Art Sparks: The Book

ART SPARKS: IDEAS. METHODS. PROCESS.

The book Art Sparks written by our founder and executive director Nisha Nair, is an invaluable resource for art teachers, practising artists and interested parents.

What do children learn through art? What is the value of what they're learning?

Exploring these questions seriously for the first time in the Indian educational context, this book guides the interested adult through an engaging and uniquely successful process of art making with children. The method – based on a workshop model – assumes that an artist is not simply an individual who is born with an innate natural talent, someone who can ‘draw well’. Rather anyone can be taught art, and the learning outcomes of such an education are vast. Children will learn not only to create art, but also to be curious, ask questions and trust their imagination. Art Sparks comprises a step-by-step guide to art lessons, as well as thoughtful and clear summaries of ideas on art and art teaching.

The book can be purchased at TaraBooks's website here and ships worldwide!

Review of the book in Teacher Plus

Art sparks and dazzles! by Siddhi Gupta

I have been on both sides of the table of an art room and relished the experience each time. My hopes as a learner in the art room became my guide as an educator in the same room years later. But as I navigated through these aspirations, the challenges in art education became bare – the lack of resources, attention and importance given to the arts in school, the subservience of arts to other subjects, a do-what-you-feel-like-it-doesn’t-really-matter attitude towards the art class are a few peculiarities about art education that most of us will be aware of. In this reality, Nisha Nair’s Art Sparks is a guiding light for any art teacher looking for a resource to fall back on, a dose of inspiration, a rule book. But it is not just for the art educator, it is for anyone who wishes to explore art as a tool for learning. [Read more...]