Digital Commons Network^™

Healing Artists Through Art, Corey Aaron Cundiff

Masters Theses

Men die by suicide nearly four times more than women, with higher rates among artists. There has been an increase in the rate of suicide over the years, primarily linked to depression and mounting societal expectations imposed upon men. The prevalence of social media and the awareness that comes with indicates that the issue of suicide may never disappear unless action is taken. This paper examines the need for art therapy to counter depression among male artists. No longer do we need to rely strictly on medication and talk therapy to treat depression. Many art therapy techniques have proven quite …

I, Others, World - A Glass Circuit, Ariel Aravot

Masters Theses

In the summer of 2022, I had an epiphany about what an art-work is in its most expansive form: a circuit, activated by art creation, between self and others, and between them to wider worlds, and back to the self. ‘A GLASS CIRCUIT’ is the tale of my ongoing exploration of myself as a glass artist, the conscious discovery of my path, which is both consistent and incessantly changing. My works are the stepping stones that sustain my creative process as a glass blower and at the same time introduce experimentality, new questions, and new research topics.

The circuit is …

How A Balanced Christian Message In Film Can Inspire Christ-Like Transformation, Makayla Marrin Jacobs

Masters Theses

This thesis will attempt to examine the need for a balanced Christian message in film and how everyday acts of the Christian faith can inspire Christ-like transformation within society. This thesis will also explore the importance of developing faith and spiritual disciplines through the creative screenplay, All Hail the Hoodlums. Throughout history, living as a faithful Christian and practicing spiritual disciplines can appear to go directly against society’s natural flow as belief in a Creator oppose man’s selfishness and sinful nature. Seemingly, society at large currently projects that believing in a Monotheistic and Triune God and having a deep personal …

Beauty And Modern Art: The Importance Of Classically Educating Students About Beauty Through Modern Art, Rebecca Brooke Edwards

Masters Theses

It has often been asked throughout the history of mankind what classifies beauty within an artwork. When observing some of the outstanding works of Leonardo DaVinci or Sandro Botticelli, a few of the great masters of the Renaissance, there is no problem teaching students about what makes those artists’ work beautiful. What about the artistic work from the past two hundred years to the current art being produced today? I have found through my own personal journey as an artist that there is a severe lack of promotion for creative gifts being used for God within the Christian communities (and …

The Importance Of Art In Cross Discipline Education, Shaye E. Beeman

Masters Theses

For years, art has been pushed under the rug. Especially in education, art is seen as less advantageous than other courses such as math, English, and science. This thesis explores the advantages of utilizing art in cross-discipline classrooms to help students learn and develop skills that will improve their physical, mental, and spiritual health. This thesis will bring into account other sources of information and data including research, case studies, and visual analyses to show: How will art improve the physical health of students? How does art increase the mental health of students? How does art improve the spiritual health …

Half In Dream: The Tangle In The Grid, Abbey L. Paccia

Masters Theses

Half in Dream: The Tangle in the Grid discusses the form and content of a physical art installation by the same name. The site-specific installation is a large three-dimensional collage of natural ephemera collected from the area around Amherst, Massachusetts, which interacts with natural lighting conditions to illuminate a gallery-facing image of ever-moving light and shadow. The written work elaborates some of the many details within the structure of the artwork, and reveals the philosophies, embodied practices, and methodologies that informed the visual work's creation. Woven throughout are reflections on phenomenology, walking practice, General Systems Theory, collective making, narrative arts, …

Everybody Is A Critic: A Guide To The Critical Evaluation Of Visual Media For Generation Z, Cody Alexander Rusk

Masters Theses

The youth of today, especially Generation Z, lack the ability to think critically. An area that seems to be especially difficult for Generation Z to critically evaluate is visual media. This is an issue because visual media has an influential hold (both emotionally and mentally) over this generation and is a key factor in swaying the opinions and behaviors of these young minds. Visual media is a powerful tool that. should continue to be used by future generations, but with the knowledge that there will always be potentially negative influences, and more importantly, ways to identify and defend against them. …

