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Archive for the ‘Teaching & Learning’ Category

Forget the formalities, try a pop-up exhibition

Posted in environmental education, Teaching & Learning on June 20, 2017| 2 Comments »

Future teachers attending the Campus School at Smith College in Massachusetts co-create an event demonstrating that pop-up exhibitions can be more engaging than formal gallery exhibitions. Madelaine Zadik, manager of education and outreach at The Botanic Garden at Smith College, writes about the Garden’s work with education students in Pop-Up Exhibits.

Zadik explains how a professor of early childhood education paired her students with kindergarten students so they could learn how to guide young children in inquiry-based activities in the botanic garden. The semester-long collaboration between the future teachers and the Garden resulted in a pop-up exhibition and an online gallery featuring artwork inspired by the Garden’s annual bulb show.

Learn more by reading the article online and by viewing the exhibition on the Garden’s website.


Literature Cited
Zadik, Madelaine. (2015). Pop-up Exhibits. Public Gardens. 30(1), 28-29. Retrieved from https://publicgardens.org/files/images/2015Vol301/mobile/index.html#p=30


Related

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Coachella Valley Environmental Art Contest and Exhibition

Posted in environmental education, Teaching & Learning on April 3, 2017|

Click to download flier

Attention teachers in Southern California’s Inland Empire

The California Regional Environmental Education Community (CREEC) has announced the theme for their annual Coachella Valley Environmental Art Contest and Exhibition. This year’s theme is EARTH. A call for artwork in the following categories has been announced:

    Environmental Art
    Addresses issues of relationships between humans and the environment and suggests solutions.

    Recycle Art
    Made of recycled materials — may include environmentally friendly markers, paint, and glues.

    Digital or Photo Essay
    Digital/Photo essays must include a brief explanation.

This contest is open to all Pre-K – 12 students and adults.

Artwork is due May 24, 2017.

Awards ceremony and exhibition will be held on World Environment Day at the Palm Springs Pavilion on June 4, 2017.

Download EARTH flier

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Bring art and history into the classroom during #ColorOurCollections Week

Posted in environmental education, Teaching & Learning on February 3, 2017|

Next week The New York Academy of Medicine Library will host the 2nd Annual #ColorOurCollections Week.

Cultural institutions around the world will share coloring sheets featuring material from their rare book libraries, archival repositories, special collections and general collections. Follow the hashtag #ColorOurCollections on your favorite social media channel February 6-10, 2017 and join in the fun. Explore the collections of museums and libraries online, download pages to color and post your colorful creations to Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

This event is organized by The New York Academy of Medicine Library. View a list of participating institutions and their respective social media channels online.


Learn More


Related – Botanical Art Coloring Books

(Links updated 2/4/17)

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Short on time to learn botanical art? Consider the 30-minute instructional meditations in this new online program

Posted in environmental education, Learning Opportunities, Special Announcements, Teaching & Learning on December 16, 2016|

In November 2015 illustrator and educator Wendy Hollender launched
A Year of Botanical Drawing, a 12-month subscription program created to provide aspiring botanical illustrators with structured instruction through 2016.

Now one year later, this successful subscription program has evolved into two new online courses. These courses are now available at DrawBotanical.com, the learning platform created specifically for them. Time-strapped nature artists juggling the demands of daily life can choose between relaxing 30-minute instructional meditations in Botanical Basics or step-by-step instruction in colored pencil and watercolor in The Practice of Botanical Drawing. To learn more about each program, click on the links above. If you would like to go on a tour of the new learning platform and would like to “meet” with Wendy herself, be sure to watch the video on the DrawBotanical.com homepage.

Purchase a one-year subscription to The Practice of Botanical Drawing between now and Christmas Eve (December 24, 2016) and receive 5% off the course fee of $400 when you use the promotional code HOLIDAYSALE12 during checkout. A one-year subscription to The Practice of Botanical Drawing includes complimentary access to Botanical Basics.

