Welcome to the Visual Arts OER Resource Toolkit — a collaborative initiative between the U.S. Embassy Zimbabwe and the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo. This webliography is a curated collection of freely accessible Open Educational Resources (OER) from U.S. universities, publishers, and cultural institutions. Every resource listed is openly licensed — meaning students, teachers, researchers, and library users are free to use, adapt, share, and reuse them at no cost. Organised by resource type, this toolkit is here to help you discover free, high-quality materials that support your research, teaching, and learning in the visual arts. All items are freely available for educational use.
Below are descriptions and links that redirect to selected OER sites, featuring open books and textbooks, open-access journals, research, and LibGuides with extensive materials covering art history, art and design, art appreciation, photography, architecture, archaeology, and art journals.
1. Reframing Art History. Smart history (Center for Public Art History) — Beth Harris & Steven Zucker, eds. An open-access multimedia art history textbook developed by more than 40 expert contributors. Covers global art and history thematically rather than by names and dates, from prehistoric to contemporary. Free, ad-free, and widely adopted across U.S. colleges. To access Smart History, click smarthistory.org
2. Introduction to Art: Design, Context, and Meaning. Pamela Sachant et al. — University System of Georgia (USG) / Galileo Open Learning Materials. A comprehensive introduction to art authored by four USG faculty with advanced degrees in the arts. Includes 400+ high-quality images covering art history, technical applications, meaning, and purpose. One of the most widely adopted OER art texts in the U.S. To access, click oer.galileo.usg.edu/arts-textbooks/6/
3. A World Perspective of Art History: 1400 CE to the 21st Century Deborah Gustlin & Zoe Gustlin — ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative (2022). A globally inclusive art history textbook that discusses art from every continent and civilisation, centering underrepresented cultures and unknown artists. Redefines art history beyond the Western canon. Produced by the California Community College system’s OERI. To access, click asccc-oeri.org/open-educational-resources-and-art-art
4. Art Appreciation Asa Simon Mittman (2023) — Smarthistory / Maricopa Open Digital Press. An introductory art appreciation text focused on visual analysis tools, exploring themes such as religion, nature, and power using global examples from prehistory to the present. Avoids a strictly chronological art historical survey in favour of thematic depth. To access, click open.maricopa.edu/artappreciation/
5. Introduction to Art History I: Survey of Western Art from Prehistory through the Middle Ages Myers, Caldwell & Taylor — ASCCC OERI (2022). Produced by a team of art historians in the California Community College system, this textbook curates Smarthistory and other scholarly resources with chapter introductions, a comprehensive glossary, and editors’ notes. Covers the Paleolithic through the Gothic periods with global connections. To access, click asccc-oeri.org/introduction-to-art-history-i/
6. Getty Publications Virtual Library J. Paul Getty Museum / Getty Conservation Institute / Getty Research Institute — Los Angeles, CA. A wide variety of freely downloadable books on art, photography, archaeology, architecture, and humanities from the Getty’s three major research entities. Includes exhibition catalogues, conservation manuals, and scholarly monographs. All titles are available in free PDF or online reading formats. To access, click getty.edu/publications/virtuallibrary/
7. Smarthistory AP® Art History Guides (Volumes 1–3) Ruth Ezra, Beth Harris & Steven Zucker — Smarthistory / Open Textbook Library. A series of openly licensed volumes covering Global Prehistory through the Americas and Later Europe. Also includes subject-specific guides to Ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Near Eastern, Etruscan, and Aegean art. Available as full PDFs and online HTML through the Open Textbook Library and UNM. To access, clickopen.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/art-history
8. Art History and Appreciation I & II Lumen Learning / SUNY — Open Courseware. College-level art history courseware covering prehistoric through contemporary art. Originally developed for the SUNY system by Lumen Learning using openly licensed content from multiple contributors. Includes readings, images, and assessments. Free to access and adapt. To access, click courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-arthistory1/
9. Art Appreciation (Achieving the Dream Open Textbook) Compiled from Boundless Art History & Saylor Academy — Park University / Achieving the Dream. An undergraduate-level introduction to art compiled from openly licensed sources. Covers art history, the elements and principles of design, media, and methods used in the creative process. Intended for modification by educators; distributed as individual PDFs for easy LMS integration. To access, click library.achievingthedream.org/artappreciation/
10.Art History Pedagogy & Practice (AHPP) Art History Teaching Resources (AHTR) & City University of New York (CUNY) — Rutgers University Libraries. A peer-reviewed, open-access journal devoted to the scholarship of teaching and learning in art history. Publishes articles, short essays, and multi-modal projects covering art history pedagogy across classrooms, museums, online spaces, and broader communities. Accepts submissions from all academic levels. To access, click ahpp.libraries.rutgers.edu/index.php/ahpp/index
