Art Practice Commons^™

How I Came To Jam With The Angels Of The Dirty South: A Journey Into Art And Art Education, Miki Skak

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper dives into my personal journey from a far-left activist youth into becoming an artist. It explains how a poet saw artistic potential within me, introduced me to the world of art and eventually art education. I reflect on the art education I have received from several different art schools and how they try to adapt to the demands of the contemporary art world that has been in a constant condition of reshaping itself since Marcel Duchamp’s readymade. As an artist who is less focused on the techniques of traditional artistic mediums, I investigate how the state of art …

Reaching Across Community Lines: How Informal Visual Art Educational Programming Bridges The Gap, Janelle O'Malley

Student Projects

Economic disparity in underserved communities is in large part responsible for a lack of access to quality visual arts education. The communities most in need are often hit first when it comes to funding the arts, and the students suffer these financial consequences. How can we ensure those underserved communities receive a complete education with the visual arts? What other ways can access to the visual arts be provided to schools?

Fielding, Emily Tareila

Masters Theses

Fielding is an ongoing exploration of place-making, spaces of learning and relationship building in formal and informal learning environments. The project is comprised of a series of events and workshops that are embodied, multimodal, olfactory and engagement-focused and a mobile cart that helps to facilitate these happenings both in and out of the formal gallery space. I regard my art practice as pedagogical, a blurring of art and life into intentional ways of being in the world; an experience of sharing practices with others and a form of what is regarded in institutionalized art as social practice. I find art …

Art Therapy And Art Education: A Conversation - A Critical Review Of The Literature, Shannon Rogers

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Art therapists and art educators are continuing to define the boundaries of their professions while finding opportunities for collaboration. While there are limited studies focusing on art therapy with students, the existing research suggests that the interventions that have been done are associated with an increase of self-esteem, ability to communicate thoughts and feelings, and healthy self-expression for students. The topic question investigated in this paper is what are the emotional benefits of implementing art therapy for elementary students within art education? This literature review will explore what few have focused on, the overlap between art therapy and art education. …

Facilitating Student Autonomy: An Exploration Of Student-Driven Curriculum Development And Implementation, Edwin James Keyes

Theses and Dissertations

In order to improve his own teaching practice, the researcher observed and studied student-driven approaches to public art education that not only achieved the aims of the national standards, but also encouraged secondary students' engagement with art in personally relevant ways. Inspired and informed by these observations and studies, the researcher developed a curriculum based more on student concerns, which was studied using action research. The action research approach was driven by experimentation with the curriculum's content as well as its implementation and is fundamentally about improving the researcher's own teaching practice. Hence, the study focuses largely on the researcher's …

The Way Of The Artist Educator: Understanding The Fusion Of Artistic Studio Practice And Teaching Pedagogy Of K-12 Visual Arts Educators, Christopher M. Strickland

Educational Studies Dissertations

The purpose of this autoethnographic study was to examine the experiences of Artist Educators and how they perceive the fusion of their artistic studio practice and teaching pedagogy impacts their creative and teaching practices. This study involved a focus group of six individuals, including the researcher. All the participants were practicing artists, currently employed or recently retired K-12 Visual Arts Education certified in the states of Maine or New Hampshire and members of the Kittery Art Association. This study used a combination of interviews and an arts-based method for data collection. All the data were analyzed and resulted in the …

You Can't Teach What You Don't Know And You Can't Lead Where You Won't Go: Professional Development As Artists For Elementary Educators, Katharina Joyce Watson

Theses and Dissertations

Elementary educators often lack the confidence and skill to teach visual arts to their students because they received very little, if any, formal training in what is a diverse and complex field of study. Teachers who lack confidence in a subject matter will potentially avoid teaching it. As a result, the early visual arts education of entire classrooms of elementary students can become neglected. Giving elementary educators the time to develop their own artistic process and acknowledging the value of educators' artistic voice can benefit teachers by building personal confidence, generating creative flow, providing knowledge about art, promoting a growth …

Understanding The Expressive Cartoon Drawings Of A Student With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Michael S. Collins

Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the highly expressive comic drawings of Amy, a child with autism. This study connects larger fields of research: the study of how people with autism spectrum disorder [ASD] process faces and emotions; and, research about artists with ASD. Amy's understanding of emotion was analyzed by asking her to view and identify humans and cartoon characters expressing different emotions. Her ability to illustrate emotion is tested by asking her to respond to various drawing prompts. The study concluded that Amy has difficulty identifying the emotions of humans and cartoons, but she does have the ability to illustrate …

Creativity & Religion: A Self-Study Of Mormon Mindset In The Art Classroom, Shon Scot Feller

Theses and Dissertations

A high school art teacher investigates the relationship of his religious beliefs with his notions of what it means to be creative. This Mormon teacher examines his religious and experiential life through self-study, by drawing from autoethnographic and hermeneutic phenomenological strategies. He believes that everyone, including himself and his students, has a creative potential. He also analyzes how his Mormon religion affects his view of creativity and how creativity has affected his behavior as a Mormon. The conclusions he reaches uncover the need for balance between his creative self and his Mormon self and outlines several ways to merge these …

Online Education: The Relationship Between The Perceptions Of Online High School Teachers Compared To Traditional Classroom Teachers Regarding The Visual Arts, Karen A. Fine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The incorporation of the arts as an academic subject in the high school distance education delivery method is being reinvented as something new. Most of the current research is focused on college courses. Online high school curricula are most often placed in research studies as an afterthought. Perceptions of faculty members from high schools with traditional instructional delivery models as well as public online schools concerning online education as it relates to the arts in 5 different areas was the focus of this research; mentor, delivery method, satisfaction, student learning, and curriculum. Examining the perceptions of teachers gives a blueprint …

Artist Practice In The Elementary Classroom: Redefining Art Teaching Through Artist-Teacher Philosophy, Ashley Smith

Art Education Theses

Presently, there is confusion about the definition, role, and pedagogy of artist-teachers and how their practice influences the way art is taught in a K-8 public school setting. In this paper, I present my motivations for pursuing this topic of research, provide a brief history of Western conceptions of artist-teacher, and describe pedagogical characteristics of artist-teachers along with an examination of the teaching environments they create.