Begin your study of botanical illustration or give the gift of botanical art to your favorite nature artist, classroom teacher or informal science educator.


Find out more at DrawBotanical.com


About Wendy Hollender
Wendy Hollender is a botanical illustrator, author and instructor. She is the author of Botanical Drawing in Color: A Basic Guide to Mastering Realistic Form and Naturalistic Color and Botanical Drawing: A Beginner’s Guide. She is the co-owner of Botanical Arts Press, LLC and the illustrator of Foraging and Feasting: A Basic Field Guide & Wild Food Cookbook written by Dina Falconi. Wendy has years of experience introducing botanical illustration to new audiences.

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Drawing plant cells leads to new understanding

Posted in environmental education, Teaching & Learning on December 14, 2016| 2 Comments »

When browsing the stacks for primary literature about drawing and learning, we usually read articles written by faculty who study these topics. The voices of students participating in these studies are seldom heard. There might be a quote here or there and examples of student work, but that’s it.

Today I am happy to bring attention to an article that changes this. In the current issue of The STEAM Journal sixth-grade student Rudaba R. Hasan writes about the importance of visualizing science in Visualizing a Plant Cell. In this article about using art to learn about science, we learn how Hasan and fellow sixth-grade students turned an assignment to draw plant and animal cells into an engaging infographic using color, lively characters and informative text.

Learn more about this project by reading Visualizing a Plant Cell, now available online on the journal’s website.


Literature Cited
Hasan, Rudaba R. (2016). Visualizing a Plant Cell. The STEAM Journal. Vol.2: Iss. 2, Article 33. DOI: 10.5642/steam.20160202.33. Retrieved from http://scholarship.claremont.edu/steam/vol2/iss2/33


About The STEAM Journal
The STEAM Journal is an international transdisciplinary peer-reviewed open access online journal focused on the relationship between art and science. Learn More

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Online course about natural history illustration begins this week (and it’s free)

Posted in environmental education, Teaching & Learning on October 23, 2016|

The University of Newcastle Australia is offering a six-week course about natural history illustration on edX, an online platform founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Drawing Nature, Science and Culture: Natural History Illustration is for aspiring scientific illustrators or anyone who enjoys drawing nature. Participants will learn observation skills and drawing techniques. They will also learn about composition and will study the morphology of mammals, birds and plants.

Participants should plan for up to six hours of homework per week. While this online course is free, a verified certificate of completion is available for a fee.

The instructors for this course are Dr. Andrew Howells and Dr. Bernadette Drabsch, both of the Natural History Illustration program at the University of Newcastle.

Learn more about this free learning opportunity by watching this short video and by reviewing the syllabus online. This course begins on October 26, 2016.


More about “Drawing Nature, Science and Culture”

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How to discuss flower painting with teens

Posted in botanical art, Teaching & Learning on August 29, 2016|

Need to discuss flower painting with teenagers?

You will find helpful suggestions in the article, How to Read Art: Analyze these artists’ techniques to interpret their paintings. This article is in the September 2016 issue of Scholastic Art, a magazine dedicated to bringing art history to middle school and high school students.

In How to Read Art, three flower painters and their approach to flower painting are discussed. The painters featured in this article are Dutch flower painter Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750), Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) and Georgia O’Keefe (1887-1986). The editors of Scholastic Art compare the realistic style of Ruysch, to the expressive style of Van Gogh, to the creative flower close-ups of O’Keefe. The paintings under analysis in the article are “Flower Piece” by Ruysch, “Irises” by Van Gogh and “Purple Petunias” by O’Keefe.

The September issue of Scholastic Art can be viewed online for free.
(NOTE: Adobe Flash is required to view this magazine online.)


Literature Cited
Scholastic Art. (2016). How to read art: Analyze these artists’ techniques to interpret their paintings. Scholastic Art. September 2016, 4-5. Retrieved from http://art.scholastic.com/issues/09_01_16.

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