Dissonant Forms: Landscape, Nature-Love, And Art, Taylor F. Benoit

Masters Theses

As artists continue the long and storied lineage of Landscape, are there aesthetic responsibilities that come with representing the forces that afford you the capacity to do so? As we delineate spaces into places, endless interconnectivity into knowable “systems”, and living matter into thing based taxonomies, who do these delineations serve and with what intentions do we proceed? My studio art practice explores what it means to give form to our Former—the Former being that from which we came, the here and now, our explicit ecological reality, the stuff of what we call nature. …

The Library Of Babel, Jared Tubbs

Masters Theses

The Library of Babel is an installation that allows users to search through a sea of sonic and visual representations of alphabetical symbols and punctuation that are encompassed in an infinite textual library. Users peer through the various walls, shelves, and volumes of the library, searching for whatever they wish - be it meaning, sense within the chaos, or audiovisual euphony. The default sounds for symbols can be replaced by recordings that the user creates on location, allowing the user to provide their own sonic reconstructions of the Library’s contents. The Library of Babel breaks language into its constituent parts, …

Developing Creativity In The Seventh-Grade Art Classroom, Zachary Dane Wallerius

Masters Theses

This thesis describes a methodology for developing artistic creativity in seventh-grade students through the implementation of a curriculum that fosters authentic engagement with the creative process. In it I explore how student’s waning interest in the arts through middle school despite the value of creative expression for adolescents can be addressed. The research in this paper explores relevant aspects of artistic creativity as well as the psychological needs that must be met in order for students to successfully engage in a creative practice. The paper makes recommendations for how to foster common traits of creative people and proposes how behavior …

Overcoming The Myth Of The Contemporary “Starving Artist”: An Exploration Into The Fusion And Viability Of A 21st-Century Career In Art And Design, Miranda M. Myles Jackson

Masters Theses

This research explores the myth of the “starving artist” surrounding the pursuit of a career in the arts. Artists are often dubbed as starving due to the pre-conceived notion that careers in art do not provide longevity or financial stability. Due to this stigma, budding creatives are often dissuaded at home, school, or both from pursuing a career doing what they love. Arts programs are often cut and or remain underfunded, mainly due to this biased perception. Research indicates that careers in the arts have expanded exponentially due to its merge with various fields. According to both the STEM vs. …

Efficacy Of Creative Interventions In Virtual Reality, Matthew Thomas Richesin

Masters Theses

Engaging in creative activities is known to increase well-being by reducing levels of stress, anxiety, and improve life satisfaction. Interventions utilizing creative activities have proven to enhance therapeutic results in various mental disorders. Similarly, virtual reality has emerged as an effective method of decreasing negative aspects of mental disorders. While both creative interventions and virtual reality show promise in enhancing well-being, the efficacy of combining the two has not been explored. This study aimed to combine and compare 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional art-making on stress, anxiety, and mood in a non-clinical college student sample. To accomplish this, both physiological and self-report …

Barren: A Case Study Using Art In Religious Instruction To Foster Empathy By Providing Deeper Insight And Encouraging Contemporary Dialogue, Esther Hi'ilani Candari

Masters Theses

This thesis draws upon a review of current literature related to the empathy-building potential of fine art and experiences of infertile women, especially those within Judeo-Christian communities, to build a case study for utilizing fine art to create stronger more empathetic communities. For this case study, the researcher utilized an online survey of infertile Judeo-Christian women to further clarify the specific needs of this minority group. Then she drew upon a broad array of current and historical literature and artwork to discern what cultural and theological trends may have framed infertility as a stigma. Using this information she then produced …

Art For All: An Inclusive Curriculum For A Secondary Art Room, Michelle Ann Fuller

Masters Theses

Art classrooms in a secondary public school tend to be a place where students feel inspired to be creative, improve social skills and self-esteem. But what about those who have a learning disability? If the art educator establishes a positive and safe learning environment, all students, including those requiring adaptations can create meaningful work. Do art teachers feel prepared to guide students who require extra attention? How can pre-service teachers enter the profession feeling more qualified instructing these students? This thesis explores the support of inclusion in the high school art room by defining what an ideal collaboration might look …

Incorporating Fine Arts Into Online Education, Tosha Tessen Mcdonald

Masters Theses

Art Education has seen many changes. One of the most recent changes in art education has been the step into online learning. The question I sought to answer was whether or not art education could be delivered in the same rigorous manner online as it can be in a traditional school setting. During the 2019 - 2020 school year, I started a position teaching for the Rural Virtual Academy, in which all instruction was delivered online. During my own practice, I researched methods to instruct students virtually. My results indicate that it is quite possible to deliver a rigorous curriculum …

