Curriculum Links to Digital Art

by Lynne Schalman and Steve Bergen
(you can e-mail us both at )
Last revised 12/23/07

Links and Project Ideas and Samples

(Photoshop tools graphic at bottom) To the 20-30 people who responded to my note about the use of technology in art courses, thank you VERY MUCH for taking the time to respond. We are just in our infancy in creating a new lab dedicated to the use of technology in art. One of the "humanware" themes that I think about a lot over the past twenty years has to do with NOT re-inventing the wheel and the fact that we in various independent schools live in isolated worlds and do not lean on each other enough. Obviously the web and e-mail and video-conferencing have the potential to change that. But the hardware and software revolution for the most part is progressing much faster than the humanware revolution.

If anyone knows of curriculum ideas and projects that have been posted on-line, please let me know. I have been dealing with computer graphics as a computer teacher over the past 20 years, and have collected a few curriculum ideas that I have posted on this web site as well. Not being an art teacher at all, however, I know that there is a significant difference (as one of you pointed out) in doing art in a computer class vs using technology in an art class. I am very excited at the prospects of seeing how artists Martin Bridge and Joanna Swayze use the new DDC (digital design center) within their existing art curriculum.

Project idea: Have each student find 3 pictures of herself/himself at various ages. Scanning the pictures and using Photoshop, the student needs to create an image in which the 3 images appear to be in one scene in a natural non-artificial way. Alternatively, the 3 images could represent high school student, parent when a teenager, grandparent when a teenager.

Project idea: take digital photos of faculty members on campus and background scenes on campus. Create a set of specifications for pictures.

Project idea: each student needs to create a "Forrest Gump" image of himself/herself within a movie.

Project idea: each student creates a caricature of a faculty member
Finally, I do volunteer tech work at the Boston Home, a residency for people with multiple sclerosis and long-term physical disabilities. We have created a video conference setup for them along with a scanner, photoshop station, etc. Several of the residents there are into computer graphics, posting family photos and original drawings onto the web. This is a wonderful community service link and we would love to get other teachers and students connected with our Boston Home friends. The two most active graphics users there are Janice Kushner and Colleen Powers. Janice has taken charge of posting family pictures from Claudia Badgett on line.


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