From the earliest times, people have tried to express their thoughts, feelings, and understanding of the world around them by creating art. The arts-both visual and performing-provide unique modes for communicating ideas and emotions. According to Ezra Pound, "The artist is the antenna of the race."

(For more information and links about Art, be sure and check out the "Imagination" Themepark.)

Places To Go

Theatre History on the Web
The University of Washington, School of Drama created this site to aid in online research of theatre throughout the ages. Links under Cultural Sites/Theatre Resources are very extensive; links are also grouped by historical period.

Web Gallery of Art
The Web Gallery of Art is a virtual museum and searchable database of European painting and sculpture of the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods (1150-1750), currently containing over 8,000 reproductions. Biographies and commentaries are available.

Smithsonian American Art Museum
The National Museum of American Art is the official site of the Smithsonian Institution's art collections. Easily navigable and interactive, the main page leads to online exhibitions, the permanent collections, and research tools.

The Museum of Modern Art
This site provides a sampling of artwork from the Museum of Modern Art, giving visitors a chance to enjoy and learn about the types of art represented in the museum's vast collection. At the Collections section viewers can see and hear about different works of art, including paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, and more. The Art Safari feature is a fun destination for web-based art and writing activities.

J. Paul Getty Museum
The Getty Museum collections comprise seven areas of art from Greek and Roman antiquities to contemporary American and European photographs. In addition to a brief history of the collections, a selection of objects from each of the collection areas is presented on this website

Music History 102
This exhibit at the Internet Public Library provides an overview of the history of music. It is broken down according to the artistic eras of music development: The Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque Age, the Classical Period, the Romantic Era, and the Twentieth Century.

Essentials of Music
This site, a collaboration of Sony Music and W. W. Norton and Company Publishers, is like having a music textbook online. In the glossary, a viewer can read the definition for saxophone, then click to hear an example of tenor sax in Ravel's"Bolero." The viewer can also view information by Era and by Composers. 

Jazz
This website was created to support the PBS series by Ken Burns. Audio clips of many jazz performers are available, as well as interesting historical and biographical information of the highlights of jazz in the United States.

The Artists
This site features the major 20th Century and contemporary visual artists. Artists can be searched by name, art movement, style, or medium.

Women Artists in History
Find some short biographies of women artists, divided by period or era. 

Artcyclopedia
This fine art search engine allows the viewer to search for artists by name, artworks by title, or museums by name or place. You can also browse their database of over 7,500 great artists by movement, medium, subject, or nationality.

Composers
The lives of composers tell us a great deal about the history of music and the music they created. At this site, you can read about the composers and, in many cases, hear examples of their works.

Mozart's Magical Musical Life
Kids will love this interactive biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The storybook is embellished with pictures, hypertext links to details, and audio files of Mozart's compositions.

Cinema
Learn all about how Hollywood films are made. Categories include screenwriting, directing, producing, acting, editing, as well as a page of related links and a bibliography of texts relating to the movie industry.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Explore and Learn
At this website you can learn about an artist, explore a work of art, try an activity, or study a theme or culture. 

Rings of Passion in World Art: Five Emotions in World Art
This website allows the viewer to explore five basic human emotions-love, anguish, awe, triumph and joy-to illustrate the commonality of the human experience. 

The Utah Museum of Fine Arts: Kids Muse!
This interactive site from the Utah Museum of Fine Art makes learning about basic art theory fun. As students explore the activities, they learn about the use of color and composition in paintings and become familiar with the many different types of paintings in the Museum's collection.

ArtQuest
At Art Quest, students can explore multicultural perspectives on contemporary American art.

ArtLex Art Dictionary
At ArtLex you will find definitions of more than 3,300 visual art terms, along with thousands of images, pronunciation notes, great quotations, and links to other resources on the Web.

Classical Music Search
When you know a melody and you do not know its title or composer, this melody search engine will help you. The search engine retrieves the title and the composer of the melody you entered. The database includes more than 1500 classical music melodies.

Continental Harmony
Discover the common functions of music around the world.

Music Notes: An Interactive Online Music Experience
Learn about note reading, intervals, scales, chords, and other useful information at this site. The site also features historical information about musical eras ranging from the Medieval Era through the 20th century. 

Tour the Instruments
Experience a sampling of instruments.

