Module 4: Artists Make Art

What inspires artists?

How do artists make art?

What are some character traits that are useful to artists?

Why is art important?

What is the essential meaning, or most important message, in this book?

Reading

In the fourth module, Artists Make Art, students will explore the creative impulse as they read biographies of artists in the fields of dance, literature, the visual arts, and music. In addition to reading about the artists, students encounter the work of each of these artists. We will ask: What is an artist?

The Dreamer, Pam Muñoz Ryan
Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring, Jan Greenberg
The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau, Michelle Markel
The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art, Barbara Rosenstock
Mario’s Angels: A Story about the Artist Giotto, Mary Arrigan
An Eye for Color: The Story of Joseph Albers, Natasha Wing
The Garden of Monsieur Monet, Giancarlo Ascari
Electric Ben, Robert Byrd
Who Was Leonardo da Vinci?, Roberta Edwards
Who Was Pablo Picasso?, True Kelley
Vincent Van Gogh: Portrait of an Artist, Jan Greenberg
Jackson Pollock, Mike Venezia
Firebird, Misty Copeland & Christopher Myers
Ellington Was Not a Street, Ntozake Shange
Georges Seurat, Mike Venezia
Pippo the Fool, Tracey E. Fern
Michelangelo, Diane Stanley
Leonardo: Beautiful Dreamer, Robert Byrd
Sandy’s Circus: A Story about Alexander Calder, Tanya Lee Stone
Stone Giant: Michelangelo’s David and How He Came to Be, Jane Sutcliffe
The Music in George’s Head, Suzanne Slade
Mr. Matisse and His Cutouts, Annmarie van Haeringen
Jose! Born to Dance, Susannah Reich
Edgar Degas: Paintings that Dance, Kristin N. Cole

(1 Book Per Quarter: Available Selection Listed Below)

*End with Informative/Explanatory Performance Task

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