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Top Five Most Influential Visual Artists and Their Artwork

Art has always been a defining characteristic of a time period or culture. Artists have not only influenced how art lovers view art — they’ve also had a profound influence on the art of their contemporaries.

Every person who is interested in or learning about art has his or her own favorite artists, and there are many local and national museums displaying excellent art. Another source for viewing and reading about art is online, and it’s as simple as searching for artwork on eBay.

There are so many incredible artists, and compiling a list of the most influential ones is a challenging task. However, there are five artists who most experts and aficionados agree have had the biggest impact on the history of art and other artists.

1. Claude Monet (1840-1926) – The French artist is considered the “founder of Impressionism” and is famous for his loose brush strokes and depiction of light. The list of well-known artists who were influenced by his work is impressive: Sisky, Degas, Morisot, Whistler, Seurat and Vuillard.

2. Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) – Da Vinci is known as “The Universal Renaissance Man” because of his wide range of interests that included science, astronomy and visual art. The Florentine artist is best known for the “Mona Lisa” painting. Much of his work is religious and is famous for its dramatic influences and attention to detail. He has influenced and inspired artists and contemporaries, including El Greco, for centuries rather than years.

3. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) – Picasso is one of the co-founders of the Cubism art movement and influenced Abstraction. There are some experts who’d argue he is “the most influential artist of the 20th Century.” He is best known for his Blue and Rose periods of work. Salvador Dali and Paul Klee’s works were influenced by Picasso’s style.

4. Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) – Called “the first artist to create art for art’s sake,” Rembrandt is the most prolific painter of biblical subjects in history. His portraits have influenced other portrait painters’ works, and his Romance period art influenced the work of artists like Georges Seurat.

5. Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) – Michelangelo is best known for “David” and the Sistine Chapel frescoes. He has influenced artists of every artistic persuasion throughout history and is regarded as one of the key figures in Italian High Renaissance art. What distinguishes Michelangelo is his wide range of artistic talent — architecture, painting and sculpture — and the power of his work.

It comes as no surprise that the works of the oldest artists still endure as the best.

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Celebrity Degrees Online

Los Angeles Lakers Shaquille O'Neal 12/20/1999

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Many of today’s celebrities are doing something others have not: They are going back to school. While some enroll in programs through local colleges and universities, others are taking to the web to obtain the education necessary to achieve their dreams. For those who have thought about online education before, but never took a step in this direction, the fact that celebrities are doing it may be more encouraging to you.

Which Celebrities Did It?

It is not possible to know all celebrities using online education to further their skills. While there are some who have publicly promoted online education, such as Shaquille O’Neal and Hilary Duff, many others are more quiet on the topic. Here are some less vocal celebrities who completed their education online.

  • Ice Cube: You may know him from his rapping days back in the 1990s or from a variety of other programs. What you may not know, though, is that he has a degree in architectural drafting. That degree is from an online educational program.
  • Jon Guenther: He is the author with more than 30 books under his belt. You may remember his Chaser series of books, and later, Soul Runner. What you may not know is that he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology recently, a degree he earned from an online program.
  • Hunter Tylo: She is known for his soap opera roles on television programs such as All My Children and The Bold and the Beautiful. You may also know her from her ability to win a significant, $5 million lawsuit against Aaron Spelling. She was a pre-law student, though, and has since obtained her Master of Business Administration from an online educational program.

As you can see, online undergraduate programs and other programs are out there for celebrities, and for you, too. The fact that these celebrities could enroll in any school but went online is motivating for many.

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The Hole Left By NCLB

When the government took a hard look at education in the United States in 2002, they knew it was time for reform. Many of our students, primarily in underprivileged areas were falling behind when compared to students in other nations. Reform was needed to ensure that all of our students had access to quality education and that we stemmed the growing gap between our nation and others. We passed the landmark No Child Left Behind Act to address these concerns.