Binary, Jared Tubbs

Masters Theses

bInary is an interactive sound installation featuring seven stations that represent common aspects of modern life in the digital age. Most stations center around modern technology, and its central role in many aspects of society. Users engage with each station to do various tasks, including inputting personal data, manipulating touch screens, typing out social media posts, taking selfies, and recording greetings. The combined stations, done consecutively, take on a ritualistic nature, taking habitual aspects of everyday life and exposing them to stand alone. bInary takes data from interactions with the stations to create a sonic representation of those who interact …

Student-Provided Technology In The Classroom, Matthew Lafleur

Masters Theses

With technology becoming more ingrained in the day-to-day business of 21^st century life, it is only natural for such technology to find its way into the hands of our youth and eventually the classroom setting. Student provided technology, specifically the popular smart phone, is proving to be a useful tool in students’ education to some but still seen as a potential danger to many others in the profession. With the world becoming more digitally connected, smart phones have the potential to be a great learning tool or an even greater source of distraction for students.

Art teachers across the …

Integrating Visual Thinking Strategies Into Art Education: A Curriculum For The Middle School Level, Shelley K. Gibbs

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to expand and demonstrate how the integration of Visual Thinking Strategies into a middle school classroom curriculum could strengthen and benefit students’ critical thinking and art literacy. There is a growing and overwhelming use of technology and images in our world, to which students are exposed daily. By integrating a visual literacy strategy in a visual art setting, students may learn to slow down and think more critically about what they see and understand, not only in art but cross-curriculum.

Contemporary Artists Of Color And Non-Western Artists In The Middle School Art Curriculum, Katherine L. Stiffler

Masters Theses

In my thesis, I review research on how to integrate multiculturalism into both the art classroom and curriculum. I also discuss the exclusion of art by non-Western artists and artists of color from museums and galleries. Finally, I explain why I chose the cultures and artists for my topic of study.

I include research on nine contemporary artists. These non-Western and artists of color have been selected to be used as inspiration for creating art in the middle school art room. Each artist has a unique style and story, both of which contribute to creating a well-rounded curriculum. Finally, I …

Equals: Redefining The Way Graphic Design And Narrative Film Combine To Create Visual Metaphor, Kevin Harris

Masters Theses

This paper provides a methodology for combining Graphic Design and Narrative Film together in a way that creates a type of visual metaphor that is central to the story and characters of the film. Because visual mediums of communication are so intrinsically tied to verbal means of communication, this methodology is grounded in the linguistic study of poetry and metaphor. Thus, the concept of metaphor will be analyzed thoroughly in language, poetry, fine arts, and modern arts. The ways in which metaphor is created visually through the art forms of graphic design and narrative film will be of upmost interest …

Remains To Be Seen: Recollecting Memory, Nathanael Kooperkamp

Masters Theses

Abstract

Remains to be Seen, a multi-media installation, provides the opportunity for reconfiguration, re-contextualization and re-remembering of visual memory. Geoffry Cubit, a historian of memory, has noted that “memory has no fixed, stable, unitary meaning to which we can invariably recur: it has always been, and legitimately, a concept in flux and under review”.[1]My work in this exhibition (and as discussed throughout this paper) addresses the unstable and revisionist nature of memory—both culturally and individually. Additionally, I attempt to address how memory (collective, visual, familial and individual) is implicated in the creation of selfhood, of personal narrative, …

Application Of Narrative Principles To Effectively Communicate Through Graphic Design, Joseph Wright

Masters Theses

From folk tradition to film, story has played a critical role in connecting one person to another. The principles that undergird the construction of exceptional stories may apply to other forms of communication, including visual mediums. Although studies show that storytelling communicates more effectively than simply stating information, the field visual arts has neglected to apply this tactic in its craft. What makes a great story, and why does it have the capability of emotionally moving a person? Why not use the same principles that connect a person to a narrative within the field of graphic design? Because of this …

Assessing The Benefits And Risks Of Choice-Based Art Education In The Modern-Day Classroom, Kayla Lindeman

