List of Artists to Engage Boys in the Art Classroom

A question for you: How are you going to engage boys in art?

How do you engage boys in art? Research shows that boys engage with art if you use the following themes and ways of working. They are switched off by a limited diet of drawing, painting and writing about artists and engage with a broader curriculum. Design, sculpture, sporting artists, graffiti and risk-taking can all engage boys. Art teachers around the globe have found success with the following artists. Of course, this isn’t a solution – just a little piece of the jigsaw puzzle! Each image is hyperlinked to a website or google search.

Design

Sculpture

Sport

Graffiti

Unusual Method or Media

Thank you to all the art teachers that have me collect together these artists. The artists below were also mentioned for engaging boys in art:

Michael Landy, Urs Fischer, Rudolf Stingel, Rachel Whitehead, Peter Doig, Kemang Wa Lehulere, Robin Rohde, Damien Hirst, Andy Goldsworthy, Caravaggio (for his delightful murderous ways) Terry Crews, Kehinde Wiley, Paul Bracq, Dali, Picasso, Game Designers, Jason Heuser, Jamie Hewlett (Tank Girls and Gorillaz) Ai Weiwei, Supreme, Huge (graffiti), Gaudi, Frank Lloyd Wright, Escher, Frazetta, Yves Klein, Conrad Jones, Richard Estes, Ralph Goings, Takashi Murakami, Vanessa Beecroft, Nick Cave, Justin Bua, Frank Morrison, Alvin Burts, Marianne Brandt.

A huge amount of art teachers have visited this blog post about how to engage boys in art. It’s a huge issue! If you have any ideas to share, please comment below.

Also, here are some resources that art teachers have told me are popular with boys.

Posted

June 3, 2018

Artists

The Arty Teacher

Tags:

art education, engaging boys in art, teach art, teaching art, teaching art to boys

Comments

6 responses to “List of Artists to Engage Boys in the Art Classroom”

Katherine Chiu

May 13, 2021

This is so helpful!
I’ve found that giving boys options of media and material, especially in middle school when their bodies are changing and they loose their fine motor skills for a while, is really helpful. For example print making with styrofoam sheets and pencils instead of lino cutting was great for some. They could still print without the struggle to carve. Giving them choices of subject matter so they could include references to video games or sports that they are passionate about also helps to engage them.
Thanks again for the list!

Reply
1. The Arty Teacher
  
  May 14, 2021
  
  This is great advice. I have a list of artists that includes sport artists here: https://theartyteacher.com/artists-themes/
  
  Reply
Barbara

January 4, 2019

I teach G1 – 4 and boys are the most creative and engaged students, the girls are just compliant. Particularly my G4 (there are only three girls in that class) is great, they ask questions, discuss art and participate in all activities, even if it’s fashion design. They love dinosaurs, superheroes, mythology or Minecraft and I tap into that.

Reply
1. The Arty Teacher
  
  January 4, 2019
  
  I’m pleased to hear you are finding success with boys! That’s great!
  
  Reply
David

July 4, 2018

This is a brilliant list of artists. I have used some of them with students already. Thank you.

Reply
1. The Arty Teacher
  
  August 22, 2018
  
  I’m glad you found it useful!
  
  Reply