This qualitative study examines multiple collaborative art experiences across ages and classrooms during two years at a suburban public school in one of the largest school districts in the United States. Students in two middle-school elective art courses engaged in contemporary art education projects to strengthen visual and verbal communication skills as they partnered with younger peers in primary grades, including the following activities: collaborative earthworks, toy designs and mixed-up animal sculptures. These multi-age socially-constructive art experiences provided students with opportunities to build community across campus while interacting with each other and the artwork co-created. Observations and noted responses via reflection from students indicated positive impact on both communication and collaboration through bidirectional teaching and learning, with students in each age group requesting more opportunities for cross-grade collaborative experiences.

Spend Smart Eat Smart (SSES), a unique website combining nutrition and food buying education for limited resource audiences (LRAs), was revised using social marketing theory to make it more appealing and relevant to LRAs (25-40 years). Focus groups and surveys identified the needs and preferences of LRAs. Needs were cooking, basic health, and budget-friendly nutrition ideas. Preferences were limited text, more videos, graphics, and color. Usability testing of the revised site indicated users perceived the information valuable and the design appealing. By incorporating the needs and preferences of LRAs, SSES is now perceived as appealing as well as relevant.

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Art education curriculum that asks students to actively engage in the world around them is best when students work with issues or topics that will be fruitful in terms of students being able to personally relate on some level. The theme of food as a topic for higher education art curriculum is just such an example, particularly with recent studies of college campuses documenting issues of food insecurity among students). This article discusses related theoretical aspects and qualitative methods utilized in working with university students on the interdisciplinary and often social and politically charged theme of food, including subtopics such as food access, health, agricultural practices, labour and immigration, economics and global warming. Nuanced and related topics are discussed in the context of issues-based art curriculum and students’ creative processes, including democratic participation, digital and technological literacy and how to understand the political in a world where facts are continuously in question.

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