Nov 20th Session 3B

Presentation 1: The Historical and Current Impact of Public School Art Education, Nicoletta Barolini

American art education in the mid-nineteenth century was driven in part by the promise of socioeconomic opportunity for vocational print designers and illustrators. That promise is now being resurrected by vocations in digital 2D and 3D graphics and illustration. This paper seeks to explore how public school art education, particularly at the higher education level, is responding. To do this, the oral histories of two artists, Octavio, and Kevin, are examined with a focus on their educational and employment experiences within the arts. Furthermore, in order to reflect upon the past and present impact of art education as a means of social mobility, their stories are compared with the historical account of artist Henry Cross, as recounted by Diana Korzenik in the book Drawn to Art. The findings suggest that the participants outside influences and social networks were often more valuable than their public school art education.

Presentation 2: Exploring the Historical Evolution of Studio Art Courses, Sohee Koo

Nowadays, the fast growing significance of technology in the classroom has been debated broadly by scholars, such as Resnick (2006) and Blikstein (2013), arguing that “making” by using digital fabrication could be the vehicle for inspiring innovative ideas and literacies. Yet, we know very little about how such technology could be integrated into various studio art courses in art education. Furthermore, when looking back at the 1900’s, evolution of studio art courses within industrial arts and manual training movements in art education has been widely debated. Scholars, such as Wygant (1959), Anderson (1926), Bonser (1920), and Efland (1990), discussed the importance of industrial arts from a social and cultural context. However, their work has not adequately addressed the importance or evolution of the art studio courses within digital fabrication. Given that clay modeling, weaving, and woodworking classes existed during the 1900s under Arthur Wesley Dow (1857-1922)’s chairmanship in the Fine Arts department at Teachers College, how did art studio classes evolve over time, and what would be the focus of a studio class at the current stage regarding technology integration?

My paper will address philosophies and curriculum of studio courses during the 1900’s under Dow’s teaching at Teachers College, in order to find similarities between the manual training and today’s digital fabrication implementation. Using a historical approach, this paper looks at Dow’s teaching philosophy and studio courses within the theoretical framework of Wygant (1959), Anderson (1926), and Bonser (1920). The use of industrial-engineered prototyping digital tools today mirrors the use of “the machine” influenced by manual training under Dow’s instruction, as he advocated the importance of employing the machine to produce art creatively. The study will use primary sources such as Dow’s lecture series notes at Yale University and Teachers College (1916-1917), lecture notes on principle of fine arts (1910), lecture notes on art in school and the place of art in the program (1911), lecture notes on art appreciation (1904-1906), and art department course catalogues (1900s) from Smithsonian museum archives and Teachers College Record on Dow’s publications.

I argue that it is vital to examine the history of studio art courses in the 1900s, which were heavily influenced by the manual training movement inspired by John D. Runkle (1822-1902) (Efland 1990). The digital fabricating process of prototyping could be the 21st century’s version of manual training processes that existed more than a century ago, although the actual materials and machines developed. History reflects the past and the present simultaneously.

In conclusion, this paper, examines 1900s art courses under Dow’s philosophy on art and art education, to highlight the significance of exploring the evolution of studio art courses. Such exploration may indicate innovative ideas and directions for integrating new technologies in today’s studio art courses within art education.

Presentation 3: The Magic of Computer Art: A Biographical Account of Bruce Wands, Laura Scherling

What does it mean to be part of a pioneering group or a group of early adopters? This article examines this question by considering the case of digital art. Through in­depth interviews, I explore Bruce Wands’ role as an early adopter of computer art and I document his extensive role in creating and developing computer art education since the early 1980s, a time when computer art was seen simply as a passing trend. In those early days, computer artists were either artists interested in new technology or computer scientists interested in art. By retelling Wands’ story we can better understand the complex relationships between technologies and cultural values in art education. These interviews provide insight into Wands as an artist, his early life, inspirations, publications, his identity as a musician, and pioneering contributions to digital art. It also importantly explores his role as an educator and examines how art education might adapt to new technologies.