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 have heard it said that Marcel Duchamp believed "art is not about itself but the attention we bring to it." These are especially interesting ideas for theorists of composition, a field which Geoffrey Sirc (2002) claims "really lacks ... a truly broad definition of artistry" (117). This dissertation argues that not only does visual meaning-making have a place in the composition classroom, but that first-year composition can benefit from the disciplines of art and design's attention to what it means to create and contemplate art, especially in studio environments. This dissertation examines the relationship between art, design, and writing through a range of texts in the fields of composition studies and art education. Many themes already overlap in art and composition theory and pedagogy, including a privileging of process, freedom of expression, discussion and collaboration, and compositional flexibility; I investigate how art, design, and composition studies can be in dialogue to reveal new ways to conceptualize pedagogy and curricula. As the written and the visual, the handmade and the digital, the alphabetic and the multimedia continue to influence each other, we can expect to see further cross-disciplinary hybridization and curricular mutation manifesting in current disciplines as well as in transdisciplinary contexts. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]