Contained with in the act were guidelines for testing. Our students would be tested at regular intervals in the subjects of math and reading. Failure of schools to meet minimum standards would result in punishment in the form of lowered federal funding for that school. Obviously, administrators and teachers recognized how important it was that students excelled in these areas and they set out to better prepare their students.

The problem, again mainly in economically depressed areas or those where students were under performing, was that in order to successfully pass the standardized tests, their students needed far more instructional time in math and reading. In order to accomplish this, something had to give and many schools choose to reduce, or even eliminate, time spent on other subjects like science and history.

This phenomenon, now known as narrowing the curriculum has lead to a generation of students who can successfully pass standardized test in reading and math, but have not developed critical thinking skills and do not even basic knowledge of other subjects.

As the government looks to ‘re-up’ NCLB, this disparity has led to a raging debate about how to address this problem. Some want NCLB repealed entirely, while others hope to simply rewrite it to address this glaring problem. It is only clear that some change must be made before our children get lost in this gapping hole in our education

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We Cry Reform

An integral part of the NCLB act is passing annual yearly progress (AYP) standards. Schools must be able to prove that their students are hitting state mandated benchmarks in order to receiving a passing AYP which is needed in order to obtain federal funding. This may not be an issue for schools that are already performing, but for schools that service a large percentage of special needs children, ESL (English As A Second Language) or other vulnerable students, AYP is a growing problem.

A school that fails to meet its AYP standard is labeled a failure. This makes improving their status and the performance of their students vastly more difficult on several fronts. First, teachers do not want to teach at failing schools. Why would they? A failing school doesn’t have access to the same funding and resources as a passing school. Paradoxically, it is these failing schools that most need access to funds and resources.

Even worse, students enrolled in failing schools, but with access to charter or choice schools, are having difficulty enrolling in them. These passing schools work diligently to ensure their students continue to meet standards and an influx of students from a failing school will only serve to lower their AYP score.

Finally, because of the way administrators ‘game’ the system, students placed in special groups, like ESL, remain in that group only until they begin to adequately perform. They are then moved to the effective general population, making it impossible for a special group to ever achieve 100% performance.

It’s funny that in some ways the very bill we wrote to help our schools and our students is now hurting them. Until we address the funding issue and the method of assessment, we are likely to continue to see these problems. Now is the time for change. Now is the time for reform.

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President Obama and Education

United States President Barack Obama signs int...
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President Obama is a strong supporter of a high quality education for Americas children. The President wants to ensure that a competitive education that will prepare our future society for success in a global economy is available to all students. A call for educational reform and stronger accountability of the nations schools are key goals of the current administration. The importance of parents taking more responsibility for their children’s education is also heavily promoted in the new educational campaign. In addition to requesting that parents become more involved, the need for quality teachers is also critical in the success of education. America’s previous strong status in the field of education worldwide has been replaced with a weakening system.

Preparing children to begin kindergarten has been identified as an important step towards a successful education. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included funding for early learning programs. These early learning programs aide with strengthening a young child’s development which will allow them to transition easily into a full time school setting.

Another identifed component that supports the success of our educational system is the teachers. The push for high quality teachers and their accountability is necessary to ensure continued progress in reaching the education goals outlined. School districts are responsible for hiring teachers that possess the qualifications required and holding them accountable for providing effective teaching.

The Race to the Top program was introduced in 2010 with both Phase I funding awarded in the spring and Phase II funding awarded in the fall. This competitive grant program awards funding to states that are implementing reforms within their school districts. Required areas for improvement include increased teacher effectiveness, improved collection of data, enhanced standards and turning around schools that are failing. Eleven states and the District of Columbia were awarded grant funding this year in the Race to the Top program.

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The Challenges of Enforcing No Child Left Behind in Schools

In 2001, the lawmakers and President passed a law known as the No Child Left Behind law. This law requires that schools be responsible for their actions when it comes to educating children all over the United States. No longer are poor test scores, struggling students and the inability to learn going to be considered acceptable standards in the United States school system.

