Nine second-grade children with moderate to severe mental retardation were grouped with 27 nonhandicapped peers in a leisure activity which included gallery viewing of visual art and studio opportunities to manipulate art materials. Handicapped participants' social behaviors and interactions were analyzed, and attitudes of nonhandicapped peers…

Critiques the effectiveness of various National Endowment for the Arts programs which sought to develop a broad and discerning audience for the arts. Explores the underlying reasons for the failure of government policy in arts education to promote aesthetic welfare and educational/cultural participation. (TRS)

Most folk art activity occurs outside institutional settings, and while some of it intersects with commerce and popular culture, other portions find nurture from public and private funding. This study sketches the breadth and depth of folk and traditional arts activity in the United States. The inquiry combines field-based or case study…

Describes different theories of art and how they disagree on the question of the way that artworks relate to the circumstance of their origins and use. Discusses how these circumstances influence the way one thinks about artworks. Considers where E. D. Hirsch's ideas on cultural literacy fit into this aesthetic controversy. (KM)

Discusses an international art exchange project designed to teach fifth-grade students that the culture of a country is reflected in its art and that art is a universal language. Describes the contributions from Scotland, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Japan, and India. Points out ways to use materials in schools. (KO)

Examines seven controversial issues in art education and sets them in a larger social context to help identify their contributions to art education. Concludes that art education should include all art forms from all cultures, develop more interaction between people in theory and practice, and extend the use of social and behavioral sciences. (KM)

Describes an African maskmaking project completed by seventh grade that gave students insight into tribal cultures. Discusses materials and methods students used to make the masks along with a backdrop painting to complement their masks. Displays several examples of student art. (DB)

Describes how art history and art criticism in the art curriculum benefit Trainable Mentally Retarded (TMR) students. Shows how these students enjoy looking at and talking about art and maintains that the experience will be successful if the requirements are kept basic. Outlines objectives that incorporate art history and criticism into the TMR…

Asserts that art education promotes high culture and ignores popular culture and is thereby precluded from making a positive contribution to students' lives. Outlines the principles for a socially relevant art education. Maintains that such an art education would contribute critically to the meanings, values, and beliefs students form with…

This document describes an art curriculum designed for elementary level students of Catholic schools. The curriculum aims to encourage student creativity and self expression as advocated by pre-Discipline Based Art Education (DBAE) art programs while presenting the subject matter emphasis of DBAE programs. Lesson suggestions are given for each of…

Schools, museums, and performing arts organizations each have roles to play in educating the public and enhancing awareness and understanding of the arts, science and culture. Moreover, these organizations have developed a symbiotic relationship, needing each other to help fulfill their mutual goals. School visits to museums used to enrich many…

Originally designed for use in combination with a museum visit to the Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection exhibition at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., the document presents a teaching package about Islamic art during the late 16th-early 17th century. Themes in Islamic art addressed…

This document presents a teaching package designed to introduce students in grades one through five to Chinese painting methods and equipment. Prepared in conjunction with an exhibition of paintings by child prodigy Wang Yani titled "The Brush of Innocence," the package consists of a teacher's activity plan unit, a slide set of art works…

This booklet details the proceedings of an international conference focusing on education in the arts in a multicultural world. An international perspective can be gained by encouraging the teaching of literature, music, arts, and drama in an culturally-unbound way, by establishing a progressive means of interpreting other cultures and other arts,…

Cultural activities for the deaf are described and discussed in seven conference papers. Two papers by P. R. Wisher of Gallaudet College treat "The Role of Physical Education and Athletics for the Deaf in a Hearing World" and "Psychological Contributions of Dance to the Adjustment of the Deaf." Also included are three papers…