LibGuides: Open Educational Resources: Art and Theater

Art & Theater Resources

Textbooks
Art Repositories

This is a selection of openly licensed course material that has been created for free use in courses. These resources may be adopted for use as classroom text, modified to create new texts, or used as a supplemental learning tool to aid in understanding key concepts.

Art History & Art Appreciation

Art Appreciation

An open textbook/course from Lumen Learning. Art Appreciation thoroughly investigates how quality is determined and created by artists in order to evaluate and appreciate art on a deeper level. This course emphasizes why each topic contributes to valuing a piece of art and provides the necessary knowledge to do so. Licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY.
Introduction to Art: Design, Context, and Meaning

An open, introductory art textbook authored by faculty within the University System of Georgia. It introduces issues such as the meaning and purpose of art; its structure, material, and form; and its diverse effects on our lives. Licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY-SA.
SmartHistory

Smarthistory is a multimedia art history website, which seeks to educate users about art in innovative ways not usually allowed by traditional textbooks. It brings together content from museums and other cultural sites to engage students in conversations about how to interpret and understand the works presented. Licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA.

Film

Exploring Movie Construction and Production by John Reich
An open textbook that addresses the major areas of film construction and production, including theme, genre, story and plot, characters, directing, cinematography, editing, and sound. Licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA.

Graphic Design

Graphic Design and Print Production Fundamentals
An open text that introduces students to different components of the design process, from creating to producing physical, printed, or other products that people interact with on a daily basis. Licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY.

Theater and Performing Arts

Theatrical Worlds by Charlie Mitchell (Editor)
From the University of Florida College of Fine Arts, Charlie Mitchell and distinguished colleagues from across America present an introductory text for theatre and theoretical production. Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
An Introduction to Technical Theatre by Tal Sanders
An Introduction to Technical Theatre draws on the author’s experience in both the theatre and the classroom over the last 30 years. Intended as a resource for both secondary and post-secondary theatre courses, this text provides a comprehensive overview of technical theatre, including terminology and general practices. Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC.

The collections below are repositories that may contain art resources in a variety of formats. Many items are licensed individually, and will therefore require you to pay attention to the specific permissions of use.

Digital Public Library of America
The DPLA is a digital library of millions of resources held in libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each item is licensed individually, so pay attention to the specific permissions of use.
Europeana
Europeana is a digital collection of more than 50 million items held in libraries and museums across Europe. Each item is licensed individually, so pay attention to the specific permissions of use.
National Archives
The United States National Archives acts as the nation's record keeper, keeping important legal or historical documents and materials for preservation. Most of the documents and images contained within the archive, unless otherwise noted, are in the public domain.
New York Public Library Digital Library
The New York Public Library has an extensive digital collection of more than 800,000 items that have been digitized from the library's collections. Items primarily include still images, texts, music, and other recordings. Permissions for use vary according to the individual item.
World Digital Library
The World Digital Library is a project started by the U.S. Library of Congress, in conjunction with UNESCO. It contains primary resources from a wide variety of countries and cultures in a multilingual format, free of charge. Licensing is dicated by the individual contributing partners.

**Note: Not all results returned are guaranteed to be openly licensed. Pay special attention to check the licenses on each item you intend to use.