Art can be found in everything, even ordinary objects. Artist David Huffman finds that abstraction is a great way to delve into the meaning and symbolism of everyday objects, like a basketball or a shoe. Find your own inspiration and create some abstract art -- it might have more meaning than you might think!

Apexer is a street artist who creates colorful, spray-painted murals around the world. Using a visual foundation based in graffiti art and Chinese calligraphy, Apexer abstracts letterforms to create complex, dynamic compositions for his street art projects. Often creating artworks that communicate the vibe of the neighborhood where they are on view, Apexer’s painted gestures are accessible to a wide audience, and are constantly expanding upon the core element of his work: the letters of his nickname.

At first glance, Katena might look like an ordinary inflatable with an unusually complex and oversized structure. But when they walk inside, visitors soon realize this is an entirely different experience. They enter a world apart, a world of interconnecting tunnels and domes saturated with light and color, called a luminarium. This video will take your students on a virtual tour of one luminarium that was featured at the Cincinnati BLINK festival. They will learn how the design team of Architects of Air blends geometry, art, and architecture to create a pneumatic, or air-filled, structure in which form must follow function.

Sanaz Mazinani is an artist with a background in political activism who uses art to inspire dialogue about perceptions of cultural identity. In the latest episode of Art School, she describes her current art practice. Using online media focusing on world news and pop culture as her source material, she creates symmetrical photo collages and videos that abstract familiar images and invite viewers to reconsider visual culture and its meaning and influence on public opinion and social justice. In this episode of Art School, she describes her current art practice and the intentions behind her recent installation at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.

In the second video Mazinani expands on the intention of traditional of Islamic ornamentation.

Kelly Tunstall and Ferris Plock are artists who focus on character design and development, creating a rotating cast of surreal cartoon figures inspired by visual culture, including fashion, skateboarding, Japanese regalia and folklore. They emphasize organization while maintaining freeform, both of which lead to the consistency in how their art turns out.

Kentucky reading teacher Ashley Judd uses augmented reality to get her students excited about learning. The PBS Digital Innovator says she has seen student engagement soar since she started using more technology in her classroom because students are already excited about using iPads and other devices. In this video, students use an augmented reality app to create an interactive memory book.

The City of Cincinnati, Ohio converted twenty blocks into a festival of art and light, showcasing projection mapping along with a number of other emerging media art forms. The goal was to create a public event celebrating the arts, culture, and creativity of the city in an atmosphere that promoted audience interaction with dynamic art. After watching this video, select one or more videos in the BLINK series for your class to watch to learn more about specific installations and the artists who created them.

San Francisco's Ben Venom creates punk quilts for everyday rockers who want to be cozy, as well as quilts that are a little less functional and sit more comfortably in a framed-art context. Venom takes his inspiration from the historical and social aspect of quilting, and particularly the Gees Bend community of quilters in Alabama, who are highly regarded as some of the most significant contributors to African American art history.

Meet San Francisco artist Sirron Norris, who discusses his public and commercial art projects. Although he works on projects like "Bob's Burgers," he still makes time to teach a cartoon-drawing class for kids every Saturday. He says that the best part about drawing cartoons is that there's no expectations. He teaches the children this, and that as long as they are proud of what they've created, then what they've created is perfect.

Chad Hasegawa paints portraits of bears and notable artists, and his style is influenced heavily by the Abstract Expressionist movement, and a thrifty approach to materials. He has created murals throughout San Francisco and shown his paintings and sculptures in galleries. His work balances between abstract and figurative art, with dense, wild brushstrokes that are often pieced together to create recognizable forms.

Chompers is a trio of abstract coyotes with levers to lift and lower their heads and open their mouths so that they can appear to be howling at the moon. They were built by the artists at Opera-Matic, a neighborhood art group from Chicago that specializes in community engagement. Opera-Matic was invited to bring Chompers to the BLINK festival in Cincinnati. The BLINK festival was a celebration of light and art with a focus on interactivity. The “coyotes” were a big hit with festival-goers, especially children. They are mounted on recycled ice cream bikes for easy mobility in parades.

