those that teach in middle or high school, find our other title, "The Art Student's Workbook."

Taking vigorous issue with the pervasive Western notion that the arts exist essentially for the purpose of aesthetic contemplation, Nicholas Wolterstorff proposes instead what he sees as an authentically Christian perspective: that art has a legitimate, even necessary, place in everyday life. While granting that galleries, theaters and concert halls serve a valid purpose, Wolterstorff argues that art should also be appreciated in action -- in private homes, in hotel lobbies, in factories and grocery stores, on main street. His conviction that art should be multifunction is basic to the author's views on art in the city (he regards most American cities as dehumanizing wastelands of aesthetic squalor, dominated by the demands of the automobile), and leads him to a helpful discussion of its role in worship and the church. Developing an aesthetic that is basically grounded, yet always sensitive to the human need for beauty, Wolterstorff make a brilliant contribution to understanding how art can serve to broaden and enrich our lives.