Films are multimodal, often memorable, and change one's way of thinking. Films provide narratives and visual metaphors that function as tools for one's imagination and learning. No other film has amplified this phenomenon in the United States more than the "Star Wars" Cycle. "Star Wars" exemplifies the multidimensionality of…

In 1999, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science introduced a new kind of compulsory arts education in secondary school aimed at stimulating cultural participation among Dutch youth. This article examines whether the course, called "Cultural and Artistic Education," succeeds in doing so. Data on 3,851 secondary school…

This article presents an excerpt from a speech delivered by Dana Gioia, poet, critic, and chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, at the Stanford University commencement on June 17, 2007. In this speech, Gioia communicates his concerns about the diminished role of the arts in contemporary North American culture and the failure of school…

Mainstream cultural studies, it seems, is unwilling to take art of any kind seriously, whether popular or classic. Richard Posner is not far wrong in suggesting that the aim of cultural studies "is to knock literature off its pedestal and find vehicles easier than literary works for making political points." To respond fully to literature and art…

In this article, the author describes how high school and university students in Georgia and members of a small weaving pueblo in Oaxaca, Mexico, collaborated in designing and creating a mural in the central market ("mercado") of the pueblo. A number of lessons emerged from this multi-cultural collaboration. First they learned that using…

In defining popular culture as inherently pleasurable, including the pleasures of transgression, the author argues that while art teachers now critique popular visual culture for its often-dubious ideologies, they are yet to come to terms with its transgressive pleasures. Teachers fail to engage with its carnivalesque, subversive qualities because…

In this graphic representation, two characters/caricatures discuss, contemplate, and fantasize the history of the field of art education, its current state, and future manifestations. The conversation is illustrated around the possible reconceptualization of art education. Through text and visual metaphors, the philosophical beliefs, theoretical…

The explanations of 101 adolescents and young adults, who are fans of popular culture narratives and make art inspired by these phenomena, provide insight into why these youth were drawn to create fan-based artworks, how they learned to make these art forms, and what the creative activities mean to them. Emergent themes highlight (a) the…

Many challenges currently face art educators who aim to address aspects of popular visual culture in the art classroom. This article analyzes the relationship between performance art and the MTV program "Jackass," one example of problematic popular visual culture. Issues of gender representation and violence within the context of Reality TV and…

Students, during the ages 11 years old to 13 years old ("tweens"), experience a growing desire to think and act independently while caring deeply about being accepted by the group. Tweens may feel vulnerable and self-conscious during the many changes that occur during puberty. These feelings can lead tweens to doubt their abilities and disengage…

Murals have become a powerful art form for portraying antiwar, human rights, social justice, and human dignity issues. Educators and artists have conducted mural workshops with adolescents in international settings to educate them about peace, human rights, and cultural tolerance. Learning with murals has been shown to be pedagogically meaningful…

Critical media literacy art education teaches students to: (1) appreciate the aesthetic qualities of media; (2) critically negotiate meanings and analyze media culture as products of social struggle; and (3) use media technologies as instruments of creative expression and social activism. In concert with art education practices oriented toward…

Curiously, while the efficacy of the arts for the development of multicultural understandings has long been theorized, empirical studies of this effect have been lacking. This essay recounts our combined empirical and philosophical study of this issue. We explicate the philosophical considerations that shaped the development of the arts course we…

Visual culture is a hot topic in art education right now as some teachers are dedicated to teaching it and others are adamant that it has no place in a traditional art class. Visual culture, the author asserts, can include just about anything that is visually represented. Although people often think of visual culture as contemporary visuals such…

This article deals with the forms and contents of self-initiated art works: the kind of learning that takes place in the production of self-initiated art works as well as the relationships with school art. We interviewed 52 Dutch students (aged between 10 and 14) from different schools of primary and secondary education, and their art teachers.…