It has been my experience my entire teaching career whether I was teaching Kindergarten or secondary, that the arts were a powerful force in connecting with students and connecting content across the curriculum. It enriches all subject areas and gives students a point of reference for new learning. So it is with great reverence and much passion that I offer this week's issue on arts resources. This is an update of the October 9, 1998 arts edition of the newsletter.

I also want to take this moment to salute Drew Model Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia who is working to integrate the Arts across the curriculum for its students. I have been working with the Drew staff for a year and a half now and I truly admire them for the strides they are making. To Drew, and to all schools who infuse the arts into their curriculum, my hat's off to you this issue!

Special thanks to Jerry Blumengarten (heading to Maryland for the holidays), Ron Lambert (of the Sargent Park School in Winnipeg, Manitoba http://www.wsd1.org/SargentPark/) and and Liz (of Lizanne's School Without Walls http://www.lizannes.com/ ) for their recommendations for this week's arts edition!

• A. Pintura: Art Detective - http://www.eduweb.com/pintura/
  This is a great site combining art history and a detective mystery to present art as a body of knowledge. The Case of Grandpa's Painting has all the elements of a 1940's Bogart flick, and it entirely depends on the choices you make as the story unfolds. You'll learn lots and be surprised at how much you already know. A must see.
  
• Art Projects - http://www.bway.net/~starlite/projects.htm
  Barbara Stonek offers this collection of tried and true art activities for the classroom. It includes such timely activities as stained glass art, crayon batik and paper mosaic. The instructions are straightforward and simple and can be adapted for any group from elementary through secondary.
  
• @rt Room - http://www.arts.ufl.edu/art/rt_room/index.html
  Dr. Craig Roland, Associate Professor of Art Education, at the University of Florida presents this wonderful site that stimulates the imagination and offers all kinds of reasons to want to express one's self artistically. Check out the @rt Sparkers and @rtrageous Thinking to see what I mean.
  
• Art 21 - http://www.pbs.org/art21/
  This fresh look at art in the new century is being aired on four successive Thursday nights on PBS January 17, January 24, January 31 and February 7 from 10-11pm. The companion website offers lots of ways to consider the evolving definition of modern art. Check out the Alphabet Synthesis Machine!
• Color Theory - http://members.home.net/mrsparker2/
  This site offers a look at color and how it can be used in art. It's very child-centered with lots of student art work, online activities and games and puzzles. For older students check out Color Matters at http://www.colormatters.com/ and see how easy it is to bring art and science together in a tangible way.
• Crayons and Computers - http://members.aol.com/Sabbeth/CrayonsandComputers.html
  No I'm not so far gone that I believe this is a recipe for primary art, but the approaches this site takes in taking developmentally appropriate arts activities and enhancing them through different technologies is quite inspiring. Yes there's an over-dependence on Kidpix, but it's a great intro for teachers wanting to take the next step in using technology with younger students.
• Eyes on Art - http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/art2/
  Those wonderful people at PacBell are at it again, refurbishing this great site with activities it has been known for reaching out to students to elicit responses to art and then drawing them in further to master the content of art. I love the way the site is structured to support students each step of the way.
• KidsArt - http://www.kidsart.com/
  Attention elementary teachers of all kinds, KidsArt is a great site for creative art ideas (note the current wallpaper activity). The Quick Art ideas and the Top Ten Lists of links are enough to make this site worth bookmarking, but the ArtMap USA is a great way to bring in geography to your art instruction.
• KidsMuse! - http://www.utah.edu/umfa/kidsmuse.html
  The Utah Museum of Fine Arts has done a wonderful job creating these online interactive exhibits that allow students to actually experience color by clicking on colors in actually art work, alter mood by changing backgrounds in paintings and completing removing specific art elements from an image to see how it changes its composition. Too cool.
• Leonardo's Workshop - http://www.sanford-artedventures.com/play/leonardo/index.html
  This offbeat presentation invites students to travel back in time to renaissance Italy and explore the workshop of da Vinci. It's a fun simulation with lots of history, activities and learning packed into this adventure in which Carmine tries to help Dr. N. Ventor figure out why a great masterpiece has vanished from its canvas.
• Marilyn's Imagination Factory - http://www.kid-at-art.com/
  Then URL should tip you off as to what a wonderfully creative, child-centered educator Marilyn Brackney is. This is no ordinary art site folks. Here you will find recycled trash used to build a sculpture of the dreaded Trashasaurus Rex. There's even a Badge Matcher feature to help scouts get their merit badges through activities offered on this site. Everyone should have a teacher like this at least once!
• Rings of Passion - http://www.pbs.org/ringsofpassion/
  J. Carter Brown is the curator for this past PBS special and the accompanying website. It's an excellent look at the elements of art that make it meaningful across cultures with the opportunity to build your own virtual art exhibit using art work containing five different themes in world art.
• Twelve Hundred years of Italian Sculpture - http://www.thais.it/scultura/scultura.htm
  This site is what it says it is: alphabetical links to timeless works of art including links to many of the influential cultural centers of Italy. It's the real deal hosted from the old country, so it's presented here in both Italian and English. Thumbnail images allow for quick loading and you're just a click away from larger representations.
• The Use of Visual Information in Art - http://psych.hanover.edu/Krantz/art/
  Dr. John Krantz of Hanover College made it his mission to provide some online lessons on how our perceptions impact the way we experience art. These online tutorials explore concepts like depth perception, color perception, and form perception. Talk about art as a body of knowledge. How about art and science as a body of knowledge?
  

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