Masters Theses

This thesis explores the benefits and risks of choice-based art education by examining the literature and conducting field research in two third grade art classrooms - one that employs a Teaching for Artistic Behaviors-based (TAB-based, a popular version of choice-based art education) approach to art education and another that adheres to a more discipline-based model. Findings related to student observations, student surveys, and parent survey will be presented within these two unique settings. These findings will be matched against claimed choice-based benefits of: increases in student engagement; instructional and learning shifts; and student engagement in authentic art practices. The findings …

Exploring The Relevance Of Art Therapy In Public Education, Brandy A. Jarrell

Masters Theses

This thesis will explore art education as a therapeutic tool in a public education system. This topic will serve as a continuation of research that I conducted previously but will bring more focus upon bringing a certified art therapist into public school districts in West Virginia. Data will be collected through student surveys, interviews of professional art therapists, and administrative officials. Data will also be collected through a review of the literature surrounding the benefits of art therapy to children and adolescents. Through these sources I will explore the attitudes, beliefs, and practices of educational professionals, art therapists, administrators and …

The Role Of Arts Education In Closing The Achievement Gap In High Poverty Schools, Deanne Basse

Masters Theses

This paper will review research that identifies different types of poverty and how brain development may be affected as a result of living in poverty. Although research reflects support and understanding by the American people that arts education is important to the well roundedness of youth and, in fact, correlates with higher standardized test scores, arts programs continue to be cut especially in areas of poverty. There is an achievement gap in educational success when it comes to students that live in poverty and that of students in higher socioeconomic situations. Students of poverty are working with increased internal and …

Teaching The Soft Skills Through The Arts: A Supplementary Art Curriculum, Brittany Boverhof

Masters Theses

Soft skills are the ability to work with, for, and among other people, yet we can no longer expect students to develop these skills organically. This research builds on the knowledge that if we want the students we are educating to be successful in employing their own soft skills, then they must be taught. This paper defines soft skills, shows their importance, and introduces practices that are proven to build soft skill ability. I have constructed twelve lesson plans that teach the soft skills through experientialism, working in groups, art, critique, classroom management, and problem solving. This supplementary curriculum provides …

Mantle, David Hannon

Masters Theses

Through a large-scale installation called mantle, I explore how the queer body becomes uncanny to the home through a human sized dollhouse and using scenic design ideas. Home for many is a safe place, but for queers, it can be a difficult one, wrought with not belonging in a childhood of heteronormativity. Being stuck in that heteronormative space is what I communicate through a stage set, composed of four theater flats, printed and collaged wallpaper, free-standing photos mounted on MDF, a giant necklace in a separate room, and impromptu pieces made in the space.

Visual Literacy: Integrating Social Justice Art Education Into The Middle School Curriculum, Anna Kazmarski

Masters Theses

The purpose of this paper is to explore how social justice art education and visual literacy can facilitate growth and compassion for the diverse other in society. Social justice art encourages exploration of art-making in a variety of settings in order to dispel anxiety or misunderstandings about those affected by injustice. An investigation of original lesson plans designed to meet national core art standards will be introduced to elaborate on how social issues can be incorporated into a comprehensive art education curriculum based on critical and analytical inquiry at the middle school level.

Peter Mack Show, Peter Mack

Masters Theses

My animations and videos are personal articulations and reflections of the roles in life I assume: father, employee and artist. I have a particular interest in the seemingly mundane interactions in life, which often becomes a starting point for me to explore larger themes of family life, failure, and happiness. I approach these themes with humor and playfulness. The “show-and-tell” manner of many of my narratives, working in tandem with humor and DIY production values, gives my work the feeling of a strange children’s educational TV show in which I play the host, while underlining the personal nature of my …

American Controversy: Nudity In Art And Its Discontents, Sarah Katherine Mcphaul

Masters Theses

While walking through an exhibit at the East Tennessee Historical Society last year, I witnessed one of the curators tape sheets of white paper on top of some of the paintings. The exhibit served to remember the artwork of the Knoxville artist Lloyd Branson (1853 – 1925). His paintings consisted of mostly portraits, large-scale history scenes, and peaceful landscapes. Of the portraits displayed in the gallery, a few of them showed nude women. One of the paintings titled The Weeping Magdalene referred to a biblical narrative of Mary Magdalene crying. The other painting was not a biblical story, but one …