It was believed that by passing this law, instantly students would be scoring higher on tests, teachers would be overachieving in the classroom and school systems all over would be on an equal footing. In fact, lawmakers were estimating increases in college attendance with many students attending community colleges, local universities and classes on earnmydegree.com.

The problem that arose from this type of situation is that the No Child Left Behind law is often not enforced. The enforcement of this law requires that schools have a bit of an extra budget. Everyone knows how stretched schools are already and that money is a major issue. The money issue prevents schools from being able to afford the tutors, additional educational materials for struggling students and other items that are needed. If the budget was unlimited this would make the No Child Left Behind law a reality, but it doesn’t.

Another challenge that arises from this law is the inability to consider outside sources. Many under performing schools are those that are in low class neighborhoods. These children are often facing hunger, poor living conditions and parents that aren’t always home to help with the educational process. Since the law does not take into account these measures it penalizes the teacher and makes them responsible for something that is not their fault and cannot be controlled by them.

The No Child Left Behind law presents a lot of challenges to teachers and schools across the country.

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Benefits Of The No Child Left Behind Act

Then-President George W. Bush signs the No Chi...
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Always the subject of controversy, The No Child Left Behind Act was signed into law in 2002 by President George W. Bush. Despite its best intentions, many people feel that its emphasis on standardized testing and uniform concepts was a move in the wrong direction. However, parents should know that there are several benefits for your children. However, you must play a proactive role in requesting that your child can avail of those advantages that are legally provided for them.

Depending on their test scores, your child may become eligible to transfer to a better school within their district, which could allow them to enroll in specialized classes that are tailored to their strengths and interests. Alternatively, their test results may enable them to qualify for free or low-cost tutoring sessions. As a parent, it is your responsibility to learn what is available for your child, and demand that they receive it as necessary.

Another benefit of the No Child Left Behind Act is that it helps some high-scoring schools to qualify for grants. These grants can then be used to hire the best teachers in the country and bring them to teach your child’s local district.

The Act also requires teachers to prove their competence in the classroom by possessing a bachelor’s degree and passing a stringent test in several core disciplines. These requirements also extend to teacher’s aides, who are usually required to have at least two years of education at the college level.

Finally, the law keeps the safety of students in mind by offering the ability to transfer to a “safe school”. This benefit could be used if students were victims of a violent crime, or if their presently attended school was identified as being a consistently dangerous environment.

Although there are many people who assert the disadvantages of the No Child Left Behind Act, there are several benefits that are of particular interest to the students and their informed parents.

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No Child Left Behind

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No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was an act of congress regarding the education of children in the United States. The House of Representatives and the Senate passed the bill in 2001 and President George Bush signed it into law in January of 2002. This bill was established to promote educational reform and improve the achievements of American students. With NCLB educational standards have been developed along with the tools to measure the results of the standards set. The act does not include a national standard with each state setting the standards for their regions. School funding is tied to the educational results of No Child Left Behind which promotes the desire to achieve positive outcomes.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) provides a report card on the educational achievements of students at a national level and for specific assessments by state. The goals of NAEP is to compare educational achievements by state and to track the changes in achievement yearly. Progress reports provided by the NAEP since No Child Left Behind became law has indicated both consistent educational performance as well as improvement in many areas. There are arguments that statistics provided by NAEP are misleading and that the sources which information is gathered are hand picked.

Arguments of both the support of NCLB and denial that the law has made significant improvement to our educational system are plentiful. Critics of NCLB cite the unrealistic goals that have been set and issues with standardized tests as problems with associated with the law. They also present concerns that the school system is teaching the test. Supporters of No Child Left Behind beleive that the standards improve upon our educational system and allow everyone involved the ability to identify top performers. An important note for both critics and supporters is the fact that the No Child Left Behind act has increased the visibility of our educational system which will hold schools accountable for their performance.

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