Teachers who have no formal arts background and yet integrate the arts consistently may provide essential understanding on how to render to all students a well-rounded education that encompasses the arts. Education that embraces the arts helps students to develop essential thinking skills, expand their creativity and ways of expressing, and…

Walter Benjamin (1936) provocatively suggests that art is an object consumed in a state of concentration. That is, you give yourself over to the artwork in a conscious decision to contemplate it deeply. John Dewey (1934) argues that art requires long periods of activity and reflection, and it comes only to those absorbed in observing experience. I…

This study utilizes an educational historical narrative research method to understand the unique viewpoint of Lowenfeld toward visualization as a holistic concept in progressive art education. Employing a social constructivist framework, it explores the problem that the emphasis in education on the surface elements of standardized subject-based…

The purpose of this study was to apply a social justice lens to arts attendance. I utilized the data from the 2012 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, a subsection of the Current Population Survey, to explore which variables influenced benchmark arts attendance. The research questions focused on three variable groups: demographics of…

As higher education moves increasingly to online and hybrid programs, more students will be taking art appreciation courses virtually. The research that exists on student perceptions related to hands-on art making suggests that active creation is valuable in fostering creativity, inspiring knowledge, and supporting and motivating students. The…

This narrative-based qualitative research investigated the distinct journeys of eight cross-cultural artists (four artists from South Korea and four artists from China). Utilizing a variety of theoretical frameworks surrounding cross-cultural research, this dissertation examined current discussions on cross-cultural challenges and their…

Latino English learners (ELs), among the largest student population in the United States K-12 school system, continue to lag behind their English-proficient peers. They also tend to attend segregated schools, have less-qualified teachers, and lack access to rigorous curriculum, including the arts. Museum education departments have increasingly…

In western societies, the persona of the artist has largely been associated with prevailing myths of the creative individual including the artist as genius and outsider. In my inquiry I endeavored to understand what it means to be an artist from the perspective of budding "creatives." In this study I explored the process of becoming an…

Integration of art into school curricula has the potential to increase multiple abilities in student populations. However, the process through which cognition and behavior are affected is not well understood. The current study is among the first large-scale, longitudinal examinations of arts integration on improving student creativity and…

Works of art have been referred to as a good source of fuel for the engagement of art museum visitors, thus art museum education researchers and practitioners have sought to create opportunities active social interactions between visitors related to the art they view in museums. However, research investigating different ways to encourage active…

This case study followed fourteen preservice arts students through a content area literacy course intended to guide them toward broadened definitions of literacy and text and perceptions of the literacy needs of their disciplines. By focusing on the disciplinary knowledge of music and art, preservice teachers might change their opinions of how…

The need for emotional interaction has already influenced various disciplines and industries, and online museums represent a domain where providing emotional interactions could have a significant impact. Today, online museums lack the appropriate affective and hedonic values necessary to engage art enthusiasts on an emotional level. To address…

Pilsen Art Pilsen Artist Pilsen is a qualitative study utilizing archival research, autobiographical writing, oral history, and participant profiles to examine historical phenomena. The study explains the immigration patterns of Mexican Americans in Chicago while also discussing the art and cultural institutions that this group developed. This…

This dissertation critically examines mental illness discourses through the intersecting disciplinary lenses of art education and disability studies. Research from multiple disciplines is compared and theorized to uncover the ways in which discourses, or language systems, have oppressively constructed and represented "mental illness." To establish…

The aim of this dissertation is to present the procedure and proceedings of an instructional research into the teaching and learning among Luo women of Western Kenya. The purposes of the research are threefold. First, it seeks to document a system of indigenous adult education that has proved sustainable among Luo women from generation to…