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Artopia

Artopia is a comprehensive web-based arts experience designed for middle school students, covering the visual and performing arts.

Visual and Performing Arts for Grades 6-8

Artopia is a comprehensive web-based arts experience designed for middle school students, covering the visual and performing arts. Students will learn art history via animated one-minute movies, be guided on how to closely examine important works of art, and view videos of professional artists at work.This project was supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Please note many of the web videos include transcripts.

More in this Series

Series Dance - Artopia
Dance - Artopia

Step inside Artopia's Dance lobby!

Series Media Arts
Media Arts

Step inside Artopia's Media Arts lobby!

Series Artopia Music
Artopia Music

Step inside Artopia's Music lobby!

Series Artopia's Painting Lobby
Artopia's Painting Lobby

Step inside Artopia's Painting lobby!

Series Sculpture
Sculpture
Series Theater - Artopia
Theater - Artopia
Resource Type
First Steps Include Sketches | Artopia

Video

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First Steps Include Sketches | Artopia
Tonya Gregg explains how she sketches various poses and profiles until she gets the image she wants to use for her paintings.
Dance: One Minute Art Lesson | Artopia

Video

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Dance: One Minute Art Lesson | Artopia
Watch a brief animation about the types and styles of dance. TRANSCRIPT OK, anybody can dance, right? I mean, when you're out and about groovin' to a beat, you are dancing and everybody else is...
Painting: Carolina | Artopia Drawing & Inspiration | Artopia

Video

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Drawing & Inspiration | Artopia
Brian Rutenberg explains how he begins his paintings with drawings. His inspiration is often drawn from the South.
South Carolina to New York | Artopia

Video

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South Carolina to New York | Artopia
Widely considered one of the finest young painters working in America today, Brian Rutenberg has gained an international audience with his landscape based abstractions. The artist received his BFA...
Music: One Minute Art Lesson | Artopia

Video

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Music: One Minute Art Lesson | Artopia
Watch a brief animated history of music. TRANSCRIPT I don't know about you, but I can't live without my music! It is like my main thing - when I am chillin' I gotta be tuned in. So check it out -...
Storyboard Animations | Artopia

Video

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Storyboard Animations | Artopia
Maria Manhattan shows how she uses a stylus and a tablet to draw on a computer inside Adobe Illustrator.
Computer Drawing | Artopia

Video

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Computer Drawing | Artopia
Maria Manhattan shows how she adds color and shadow to bring her computer drawing more to life.
Color & Paint | Artopia

Video

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Color & Paint | Artopia
Brian Rutenberg talks about how he mixes and organizes his color palettes for his oil paintings.
Media Arts: One Minute Art Lesson | Artopia

Video

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Media Arts: One Minute Art Lesson | Artopia
Watch a brief animated history of media arts. TRANSCRIPT Media - now there's a word with lots of meanings. It can mean the stuff that scientists grow bacteria in, or it can be art materials; it's even...
Marian McPartland, Host of Piano Jazz | Artopia

Video

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Marian McPartland, Host of Piano Jazz | Artopia
Marian McPartland is host of the acclaimed program, Piano Jazz, featured on National Public Radio for more than twenty-five years. She is a well-known jazz pianist and founder of Halcyon Records. She...
Paint Brushes | Artopia

Video

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Paint Brushes | Artopia
Brian Rutenberg talks about how he maintains and acquires his paint brushes.
Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz Recording | Artopia

Video

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Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz Recording | Artopia
In this Artopia segment, we get the rare opportunity to watch a Piano Jazz recording session. Join Marian McPartland in the studio, talking and playing with the great jazz pianist Joe Sample. Marian...
Art Cards | Artopia Sketches | Artopia

Video

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Sketches | Artopia
Maria Manhattan talks about the artistic direction for the website Artopia.
Video Games | Artopia

Video

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Video Games | Artopia
Simon Tarr talks about how much he didn't enjoy math in school. He discovered later that trigonometry was very important to video game design.