Arts Textbooks

Exploring the Arts: A Brief Introduction to Art, Theatre, Music, and Dance

Contributors: Hall, Berkeley, and Khan

Publisher: LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network

License: CC BY

This textbook was created as part of the Interactive OER for Dual Enrollment project, facilitated by LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network and funded by a $2 million Open Textbooks Pilot Program grant from the Department of Education. This project supports the extension of access to high-quality post-secondary opportunities to high school students across Louisiana and beyond. This project features a collaboration between educational systems in Louisiana, the library community, Pressbooks technology partner, and workforce representatives. It will enable and enhance the delivery of open educational resources (OER) and interactive quiz and assessment elements for priority dual enrollment courses in Louisiana and nationally. Developed OER course materials will be released under a license that permits their free use, reuse, modification and sharing with others.

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#TheatreAppreciation

Contributor: Pipino

Publisher: SUNY Oneonta

License: CC BY

#TheatreAppreciation is a textbook for introductory level lecture classes such as Theatre Appreciation and Introduction to Theatre. It provides insight about the art and craft of theatre, a brief exploration of theatre history, and discussion about the styles and forms of theatre along with an overview of professions in the field.

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The Path to Funding: The Artist’s Guide to Building Your Audience, Generating Income, and Realizing Career Sustainability

Contributors: Forshee, Manceor, and McGinness

Publisher: The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University

License: CC BY

Based on coursework developed at Peabody Conservatory, this book breaks down the process of developing an artist mission statement, generating new ideas for creative projects, and creating an engaging project description. It also covers methods for artists to identify their audience, generate a comprehensive project budget, collect compelling work samples, and identify potential funders to support their creative work. Written by a team of active artists and educators, this resource provides creatives with tools and strategies to communicate passionately and effectively about their work and take control of their financial and artistic future.

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Open Music Theory - Version 2

Contributors: Gotham, Gullings, and Hamm

Publisher: Oklahoma State University

License: CC BY-SA

Open Music Theory Version 2 (OMT2) is an open educational resource intended to serve as the primary text and workbook for undergraduate music theory curricula. As an open and natively-online resource, OMT2 is substantially different from other commercially-published music theory textbooks, though it still provides the same content that teachers expect from a music theory text.

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Where Does Art Come From?

Contributor: McCurdy

Publisher: Mavs Open Press

License: CC BY

Contributors to this open textbook offer relatable descriptions, details, and contexts of artworks from around the world, which have often been relegated to the peripheries of art and social history. Art traditions from Africa, Oceania, South and Southeast Asia, Islamicate regions, East Asia, and the indigenous Americas (before colonization) are prioritized to challenge the long-held view that “real art” only comes from the West. Introductory discussions of the history of art history and geographic conventions set the stage for considering the larger question, “where does art come from,” and other questions such as, “why haven’t I heard much about art from Africa, Oceania, etc.?” This book takes a pluralistic approach, forefronting diversity and interconnectedness. Scholars and students collaborated to produce this book. Student contributions will continue to improve the text and interactivity as it evolves. A scavenger hunt of student-made “easter eggs” builds a thread of engagement and humor throughout the book. Make sure to find them all!

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Tutorials of Visual Graphic Communication Programs for Interior Design, Volume 2

Contributor: Cho

Publisher: Iowa State University

License: CC BY-NC

This book is for advanced-level architecture and interior design students who have in-depth knowledge and skills with computer-aided visualization software. The author developed a total of twenty-two chapters to teach practical graphic presentation techniques for architectural presentations. Readers will learn these techniques by following step-by-step tutorials. This book includes multiple exercises for the reader's practice. After completing the tutorials, readers will be able to apply these techniques to their design projects.

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Dress, Appearance, and Diversity in U.S. Society

Contributors: Reddy-Best, Elder, and Hassall

Publisher: Iowa State University

License: CC BY

This book introduces topics about identity, dress, and the body. Through the content, readers explore how individuals and communities use dress as a way to communicate (i.e. “negotiate” in fashion studies) their various identities. There is heightened attention to social justice, power, privilege, and oppression. That is, the content focuses on the experiences of historically marginalized communities and the ways they navigate dress and dressing their bodies in different contexts. In the first part of the book, readers are introduced to concepts and theories related to fashion, clothing, dress, and/or accessories. In the second part, readers examine the role that fashion, clothing, dress, and/or accessories play in identity development for individuals in marginalized communities in the United States.

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American Encounters: Art, History, and Cultural Identity

Contributors: Miller, Berlo, Wolf, and Roberts

Publisher: Washington University Libraries

License: CC BY-NC-SA

American Encounters provides a narrative of the history of American art that focuses on historical encounters among diverse cultures, upon broad structural transformations such as the rise of the middle classes and the emergence of consumer and mass culture, and on the fluid conversations between "high" art and vernacular expressions. The text emphasizes the intersections among cultures and populations, as well as the exchanges, borrowings, and appropriations that have enriched and vitalized our collective cultural heritage.

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A Practical Approach to Understanding Music Theory - 1st

Contributor: Brooks

Publisher: University of North Alabama

License: CC BY-NC

A Practical Approach to Understanding Music Theory is a textbook designed for the non-music performance major or music business/audio engineer who needs to professionally interface with musicians without needing to write or compose music. The material is designed around a spiral learning model in which a very simple straightforward concept is introduced, defined and explained. From this point and forward the book adds one element of music theory after another until a broad base of musical understanding and application is achieved. Even though the spiral learning model has a linear approach, the book is also laid out in a manner that any music student or hobbyist may treat it as a research manual to search out specific explanations of musical situations they encounter. This text is meant to be an all-inclusive explanation of how music is created, graphically distributed and performed for those who are not majoring in music theory, performance or education. It is aimed at those who are seeking a career in audio engineering, music business, artist representation, minoring in music, teaching lessons in a local community or someone who just wants to learn to play and understand music on a deeper level. The material is designed around a spiral learning model in which a very simple straightforward concept is introduced, defined and explained. From this point and forward the book adds one element of music theory after another until a broad base of musical understanding and application is achieved. Even though the spiral learning model has a linear approach, the book is also laid out in a manner that any music student or hobbyist may treat it as a research manual to search out specific explanations of musical situations they encounter. This text is meant to be an all-inclusive explanation of how music is created, graphically distributed and performed for those who are not majoring in music theory, performance or education. It is aimed at those who are seeking a career in audio engineering, music business, artist representation, minoring in music, teaching lessons in a local community or someone who just wants to learn to play and understand music on a deeper level.

(1 review)

Introduction to Art: Design, Context, and Meaning

Contributors: Sachant and Blood

Publisher: University of North Georgia Press

License: CC BY-SA

Introduction to Art: Design, Context, and Meaning offers a comprehensive introduction to the world of Art. Authored by four USG faculty members with advance degrees in the arts, this textbooks offers up-to-date original scholarship. It includes over 400 high-quality images illustrating the history of art, its technical applications, and its many uses.

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