U4 Art

Craft

Art made to be both beautiful and highly functional. (Example: A beautifully painted ceramic bowl you can actually use)

Weaving

Interlacing threads at right angles to create fabric or a tapestry. (Example: Making a woven yarn rug on a loom)

Embroidery

Decorating fabric using a needle and colored thread. (Example: Sewing a floral pattern onto the back of a denim jacket)

Casting

Pouring liquid material into a mold to harden into a shape. (Example: Pouring molten bronze to make a statue)

Freestanding sculpture

A 3D statue that is finished on all sides and can be viewed from 360 degrees. (Example: A statue in the middle of a park that you can walk all the way around)

High relief

A relief sculpture where the carved figures pop out significantly from the background wall. (Example: Carved stone figures on an ancient temple wall)

Low relief

A relief sculpture where the carved design projects only slightly from the flat background. (Example: The details on a shiny penny or quarter)

Relief sculpture

Any sculpture that is attached to a flat backing wall instead of standing alone. (Example: A carved wooden plaque hanging on a wall)

Installation sculpture

An artwork created for a specific indoor or outdoor space, large enough for viewers to walk through. (Example: A room filled completely with thousands of hanging fairy lights)

Dome

A rounded vault forming the roof of a building, shaped like a hollow hemisphere. (Example: The top of the U.S. Capitol building)

Vault

An arched stone ceiling or roof that spans an interior space. (Example: The long, tunnel-like curved stone ceiling of an old cathedral)

Arch

A curved stone structure used to span an opening and support heavy weight above it. (Example: The Arc de Triomphe in Paris)

Column

A tall, vertical pillar used to support a roof or beam. (Example: The white stone pillars on the front porch of Greek-style buildings)

Keystone

The central, wedge-shaped stone at the very top peak of an arch that locks all the other stones in place. (Example: The middle stone in a stone doorway arch that keeps it from collapsing)

Neolithic Period

The New Stone Age, when humans started farming and building permanent stone structures. (Example: Stonehenge)

Paleolithic Period

The Old Stone Age, when humans were hunters and gatherers. (Example: Ancient cave paintings of mammoths)

Cuneiform

One of the earliest systems of writing, created by pressing wedge-shaped marks into wet clay tablets. (Example: Clay tablets from ancient Mesopotamia)

Post and lintel

A simple building method using two vertical posts supporting a horizontal crossbeam on top. (Example: A standard doorway frame or Stonehenge)

Buttress

A heavy stone support built against a wall to reinforce it and keep it from pushing outward. (Example: A thick brick pillar built against the outside wall of a building)

Cantilever

A long beam or structure that projects outwards, supported at only one end. (Example: A diving board extending over a swimming pool)