Renaissance Art Lessons Now Online From Art in Action

July 27, 2010 - PRLog -- Art in Action, a leading nonprofit K-12 art education organization, today announced a new expansion of its comprehensive, masterpiece-based online visual art program with a series of lessons covering Renaissance Art. The lessons are aimed at educating students in middle and high school, and they supplement the recently introduced Ancient Art lessons. The 12 new online art lessons bring the total number of Art in Action lessons available online to 96. View a lesson summary at http://www.artinaction.org/lessongroup/lessons/id/12.

"We are pleased to add Renaissance Art to our online offering for middle and high school students,” says Judy Sleeth, Executive Director of Art in Action. “This represents yet another step in making our entire curriculum available in both print and online versions."

In the Renaissance Art lessons, students explore realism and perspective through the work of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Raphael Sanzio, Sandro Botticelli, and other great Renaissance artists. Students learn the techniques of foreshortening, drawing frontal and profile figures, shading to create form, and arranging composition. Projects explore purely decorative design as well as the architectural concepts of balance, symmetry, and unity. Students create African clay animals based on a Yoruba ivory bracelet, design antique fonts in the fashion of the Irish Book of Kells, print landscape images based on Hokusai's The Great Wave, and explore the Islamic principles of design in Taj Mahal.

The online lessons feature animated discussions of the masterpieces; video demonstrations of art techniques; wikis for sharing tips and ideas; links to relevant websites, books, and music; spoken instructions; and much more.

The Art in Action curriculum is consistently praised for empowering teachers and parents to teach art, by providing detailed, easy-to-follow directions for guiding successful discussions and projects. The lessons appeal to many different learning styles, and they enhance student creativity and innovative thinking. The curriculum meets national and state academic standards and integrates with language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. It has received a 99.6% user satisfaction rating in recent user surveys. View a sample lesson at http://www.artinaction.org/lesson/show/id/12.

The Art in Action visual arts program inspires K-12 students to get excited about learning when they meet the Great Masters and create their own masterpieces. The program supports creativity and develops problem solving and critical thinking skills. Art in Action was founded in 1982 and is a nonprofit organization, which fosters the educational development and creativity of children across America through innovative visual arts programs and communities. More information at www.artinaction.org.

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K-12 visual arts education programs for schools and homeschools, including curriculum aligned with academic standards, lesson-specific art supplies, training of teachers and parent volunteers, and continuous school support.