1. Eisner, Elliot, Rethinking Literacy, (Educational Horizons, v69 n3 p120-28, Spring 1991)

2. Heymsfeld, Carla, Art--the Fourth "R," (Reading and Writing Quarterly, v 13 n4 p315-23, October-December 1997)

3. Albers, Peggy, Art as Literacy, (Language Arts, v74 n5 p338-50, September 1997)

4. Clinard, Janice; Foster, Lenoar, Putting Art Standards into Practice with Aesthetic Literacy, (National Association of Secondary School Principals Bulletin, v82 n597 p18-24, April 1998)

5. Duncum, Paul, Visual Culture: Developments, Definitions and Directions for Art Education, (Studies in Art Education, v42 n2 p101-112, Winter 2001)

Art Education is a resource published by the National Art Education Association.  Of the three publications issued by the NAEA, this journal seems to be the most accessible, with a magazine-type format and articles that run 2-5 pages.  The articles are usually directly applicable to teaching, with theories and trends being articulated as concepts for lesson plans and via stories about teacher’s experiences with students.

Either Studies in Art Education (also published by the NAEA) or the Journal of Art and Design Education, would be a good companion subscription.  Both publications are directed at researchers, and can provide a more critical viewpoint of some of the concepts that might be presented as givens in Art Education.

Art Education is a good resource for teachers because it focuses on ways to engage students that promote both artistic and cultural literacy.  Issues generally revolve around a concept or theme, such as "Art Education In and Beyond the Classroom" (September 2000) and "Delineating Through Diversity" (January 1999).  "Art Education In and Beyond the Classroom " offers ways to expand horizons for students through the use of metaphor, photography and multiple-visit museum programs.  "Delineating Through Diversity" defines diversity both in terms of ethnic and cultural heritage and in terms of non-traditional media for high school students, such as performance art.

Adobe PhotoShop is a professional application for creating and editing bit-map images.  Although it can be used like a paint program to generate images from scratch with drawing, it is generally used to edit existing photographic images that have been created with a digital camera or scanned from film or a print.

The power and versatility of the program provide for many uses in the art classroom.  Students can use it as a design tool for painting and drawing by scanning component sketches or images into the computer and working our their overall composition digitally.  Photographic collage and narratives also make excellent use of the editorial tools available.  Photographers have always had immense editorial influence over their images, even in the darkroom.  Students can continue to explore the effects of manipulating contrast and color and cutting and pasting in the more immediate and flexible medium of the computer.

(Elliot W. Eisner, Republished by the National Art Education Association, Reston, VA, 1997)

"An NAEA 1997 reprint of the classic art education text to celebrate NAEA's 50th Anniversary. Out of print until now, Educating Artistic Vision is an important text for future teachers and members as well as for libraries and staff development collections."  From the website:

Educating Artistic Vision is a comprehensive look at art education, including topics such as history of art education, learning, curriculum design and evaluation, the art & science of teaching, research and implications for the overall sphere of education.  Although seen as a classic by the NAEA, the author believes it to be "a coherent perspective that I hope many will find attractive, but it has no monopoly on the way art education should be viewed."

At the very least, this book offers a source of foundation for researchers of art education, and a source of inspiration for teachers.  The definitions and dynamics discussed are central and theoretically grounded, but read with a quality of lightness that is not very usual for an academic text.  The eloquence of the discourse is itself an aesthetic experience that can revive the exhausted or disheartened art teacher!

The ArtsEdge Mission Statement says it all!  "ARTSEDGE supports the place of arts education at the center of the curriculum through the creative and appropriate uses of technology. ARTSEDGE helps educators to teach in, through and about the arts."  This resource is directed at teachers, and provides resources for lesson plans, professional development, curriculum web links and arts advocacy, to name a few.

This website is truly accessible, with no required registration or log-in. Their database for curriculum units, lesson plans and activities can be approached by subject or grade level. Thankfully, they differentiate between design, performing, and visual arts in the subject approach.  Because the teaching materials focus on the national art education standards and integrating arts with other subjects, you can be assured that most samples units or lesson plans include literacy from the perspective of multiple disciplines.  Permission for teachers to draw from or use lesson plans and materials in their classrooms is clearly stated.

This website is a hub of art information including links to museums, artists and resources, art cd-rom reviews, selected examples of art theory and criticism and fine art images.  The images are the primary feature, and can be accessed from several different vantagepoints.  They are organized via a gallery setting, by topical themes, by art movement and alphabetically by artist.

As art teachers, we need access to images to illustrate our points, whether they are about technique, design, concept or content.  Mark Harden’s Artchive is one of the best sources of modern fine art images I have run into on the web.  Museum websites can also be helpful, but tend to be limited by either the nature or the scope of their collections, or the amount of images they have shared on the web.  This site is a handy source of example images for brief demonstrations, discussions or presentations.  Anyone is welcome to use up to five or six images from the site for any personal, non-profit, or educational purposes provided you credit the Mark Harden website as the source.  The only price you pay here is having to tune out obnoxious banner advertising animations.