The Electric Ballerina
Learn more about ballet (or just have fun!) by downloading these computer-generated simulations of steps and positions. (You'll need the Macintosh or Windows versions of Apple Computer's QuickTime software components.)

Art Exhibit!
This webquest has students assume the role of museum curator to determine which works of art will be selected for a special display. Each curator will need to be an expert on a different art element or principle of design. Individual curators must collaborate with other curators to produce an exhibit with an overall theme of their own choice.

Illustrating Endangered Species
Students illustrate endangered species utilizing different artistic styles for this webquest activity.

KinderArt
Geared to younger children, this site features a large collection of free online art lesson plans and art education information. 

Educator's Reference Desk Art Lesson Plans
An assortment of lesson plans related to art.

Going to a Museum? A Teacher's Guide
This site includes a compilation of lesson plans written by teachers in the "Museums and Education" course offered in Northern Virginia. This guide is divided into three sections: Museum Field Trip Planning Guide, Sample Lesson Plans and Internet Resources.

Impressionism
This unit leads students through the works of impressionist artists of France. Lessons included look at nine French impressionists, how their work shared common characteristics, and how they viewed the world differently.

ArtsEdNet: Lesson Plans and Curriculum Ideas
This section of ArtsEdNet includes a variety of teaching and learning materials, including many art images.

AccessArt
AccessArt is an evolving collection of online workshops and arts educational activities aimed at all ages. For teachers, educators and artists, AccessArt provides easy access to contemporary issues in visual arts education and an exchange of information and ideas.

Kodak: Art Lesson Plans
Ideas for integrating the art of photography into the classroom.

ArtEduTech
ArtEduTech offers thematic units of study integrating art and technology into K-12 curricula. The text-only site includes program and performance goals, curriculum units, teacher resources, and Web links to related sites.

ArtsEdge: Music and Art Lesson Plan Links
This site contains links to lots of art and music lesson plans and resources.

Music Hall
The Music Hall gives access to hundreds of reviewed websites organized in categories created to complement the National Arts Standards for music education. 

Art History Resources on the Web
This is a comprehensive arts resource that indexes art sites by both time period and culture. It also serves as a gateway to various museums and galleries around the world.

• Anholt, Laurence. Camille and the Sunflowers: A Story About Vincent Van Gogh. Barrons Juveniles, 1994.
• Anholt, Laurence. Degas and the Little Dancer: A Story About Edgar Degas. Barrons Juveniles, 1996.
• Anholt, Laurence. Picasso and the Girl With a Ponytail: A Story About Pablo Picasso. Barrons Juveniles, 1998.
• Frohardt, Darcie Clark. Teaching Art with Books Kids Love: Teaching Art Appreciation, Elements of Art, and Principles of Design with Award-Winning Children's Books. Fulcrum Pub., 1999.
• Gair, Angela. Artist's Manual: A Complete Guide to Painting and Drawing Materials and Techniques. Chronicle Books, 1996.
• Ganeri, Anita and Ben Kingsley. The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. Harcourt Brace, 1996.
• Geisel, Theodore Seuss and Maurice Sendak. The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss. Random House, 1995.
• Hamilton, Meredith and Robert T. Levine. Story of the Orchestra: Listen While you Learn About the Instruments, the Music and the Composers Who Wrote the Music! Black Dog and Leventhal Pub., 2000.
• Hammond, Susan. Beethoven Lives Upstairs: A Tale of Childhood and Genius. Childrens Group, 1993.
• Isom, Joan Shaddox. The First Starry Night. Charlesbridge Publishing, 1998.
• Kohl, MaryAnn F. Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters. Bright Ring Pub., 1997.
• Laden, Nina. When Pigasso Met Mootisse. Chronicle Books, 1998.
• Mayhew, James. Katie Meets the Impressionists. Orchard Books, 1999.
• Mayhew, James. Katie and the Mona Lisa. Orchard Books, 1999.
• Nilsen, Anna . Art Fraud Detective. Larousse Kingfisher Chambers, 2001.
• Saccardi, Marianne. Art in Story: Teaching Art History to Elementary School Children. Linnet Professional Pubns., 1997.
• Smith, Ray et al. DK Art School: An Introduction to Art Techniques. DK Publishing, 2000.
• Winter, Jeanette. Sebastian: A Book About Bach. Browndeer Press, 1999.