Every Child Is an Artist - by Louisa Penfold (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

From a leading arts educator, a book of simple art projects inspired by contemporary art and designed to cultivate children's creativity.

From Dr. Louisa Penfold, a Harvard arts education professor, comes a book of 32 art activities inspired by contemporary art to cultivate children's creativity. Every Child Is an Artist offers ideas for vibrant yet simple activities that get kids physically moving and using their full sensory systems to play, make, and create. Guaranteed to delight children and adults of all ages, these activities make use of inexpensive everyday recycled and repurposed materials such as cardboard, kitchen utensils, paint, and light. This book also moves beyond Eurocentric male artists such as Picasso, Monet, and Van Gogh, who have previously dominated children's art education. Instead, it features diverse modern and contemporary artists who are at the cutting edge of creative innovation. Being an artist is a mindset, a way of being in the world, and Every Child Is an Artist shows how every family can make this a reality.

About the Author

Louisa Penfold, PhD is a professor and the Chair of Arts and Learning at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has worked on the curation of children's play spaces at internationally renowned art museums including Tate Modern, the Serpentine, and MoMA; as well as acting as an arts and culture advisor to the United Nations. Louisa is the Director of Project Zero's Art/Play, a collaborative study looking at the integration of modern and contemporary arts into public school curriculum in the United States. Her work on children's art education has been backed by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Smithsonian, and the Ian Potter Cultural Trust, and featured in publications including MIT's Journal of Design & Science, the Journal of Childhood Studies, The Australian, and Forbes. Louisa is the founder of Art Play Children Learning, a popular blog for parents that features tips, activity ideas, and resources for cultivating children's creativity through modern and contemporary art. Every Child is an Artist is her first book.