The author supports a nonvalue-laden acceptance and examination of the popular arts, and a better understanding of popular culture as an appropriate concern in art education. She suggests some groundwork for understanding and makes recommendations for the inclusion of the popular arts in the art curriculum. (Author/SJL)

Media programs like hip-hop music videos are powerful aesthetic agents that inspire teenagers. Thus, they have tremendous influence on young people's identity formation, lifestyle choices, and knowledge construction which are manifested in the ways teens dress, express themselves, behave, and interact with each other. However, because of the…

The compelling career of the late Margaret Trowell and her efforts to infuse local cultures into the study of art in East Africa are discussed. Her chief concern was to make it plain that art is of the people and natural to the people. (RM)

Images can be and have been used in various ways, and by their man-made nature they cannot be considered independent of their providers' intentions. Yet, identifying such intentions is complex, and requires a critical look supported by relevant information on what is being represented, how, and why. In this article, the author illustrates some of…

The concepts of fine and popular art are relative, and the distinction between the two is slight, if not illusory. Examples of both should be used in aesthetic education classes. (RM)

Throughout history, certain members of nearly all cultures have deliberately altered their body's natural appearance. Today, people live in a time when medicine can cure the body and also reshape it. Hence, many people use biomedical means, such as steroids and hormones to alter their bodies. Additionally, cosmetic surgery is becoming increasingly…

Visual images create desire. As artifacts from contemporary visual culture, visual images inform everyone about society, telling everyone who they are and what they value. They register subliminally within everyone's psyches and alter everyone's perceptions, sometimes without everyone's knowledge. Visual images seem to keep coming and often…

Over the past decade art educators have engaged in a dialogue about a reconceptualization of art education theory and practice. This reconceptualization has roots in cultural studies, anthropology, and critical theory. One focus has been on the notion of art as visual culture. This article is organized into four sections. The first section looks…

The word "suburbia" evokes a wealth of imagery such as model homes, spacious yards, and minivans from movies, commercials, print advertisements, and television shows. These Utopian ideas of suburbia are partly truth and partly myth. Popular media's powerful portrayal of suburbia can be traced back to the wholesome 1950s' and 1960s'…

Explores reasons why adolescents lose interest in art by focusing on the internal and external disruptions in their artistic development. Discusses the influence of manga, or comics, on the artistic development of children in Japan and relates the characteristics of manga. Addresses the use of manga within the Japanese art curriculum. (CMK)

In this article, the author suggests that visual culture is so much a part of students' lives that it is difficult to ignore. In the art class educators can effectively model democratic concepts, processes, and behaviors, and help students make sense of their world. The arts can heighten perception and critical thinking and help students develop…

Provides a historical overview of U.S. print advertising from the 1890s to the 1990s. Demonstrates how advertisers adapt their messages and target audiences to the changes each era brings. Conveys that advertising reflects society by giving an image of an era as it aims to persuade. Offers six teaching activities. (CMK)

Believes that art educators must strive for a classroom that stresses equal opportunity and mirrors cultural diversity through the adoption of postmodernist principles. Outlines four steps involved in constructing a postmodernist art classroom: (1) deconstructing modernist curricula; (2) reconstructing conceptions of the artist; (3) adapting…

Argues that art education does not meet its objective of creativity and instead is replicative rather than original. Contends educational journals such as "Instructor" and "Good Apple" reduce fine art to its antithesis, popular art. Concludes that art educators must work diligently to protect fine art from becoming "dumb…

Describes objects from everyday life and analyzes artworks by four contemporary artists whose works make use of familiar objects (Louise Nevelson, Claes Oldenburg, Mitchell Syrop, and Betye Sarr). Divides lesson into four steps: (1) discussing everyday objects; (2) viewing artworks; (3) studying artists; and (4) class activities related to the…