The Big A Block Feed: Programs 101-110

2 hours, 30 minutes

101. Telling a Story in Art

Host Don Arioli introduces his cartoon sidekick, "Norman the Storyteller," to show students how artists use their own experiences to tell stories. The program highlights the storytelling aspects of Northwest Coast Indian art. 15 minutes.

102. Getting Ideas

The Big A kids use zoo animals as a source for their art ideas. Visits to a sculptor's and a painter's studios reveal the steps artists take to turn their ideas into art creations. 15 minutes.

103. Exploring Ideas

Students learn how to make use of an "idea book" as a source for creating their own art work. Don explains that before ideas can be turned into art, artists need to explore, experiment, refine, and clarify them. The kids visit a Javanese puppet master and a sculptor to see how artists transform their ideas into art. 15 minutes.

104. Tools and Materials

Don shows how to get many artistic effects with just one tool. Visits to a Native American artist, a glass artist, and a painter introduce students to the different tools and materials used in creating art and how artists use them to achieve the expressive quality they desire. 15 minutes.

105. Teamwork

Don and the children decide to work together to put on a puppet show. Students go through the process of brainstorming, finding and testing solutions, dividing tasks, and completing their show. The program also highlights professional teamwork in action by showing how filmmakers use special effects to make a film about dinosaurs. 15 minutes.

106. Lines, Shapes, Colors, and Textures

Don introduces the elements of design: line, shape, color, and texture. With the help of a billboard artist, he and the kids transform a graffiti-covered tank into a mural full of animated lines and shapes. 15 minutes.

107. Putting It Together

Don introduces the concept of composition. A trip to a farmers' market provides lots of sketches for the kids' idea books, and a visit with a painter teaches them how to organize a painting through repetition and variety. 15 minutes.

108. What Does It Mean?

Don and the children visit an art museum, where they talk with a photographer, an art curator, and a West African artist about how to interpret works of art in terms of their design elements and compositions. 15 minutes.

109. I Like It Because

The children visit an art gallery. The gallery owner discusses the works of art on display and encourages them to critique the works in terms of their likes and dislikes. 15 minutes.

110. Different Ways of Seeing

For a surprise birthday party for Don, the kids create works of art that show his image in different ways. They also explore using the computer to create art, making a story quilt, and sculpting with clay. 15 minutes.

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