Hit the streets as your own, custom-made Superhero and work for the common good of your city! Artist Amy Franceschini has fashioned an inspiring lesson that will help guide you through the entire process from brainstorming logos, mottos and costumes to ensuring that your Superhero works to help solve a community's needs. This lesson is part of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's Open Studio.

Check out the entire Open Studio collection for more activities centered around contemporary art: https://www.sfmoma.org/educators/

Ranu Mukherjee creates "Hybrid films" using layers of video, paintings and collage to create moving images. In the latest episode of Art School, Mukherjee unpacks the narrative and details behind her newest piece, Home and the World, which examines cultural hybridity, the aftermath of colonialism, and feminist questions. Inspired by a scene from a film by Satyajit Ray, as well as the composition of traditional Indian lithographs, Mukherjee combined these influences with her own visual culture to create a subtle but complex moving image.

Johanson reflects on the past decade of his career and shares his philosophies on art making in the first Art School video from KQED. Then, Johanson creates a simple painting based on Venn diagrams, an art lesson developed for students in partnership with SFMOMA for their project, Open Studio: Artist-Designed Classroom Activities.

Reading and creating comic strips and comic books are engaging ways to promote literacy at any grade level and across content areas. The students in this video are members of a high school comic book club and have access to drawing tablets and Adobe Photoshop, so they can achieve sophisticated results. Even without such software, however, teachers can still integrate digital comics into a wide range of teaching situations.

There are a number of comic books, especially contemporary ones, that are not “school appropriate,” so you might want to guide students’ web research on comic books.

Music educator Michelle Lewis teaches her students how to create vodcast music lessons. Lewis hopes that their vodcast YouTube channel will help students in schools without a music program learn music concepts.

Georgina Drapeau and Mat Pendleton of the Lower Sioux Indian Community talk about the revival of quill working traditions taking place in the Minnesota River Valley, inspired by master quill workers Hope TwoHearts of Cansayapi and David Louis of Flandreau, South Dakota.

A lesson plan for grades 7-12 is included as a gallery asset and in the support materials.

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Daughter of a master quill artist, Georgina Drapeau and Mat Pendleton of the Lower Sioux Indian Community near Morton are interviewed for a story about a revival of quill working traditions taking place in the Minnesota River Valley, inspired by master quill workers Hope TwoHearts of Cansayapi and David Louis of Flandreau, South Dakota.

Pieper Bloomquist uses natural materials and homemade paints in the Swedish styles of Dalmålning and Bonadsmålning. She studied under master artists Karen Jenson of Milan, MN and Judith Kjenstad of Minneapolis, MN and works from her studio in Grand Forks, ND.

Postcards is an award-winning series showcasing the arts, history, and cultural heritage of western Minnesota and beyond. Funding for Postcards comes from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. To watch more Postcards visit our show page or video portal.

Pioneer PBS is a viewer-supported television station dedicated to sharing local stories of the region with the world. Support our mission and become a member at here.

In this episode of Art School, visit Paccarik Orue in the studios of Rayko Photo Center where he is currently an Artist-In-Residence. Tag along with Orue as he makes photographs in the Iron Triangle neighborhood of Richmond, California. From 2009-2011, Orue photographed residents and structures there for his book titled, There Is Nothing Beautiful Around Here.

Orue also introduces us to his latest body of work, which is centered in the city of Cerro de Pasco in his home country of Peru. Cerro de Pasco is one of the highest cities in the world, perched atop the Andean Mountains. Even though he has returned to his homeland, Orue feels like an outsider.

In the second video, learn how to scan, clean and color-correct medium format film, as Orue demonstrates the necessary steps for digitizing color film negatives.

This audio piece produced by KQED explores the life of Dorothy Arzner. Perhaps the most prolific female director in movie history, Arzner was the first woman to be accepted into the Directors Guild of America and is the inventor of the boom mic. She directed more than 20 unflinchingly feminist films from 1927 to 1943, before finishing her career teaching at UCLA’s film school, where she left a lasting impression on countless students, including Francis Ford Coppola. Anzner did, said, and filmed whatever she wanted and blazed a trail for the many who followed.