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Art and Art History Texts

A collection of texts and resources organized by C-ID is currently being developed.

OERI-supported resources include the following:

C-ID ARTH 100 (Understanding Art/Art Appreciation) – An OER text to cover world art on a timeline from prehistoric to modern times with an emphasis on female artists. A World Perspective of Art Appreciation (Gustlin and Gustlin) is available in LibreTexts.
C-ID ARTH 110 – Glossary for SUNY’s “Art History and Appreciation I” that was developed by Lumen Learning. This Art History glossary is available in Canvas Commons. If the provided link does not work, please search “ASCCC” in Canvas Commons to find all ASCCC OERI resources.

Websites and Collections

Humboldt State Art OER Resources

The MET Collection - Explore the site to access its extensive collection of openly licensed artworks and its collection of publications.

MoMA - Explore the world’s foremost collection of modern and contemporary art. MoMA is committed to helping everyone understand, enjoy, and use our collection. This website features more than 84,000 artworks and over 26,000 artists.

MoMA Learning - Browse by theme or artist, MoMA Learning Glossary of Art Terms

Smarthistory - We are the official provider of art history for khanacademy.org, and we support AP art history and A-level curriculum. Smarthistory supports students, instructors, and lifelong learners everywhere. Smarthistory supports the ethical and open sharing of cultural knowledge. All of our resources are published under a Creative Commons non-commercial license and are available ad-free to anyone with an internet connection.

Activities and Assignments

Note - while many of these examples may not be designed for online use, it is hoped that they may be activities that can be modified for use online.

Art Appreciation Open Educational Resource [Complete Collection of Lessons] - For ease of adapting the materials, editable files are provided. Under additional files, you can download ZIP files of the presentations in PowerPoint and the reading lists in Word, as well as a Word document of sample sketchbook assignment topics. Presentations and reading lists are separated by lessons within the ZIP files.

Curate an exhibition - This assignment asks students to create a mock exhibition on any given topic that interests them, utilizing objects available online.

Gold-ground Panel Painting - After completion of this assignment, students will be able to:

Explain the technical and material aspects of gold-ground panel painting.
Analyze how the technique influences the resulting artwork.

Japanese Handscroll Painting - The lesson involves having students look closely at a few frames from four handscroll paintings from the Heian period, interpreting them with the help of some contextual information, and then comparing them.

Modernist “Primitivism” Debate - After completing this activity, students will be able to:

Explain the different associations and implications of the terms “cultural appropriation”, “artistic influence”, “primitivism” and “modernism”.
Construct arguments (for both pro and con positions) on the politics of cultural appropriation and artistic influence in Western modernism.
Assess the validity and persuasiveness of these arguments.
Evaluate and critique the ways art and art history are linguistically and institutionally framed.

Public Space and Parks as OER - After completing this activity, students will be able to:

Think critically about the designation of public space
Engage in critical discussions of public art and their relationship with city and neighborhood demographics
Consider public art as an expression of and reaction to the realities, changes, and inequalities of the city

Re-thinking the survey: Museum collections/interpretive materials/communications and the popular press - This assignment asks students to look through online resources or visit a museum to find an object that has not been discussed in the course. Students are tasked not only with finding an object that interests them by navigating through various resources offered by museums, but also with arguing for this object’s inclusion in the survey course as it has just been taught.

Rococo - This assignment is designed as part reading response and part argumentative essay although it can be modified to suit the needs of a particular class or instructor. It can also be modified to be an in-class discussion or debate instead of a written assignment. By using a well-researched and accepted source such at the Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, this assignment could also be used to explain the importance of a source’s credibility.

This page last updated 3-11-2021.