Art Appreciation
Things to See & Do in Colorado
Koshare Indian Museum
The Koshare Indian Museum in La Junta is patterned after the Pueblo architecture found throughout the southwest, featuring the world's largest self supporting log roof and housing a collection of Native American art and artifacts.
Denver Art Museum
The Denver Art Museum has the largest and most comprehensive collection of world art between Kansas City and the West Coast, with over 55,000 works of art, including American Indian, pre-Columbian, and Spanish Colonial art. Other collections include Painting & Sculpture, Asian, Architecture, Design & Graphics, Modern & Contemporary, Textile Art, European, American and Western painting, sculpture, decorative art, textiles, and photography.
Swetsville Zoo - UPDATE: CLOSED 2016
Located at 4801 E. Harmony Road in Fort Collins, the Swetsville Zoo is an outdoor art gallery filled with metal animal sculptures. Bill Swets, creator of the Swetsville Zoo, built them all from car parts, farm machinery and scrap metal. Admission is free, but they do take donations. To read about the closing and moving of the sculptures, refer to the link in the title of this entry.
Foothills Art Center
Foothills Art Center is a 35-year-old non-profit arts resource for Golden and the Denver Metro area as well as for the state, the Southwest, and for artists across the nation, through competitive exhibitions and invitational opportunities.
Gallery of Contemporary Art
Featuring a selection of contemporary art, the Gallery is located at and operated by the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities
The Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities was founded in 1976. Offers award-winning, professional regional theater, children’s theater, concerts, classical and contemporary dance performances, gallery exhibitions, a history museum, and over 600 arts and humanities classes each year for students of all ages.
University Memorial Center Art Gallery
The University Memorial Center Art Gallery, located in UMC 225, exhibits a variety of visual offerings ranging from student works created on campus to presentations of internationally recognized artists.
The UMC Art Gallery seeks to expose the CU and Boulder communities to the role that art plays in understanding the complexity of human experience and culture. The gallery's role is to educate as well as display high quality artwork. The UMC Art Gallery exhibits the work of area and national artists. The gallery presents seven shows per year;
three each semester and one in the summer.
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center offers a multidisciplinary focus and includes the Taylor Museum, performing arts theatre, and the Bemis School of Art.
Van Briggle Pottery Factory Tour
Born in 1869, Artus Van Briggle from an early age demonstrated a unique artistic gift. He eventually open a pottery studio in Colorado Springs, using local clays found in the Colorado Springs area. His work earned him many honors. Artus Van Briggle died in 1904, but his wife continued to operate the pottery company. Today, the factory continues to produce many of Van Briggle’s original designs, often in his turquoise Ming matte glaze. The factory offers free tours.
Teaching Tips & Ideas
How I Teach a Large Family in a Relaxed, Classical Way: Fine Arts
Ideas for incorporating fine art education into a large homeschool family curriculum.
Masterpiece Art Instruction
Masterpiece Art Instruction offers a free newsletter, "Teach Art at Home," along with free projects and lessons, art instruction CDs, and more
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Featured Resources
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Reading Made Easy
Reading Made Easy is a phonics-based program, featuring 108 easy lessons, designed to be taught in less than 30 minutes per day. It is fully scripted and has original Christian content and stories. Includes hands-on writing and drawing activities. Reading Made Easy can be purchased here.
Guerrilla Learning: How to Give Your Kids a Real Education With or Without School
If you’ve ever felt that your child wasn’t flourishing in school or simply needs something the experts aren’t supplying, you’re ready to become a "guerrilla educator." this books explains what’s wrong (and what’s useful) about our traditional schools and shows you how to take charge of your family’s education to raise thinking, creative young people despite the constraints of traditional schooling. Filled with fun and exciting exercises and projects to do with children of all ages, this rem...
The Homeschooling Revolution
A readable, scholarly overview of the modern day homeschooling movement. Includes vignettes from homeschooling families, war stories, research information, media reaction, footnotes, and statistics.
Total Language Plus
Total Language Plus is an innovative curriculum focused on teaching thinking and communication skills using literature as a base. The authors believe an integrated system is more efficient than a fragmented approach, discovery style learning is the most effective and learning should be enjoyable. The "discover, do, drill" method is employed throughout the TLP program with activities focusing on thinking skills. These comprehensive novel studies cover spelling, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, a...
For the Good of the Earth and Sun: Teaching Poetry
For the Good of the Earth and Sun is for teachers at all levels, especially for those teachers who feel anxious about introducing poetry to students. Georgia Heard offers a method of teaching poetry that respects the intelligence of students and teachers and that can build upon their basic originality. She explores poetry from the inside as it is: a powerful and necessary way of looking at the world, and one of mankind's most durable inventions. Her book provides detailed, organized information ...