Art for a Universal Audience

I have decided to create a lesson plan that connects with Scoping An Audience 1.c: Communicating to a Universal Audience. To do this, I plan to focus the lesson on (a) art history and what makes art last through the ages, (b) discussing with the students what factors make art endure and be relevant over time, and (c) asking the students to create an artwork that ties into these factors and that they feel could have lasting value and interest. As a student of Art History and world history in general, I think it is an important aspect of art and culture that can be overlooked at times. What makes something last? What factors help certain things (artwork, culture, language, etc.) endure, while others disappear and are forgotten? I would hope to at least begin a thinking process in my students that takes some of these ideas into account and also relates history, social studies and communication systems.
From this starting point and from the discussion that would (hopefully) follow, the lesso could then grow somewhat naturally in terms of form, technique and material usage. While some of the ideas listed in the workbook could work (mud/clay, weaving, the life cycle), other materials and processes could be used based on student ideas and sketches. This openness could lead to some problems or complications with material usage, good use of time and overall management, but I feel that its positive benefits would easily outweigh most of these issues.