African American artists have participated in every major art style and movement since before the founding of this nation. However, until recent decades, this "grand epic" had been marginalized within the traditional survey canon of American art. Art historians have undertaken considerable scholarship (Bearden & Henderson, 1993;…

Art Appreciation is often a course that undergraduate students take to meet their general education requirements. However, many students have little interest or value of art due to a lack of previous art experiences and often choose the course because they feel it will be relatively easy. This qualitative, naturalistic inquiry focused on students'…

Purpose: Conducting contemporary art lessons with a traditional art history view and a chronological approach leads to misinterpretations - and even to prejudices - of contemporary art as it is not progressing chronologically, cannot be assessed within specific stylistic forms and defined with strict lines, unlike previous traditional art…

How can museum educators create dialogical experiences with European decorative arts? This question frames my essay and stems from the challenges I have faced introducing objects whose original functions seem to overshadow their aesthetic and interpretive value. Repeated efforts to spark rich dialogue and collective interpretation around pieces of…

Narrative is a form of discourse that "encode[s] and encrypt[s] the norms, values, and ideologies of the social order" (Friedman, 1998, p. 8). These values may be represented in many ways, including culturally learned codes, myths, and stories which reveal popular attitudes about gender, race, ethnicity, or education. As a mirror of culture,…

The author of this article is an art specialist at Whiteford Elementary School in Sylvania, Ohio. Following a visit to a Paul Klee exhibition, she cut out all the miniature examples from the exhibition flyer in order to make six art pins. She then wore a different pin each day at both her elementary and high school assignments with amazing…

Is art merely an adjunct to the serious business of life? Is there a secret ingredient that makes some art more worthwhile than other art? Does art have something to offer that makes its pursuit or purchase worthwhile, or is it simply an outlet for spare capital? Does art really matter at all? (Contains 5 figures.)

This study introduced to 88 selected adults (aged 60 and older) eight combinations of art curricula and teaching approaches encompassing three components of art education: productive; historical; and critical-appreciative. All eight experimental groups made similar improvement in the aesthetic quality of their art products. (Author/SJL)

This ERIC digest explores aspects of post-modernism in art and art education. The adoption of post-modern attitudes by art educators must result in the generation of different, but no less difficult questions about the nature of formal education. Support for this argument comes from recent art education publications supplemented by relevant, but…

Presents a lesson where students make faux Chinese bronze vessels through slab or coil clay construction after they learn about the history, function, and design of these vessels. Utilizes a variety of glaze finishes in order to give the vessels an aged look. Gives detailed guidelines for creating the vessels. (CMK)

Proceedings from a seminar devoted to a discussion of issues related to discipline-based art education (DBAE), this document features three scholars addressing a given topic from the perspective of their particular discipline and experience in the field. Six topics were explored: (1) "New Voices on the Integration of Art Disciplines";…

Describes an secondary art education course using the principles of discipline-based art education (DBAE). Argues that art production techniques and studio art must be included with the DBAE approach for a successful program. Provides an overview of the course content and teaching methods used in the program. (CFR)

This document summarizes the proceedings of the Getty Center's national conference. The keynote addresses and views of panelists and audience members are presented. Over 400 art educators, educational leaders, school administrators, artists, and elected officials from across the United States discussed discipline-based art education (DBAE). This…

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 two studies of art instruction offered to secondary school students which integrated art production with critical and historical learning and provided some comparisons with non-integrated approaches. Provides observations of high school art programs that included art history and criticism as part of the integrated art curriculum. (AEM)