11. Art Journal Open (AJO) College Art Association (CAA) — supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. A free, open-access companion to Art Journal, the flagship publication of the College Art Association. Publishes select quarterly content alongside original online scholarship in contemporary visual art and criticism. Peer-reviewed editorial board includes faculty from Florida State, Princeton, UC Santa Cruz, and other U.S. institutions. To access, click http://artjournal.collegeart.org
12.Panorama: Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art Association of Historians of American Art — University of Minnesota Libraries. The first peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated entirely to American art and visual culture, broadly defined, from the colonial period to the present day and published by the University of Minnesota Libraries. A key resource for scholarship on U.S. visual arts history. To access, click journals.uc.edu/index.php/panorama
13. Arts (MDPI) MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute) – an international peer-reviewed journal. An international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal promoting significant research across all aspects of the visual and performing arts, published monthly. All articles are immediately and freely available worldwide under a Creative Commons license. Covers art history, contemporary art, theory, digital arts, and cultural studies. Frequently features U.S.-based scholars. To access, click mdpi.com/journal/arts
14. Visual Arts Research (VAR) University of Illinois Press — indexed in Scopus, EBSCO, Art Abstracts. A peer-reviewed journal published by the University of Illinois Press covering visual arts education and research. Authors may elect open access for accepted articles at no cost to submit. Focuses on studio art practice, art education theory, curriculum, and visual culture. Double-blind review process. To access, click www.press.uillinois.edu/journals/?id=va
15. Art OER — Sustainable Learning Research Guide Cal Poly Humboldt Library — California State University system. A comprehensive research guide to open educational resources for the visual arts covering open textbooks, MERLOT, OER Commons, open image repositories, museum collections (Guggenheim, Met), and multimedia resources. Maintained by Cal Poly Humboldt’s library with links to art-specific OER platforms across the U.S. To access, click libguides.humboldt.edu/openedu/art
16. OER and Art/Art History Resource Guide ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative (ASCCC OERI) — California Community Colleges. A curated catalogue of OER vetted for California Community College art history courses, reviewed against specific C-ID course descriptors. Includes peer reviews of each textbook, notes on scope and coverage, and guidance for developing zero-textbook-cost art history programs at the associate degree level. To access, click asccc-oeri.org/open-educational-resources-and-art-art-history/
17. Art OER Research Guide University of New Hampshire (UNH) Library. A subject-specific OER guide for art students and faculty at UNH featuring open access textbooks, image repositories from the National Gallery of Art, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, and Getty collections, plus open access journals including IARHA. Covers art, photography, architecture, and conservation. To access, click libraryguides.unh.edu/oer/art
18.Art/Art History OER & Textbook Equity Guide Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa. Curated list of OER in art and art history with an emphasis on resources adopted by Iowa colleges and universities, plus textbooks reviewed by the Open Textbook Library or relevant associations. Includes links to Smarthistory, OER Commons, and speciality art OER. Supports the campus’s Textbook Equity initiative. To access, click guides.lib.uni.edu/oer/art
19. Art and Art History OER Guide (College of Liberal and Fine Arts) University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Library. Comprehensive OER guide for art and art history courses at UTSA, covering Smarthistory guides, MIT OpenCourseWare art history series, Guggenheim and Whitney digitised resources, Getty free digital publications, Saylor Academy courses, and Lumen Learning courseware. Includes a survey of Western and non-Western art resources. To access, click libguides.utsa.edu/oercolfa/art
20. OER for Art & Design Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) Library — Georgia. A guide from one of the nation’s leading art and design universities highlighting OER tools for art and design faculty. Covers MERLOT, OER Commons, the Getty Open Content collection, Smithsonian digital assets, Artstor, and specialised digital platforms, including the Cooper Hewitt collection and museum video archives from 50+ cultural institutions. To access, click scad.libguides.com/OER/art
21. Art & Art History OER by Subject Skyline College Library — San Bruno, California. A well-organised subject guide featuring annotated descriptions of major visual arts OER, including Smarthistory, Reframing Art History, AP Art History guides, Khan Academy art history, and Art History Pedagogy & Practice journal. Provides reviewer notes on scope, strengths, and course alignment for each resource. Licensed CC BY 4.0. To access, click guides.skylinecollege.edu/oersbysubject/art
22. Art & Design Open Educational Resources Alkek Library, Texas State University. A subject guide for art and design OER at Texas State featuring the IARHA open access journal, Open Arts Journal, J. Paul Getty Museum teaching curricula, Smithsonian open collections, the Digital Art History Directory, and the Cooper Hewitt design database. Tied to TXST’s zero-textbook-cost course registry and supported by a dedicated OER librarian. To access, click guides.library.txstate.edu/c.php?g=184023&p=8991884