Along with the rapid development of Chinese modern design since the 1980s, modern design education has grown in China. Many studies have already been conducted to examine the key aspects of this historical phenomenon, e.g., heroic figures and well-known institutes. This article, however, investigates the anonymous activities of modern design…

The "Belle Époque" quest for a modern beauty (an 'art nouveau') extended into France's system of free primary schooling, established in the 1880s by the Third Republic to educate the popular masses. Design reformers' belief in the underlying unity of the fine and applied arts, and their growing emphasis on the importance of individual…

Can a building's ornamentation grow and change? Can it inspire artists, educators, and other scholars to be creative in new ways? In this article, the authors, an instructional faculty team of two studio art professors and the fine arts librarian at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), describe how its collection of Louis H. Sullivan…

The ambiguous identity of the digital media field, the ubiquity of media, and rapid and persistent technological change and innovation pose inimitable challenges for academic programs in digital media. Digitization of media is an underlying impetus for today's rapid innovation that compels related academic programs in higher education to…

This paper reports on an interview study with MFA students in two different full-time MFA degree programs in painting. The interviews were conducted as part of two ethnographic studies, each one academic year in length, of art and design schools at two U.S. universities. The goal was to explore the extended process whereby MFA student artists, in…

Meta-aesthetics is the aesthetic field relating to the images of products where the conversion value, separate from the product's function, takes part directly in its value. Meta-aesthetics is among the subjects that today's art and design world must address more sensitively. This study was based on a 2009 dissertation measuring university…

The development of art education in Pakistan over the last five decades is explored through three major phases: Arts as traditional crafts together with proficiency in painting and calligraphy. Such skills; somewhat existed in academies but, were then transferred through apprenticeship system. Arts in the academies; the first turning point, that…

Sinking maps, created by Northern Virginia Community College professor Joan Marie Giampa, are tools that teach fine art students how to construct visual metaphor by conceptually mapping sensory perceptions. Her dissertation answers the question, "Can visual metaphor be conceptually mapped in the art classroom?" In the Prologue, Giampa…

In this article, we explore whether or not arts-based research engages different ideas and processes--different nouns and verbs--when the art form is understood as design, craft, or "fine" art. We propose that the fine, craft, and design arts each provide opportunities for conducting research, that their identities are built upon mutual support…

For over a decade, educators, government representatives, entrepreneurs, social scientists, economists and journalists have espoused a constant drumbeat on the critically important skills and habits of mind that students will need to possess not just to survive, but also thrive in a rapidly changing and highly competitive world. Each commentator,…

This paper explores the basis and main characteristics of fine art as a subject discipline and looks at how these elements combine to create a distinctive and in many ways unique learning environment. Taking the premise that fine art as a subject discipline is concerned with encouraging the development of individual artistic practice and enabling…

Discusses the movement in British education to separate design education from art education. States that this should not be done. Argues that fine arts classes should continue to be taught at the higher education level. (RKM)

Examines how British teachers are attempting to present art and design curricula within the context of the performance-based national curriculum. Discusses developments in digital technology and the potential for information/communications technologies to enhance learning in art and design. (SK)

Discusses the status of fine arts in English higher education. Examines the relationship between fine arts and design education. States that fine arts education has professional relevance as a substantial number of graduates pursue careers which contribute to the wealth-producing sectors of the economy. (GEA)