Subject: Analysis and Theory

This lesson introduces students to the work of Keith Haring, focusing on his semiotic messages. Students have to create their own semiotic symbols to communicate a positive message that is important in their lives.

Students will learn that a drawing is a visual symbol that conveys a clear message or idea.

Reflecting on Text and Context in Art

What does art tell us about the time and place of its creation, and what does the context tell us about an artwork? In this lesson, students consider the work of Keith Haring in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which can be used as a framework for studying any artist and era. Students research historically and culturally significant events as a potential means to understand artists and their works. They create and present slide shows that incorporate images of the work with commentary that place the pieces in their historical and cultural context. Finally, they trace the legacy of their chosen artist via the work of artists who came later or their effect on culture.

Students utilize elements of design to compose a work of art
(Making a Box) Vocabulary: 3-D, Volume
(Building a 3-D structure from the 2nd Dimension)
Realizing the (RNA Protein Structure)

Art activities incorporated in the process of creating a Keith Haring inspired mural that went up the walls, on the windows and over the doors. This mural expanded upon the dangers of drugs and abuse.

Students follow my step by step example of an abstract drawing. I do and then they do.
The idea is to see how similar we can make the same drawing focusing on placement and scale.
This made possible by utilizing the simple understanding of point, line, and middles using the grid.

We loved learning about Keith Haring.

Room 8 and 9 painted the fence outside our classrooms using Keith Haring images. We wrote environmentally friendly messages inside our shapes as part of our environmental project this year. Our yearly calendars were also based around Keith Haring.

Haring's 2-sided mural on a handball court at 128th Street & 2nd Avenue in NYC overlooks the FDR drive. A public site that has brought much acknowledgement since it was painted in 1986. This lesson, organized collaboratively with The Children's Storefront gives local students the opportunity to examine and reflect on one of Haring's most influential landmarks.

This lesson was designed to parallel The Tampa Museum's survey: "Keith Haring: Art & Commerce," on view March 18 through June 11, 2006.

Local children were presented with a slide presentation of Haring's work, with a particular emphasis on Haring's large scale steel sculptures and accompanying sculptural macquettes. Students then participated in a workshop where they too could design and construct their own scaled down models of imaginary, mythic sculptures.

A joint effort between the University of Arizona's Education division and a local public school summer program, this lesson explores how some Apache students responded to Keith Haring's art using their computers as art-making tools.

This lucky school in Germany was asked to decorate the hallways of a local community swimming pool. Using Keith Haring's art as inspiration, 15 students set out to fill the walls with colorful, bold, and fun designs along the theme of swimming.

This lesson focuses on helping kids help themselves and other kids by painting with a message in the style of Keith Haring. It empowers them and teaches that their art can be a source of hope and information for others.