Conceptual Art
Exploring Conceptual Art in Elementary Education: A Journey in Creativity
This is the first of two sections exploring an ongoing experiment introducing conceptual art to 4th and 5th grade students. Here, Professor Mango and Mr. Beshears share their innovative approach to teaching and nurturing creativity within an inner-city school in San Bernardino. Discover documents and examples that detail the development process.
Research and analysis continue to drive this exciting journey of exploration.
“Making conceptual art has helped me realize that sometimes it’s good to change. You don’t want to be stuck being the same person forever.”
“Conceptual art can change the world. Look at us. We are 4th graders making art for a museum and college.”
“Your talents are flowers. So let them bloom!”
Program Overview
Application
DIJ Art Criticism Process
Above is a copy of the lesson plans on display on the classroom bulletin board.
Leson Plans (Term 1)
Sample lessons that support creativity and understanding conceptual art include some of the topics as pictured left:
American Born Chinese - A graphic novel on internalizing racism.
“Coat of Many Colors” - Song about poverty, love, and excellent introduction to metaphors.
Akokonan - West African symbol for tough love and the inherent pain involved in learning.
C.P. Ellis and Ann Atwater - Studs Terkel oral history of a Ku Klux Klansman’s hero’s journey from terrorism to Civil Right’s advocate.
“Freedom” - Poem by Phillip (5th Grade Salinas Alumni) about isolation, abuse, and overcoming personal obstacles to freedom.
Kintsugi - The Japanese art of taking broken heirlooms and reassembling them in gold to create a more beautiful version; and, a perfect metaphor for humanity.
Epa - West African symbol about self-imprisonment
Silence - smARTshow alumni Cassandra’s art piece involving a 1-minute stare with a stranger over a chess board.
Pheidippides - The Ancient Greek tale of the first marathon runner and his glorious death.
Free pdf of conceptual art book report (with example) on the brilliant novel The Underneath.
Student smARTshow journals play a pivotal role in this project by facilitating brainstorming, exploration, and the deconstruction of emerging ideas. They serve as a platform for students to research, document feedback from group discussions, and refine concepts. Initially, students use brown journals for general brainstorming, progressing to black journals once a concept is approved for development in the smARTshow.
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The Joke’s On You: A Satirical Readymade Art Piece
The Joke’s On You is a Readymade art installation that satirizes the gradual dysfunction of daily operations within a school district. This piece humorously highlights the irony that frequent routine checks of the HVAC unit seem to coincide with its malfunctioning. Click to enlarge for a closer view.
Entropy: Exploring Conceptual Art as a Science Experiment
Entropy is a collaborative art project that experiments with the transfer of information within groups, such as a classroom setting. Similar to the "Game of Telephone," a drawing evolves and transforms as it passes from student to student, sparking deep class discussions on the nature of truth and miscommunication.
Artist Studies
Conceptual artists and deep thinkers are a core means of not only deconstructing conceptual art, but also provides artistic mentors that certain students cling to in their own personal journey as budding artists. Some key artists and their works covered in class include:
Ai Weiwei, his political activism, and Remembering
Sister Corita Kent, her teaching methodology, work ethic, and classroom rules
Marcel Duchamp, his unique brain, and Fountain
Janine Antoni, Loving Care, and Lick and Lather
Richard Long, A Line Made by Walking
Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Untitled (A Portrait of Ross in L.A., Untitled (Perfrect Lovers)
Innovative Media Studies in Art
In the world of art, the choice of medium often shapes the artist's creative direction. Explore how unconventional materials such as pencil shavings are used to illuminate footprints, movement transforms into painting techniques, sand becomes a medium for interactive self-portraits, and tattooing equipment is repurposed to create unique art pieces.
