Digital Resources
Looking for projects or resources to make and use at home? Welcome to our new Digital Resources page!
The Dayton Art Institute’s growing Learning Library Online offers art-making lessons, projects and educational materials for learners of all ages. Connect with your museum through art experiences you can do at home … or anywhere! Click a project to learn more and to download lessons. Check here often for updates and new lessons.
Families
Art Vids for Kids: Jaguar-Shaman Tripod Vessel
Nicoya Culture (active 400-700 CE)
Alphabet Line Drawing
Make a line drawing using letters!
Art Vids for Kids: Lost and Found
Alison Saar (American, b. 1956)
Balloon Painting
Young artists paint using a balloon.
Crushed Chalk Houses
Create an artwork using crushed chalk!
Art Vids for Kids: Circe Mulling Wine
Gioacchino Assereto (Italian, 1600-1639)
1st – 3rd Grade
Art Vids for Kids: Jaguar-Shaman Tripod Vessel
Nicoya Culture (active 400-700 CE)
Playful Stage Diorama
Design a playful diorama!
Art Vids for Kids: Lost and Found
Alison Saar (American, b. 1956)
Art Vids for Kids: Circe Mulling Wine
Gioacchino Assereto (Italian, 1600-1639)
Retrofit: Turning Today’s Clothes into Period Costumes (Lesson 1)
Create fantastical, faerie-inspired skirts and a matching magical wand.
Art Vids for Kids: Flying Pup King
Yoshitomo Nara (Japanese, b. 1959)
4th – 6th Grade
Playful Stage Diorama
Design a playful diorama!
Retrofit: Turning Today’s Clothes into Period Costumes (Lesson 2)
Create low-sew 1800s-inspired vest, shirt and knickers from everyday clothing.
South American Jewelry
Create pendants inspired by ancient South American artworks, using metal embossing techniques.
Leaf Texture Collage
Create a monochrome leaf texture collage using tree leaves and collagraph printmaking techniques.
Shaping Peace Together: Collaborative Chalk Mural
Create a collaborative chalk mural.
Japanese Cherry Tree Painting
Paint moonlit cherry trees inspired by the woodblock prints of Yoshitoshi’s One Hundred Aspects of the Moon.
7th – 12th Grade
Leaf Texture Collage
Create a monochrome leaf texture collage using tree leaves and collagraph printmaking techniques.
Shaping Peace Together: Collaborative Chalk Mural
Create a collaborative chalk mural.
Charcoal Portrait Drawing
Learn traditional techniques to make a charcoal portrait drawing.
Wearable Art: Cosplay Armor
Build 3-D arm bracers while learning the foundations of armor design.
Plein Air Landscape Painting
Experience the outdoors in creative ways and create your own personalized landscape.
Lyrical Poster Illustration
Create a personalized illustration inspired by song lyrics.
YA & Adults
The Clock Tower, Venice
Francesco Guardi (Italian, 1712-1793)
Abstraction: Op Art
Julian Stanczak (American, 1928-2017), Rain and Reflections, 1962
Retrofit: Turning Today’s Clothes into Period Costumes (Lesson 3)
Create low-sew Rococo-inspired overdress, hip padding, and stomacher from everyday clothing.
Couple (Amina and Maurise)
Mary Beth McKenzie (American, b. 1946)
Feasts and Flair
Draw ornate, colorful fabric details.
Cantata
Norman Lewis (American, 1909-1967)