I used Arts-based research to conduct a multi-site case study in which I first investigated my artist practice and then studied how I translated what I learned into the elementary art classroom. I completed …

The Role Of Youth Arts: Providing Opportunity And Intervention For At-Risk Populations, Tania M. Mccamy

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Role of Youth Arts: Providing Opportunity and Intervention for At-Risk Populations considers the positive outcomes of arts experiences during childhood and adolescence. The benefits of arts education include cognitive, social, and emotional growth. The arts are also seen to improve student learning, achievement, and engagement on many levels. Childhood arts participation directly affects adult arts engagement in which individuals gain the cultural capital that allows for social ascent. As well as being a means for opportunity, art can be used as a means of intervention for at-risk youth populations. Through art, children and teens find meaning, belonging, and success …

A Maoli-Based Art Education: Ku'u Mau Kuamo'o 'Ōlelo, Raquel Malia Andrus

Theses and Dissertations

Leaders in K-12 education in Hawai'i are increasingly advocating for and utilizing the culture and knowledge of the kānaka Maoli, the native people of these islands, as a context for learning in a variety of curricular disciplines and approaches (Benham & Heck, 1998; Kani'iaupuni, Ledward & Jensen, 2010; Kana'iaupuni & Malone, 2006; Kahakalau, 2004; Meyer, 2004). To expand upon this trend, this thesis uses a combination of autoethnographic and critical indigenous methodologies to present a personal narrative that looks specifically at approaching art education from a Maoli perspective. Through extensive participant/observer reflections, two place-based and culture-based art education experiences are …

Food Landscapes: A Case Study Of A Cooking And Art- Focused Program For Teens Living In A Food Desert, Jessica R. Norris

Theses and Dissertations

This study constructs themes and propositions about the experiences of youth participants in the fall 2013 Food Landscapes program at the Neighborhood Resource Center in Richmond, Virginia. During the program, youth participated in cooking-based volunteerism with adults with disabilities and created short videos about their experiences. In this study, I analyzed pre- and post-program participant interviews, twice-weekly program observations, and facilitator reflections to understand how Food Landscapes affected youths’ conception of community engagement and communication strategies. This case study offers insight into how youth experience after-school programming of this design. Based on my findings, youth develop and rely upon a …

Evolving Art In Junior High, Randal Charles Marsh

Theses and Dissertations

A junior high teacher and artist altered the curriculum of his Art Foundations II course and his own artistic practice in response to complexity thinking. This teacher-artist-researcher uses the arts-based methodology a/r/tography to make meaning of the relationship between his art and pedagogy. The a/r/tographer explains the impact of complexity on the philosophy of education, a/r/tography as a methodology, and the meaning making that occurred are included. Evolution was used as a methodology for art making and as constraint for developing artworks in the classroom and in the author's own art. The teacher-artist-researcher conceptualizes art as an emergent complex cultural …

Understanding Children's Art Making Preferences: Implications For Art Therapy, Amy Morrison

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study employed a phenomenological, qualitative approach to investigate children’s art making preferences. The researcher was curious about the meaning that creating two-dimensional and three-dimensional art forms held for children. Influences and contributions to children’s art making preferences were explored. Lastly the study questioned what children’s artistic preferences mean for the field of art therapy. Theories of art therapy, artistic development, and child development informed the study. Thirteen children ages 5 to 11, four boys and nine girls participated. The researcher requested the children choose a subject and create the subject in both two and three dimensions. A range of …

Student Autonomy: A Case Study Of Intrinsic Motivation In The Art Classroom, Downi Griner

Theses and Dissertations

How might a curriculum based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) influence student motivation and art making in a 9th grade art classroom? The researcher devised a negotiated curriculum called The Master Artist Program based on the SDT theory of intrinsic motivation. The implementation of this curriculum was designed to explore the question of how a curriculum based on SDT theory would influence student motivation and art making in a 9th grade art classroom. This curriculum was implemented in a ninth grade art class on an optional basis for the course of nine weeks. The results of data analysis, illustrated by relevant …

Mapping Creativity: An A/R/Tographic Look At The Artistic Process Of High School Students, Bart Andrus Francis

Theses and Dissertations

A high school visual art educator, along with 20 students enrolled in this teacher/researcher's Advanced Placement (AP) studio course, investigated the processes involved in creating artwork. Understanding artistic processes beyond skills and techniques is significant for curriculum development, but it is also key in conceptualizing art as a way of knowing. The arts based research strategy utilized in this study was a/r/tography, which focuses on the interconnectedness between artist, researcher, and teacher/learner. This highly reflective form of action research allowed the researcher and students to uncover new understandings of what it means to be an artist-researcher through a combination of …

Interactive Web Technology In The Art Classroom: Problems And Possibilities, Marie Lynne Aitken Oxborrow

Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown that the use of technology in curriculum, and art classrooms in particular, can benefit students. This thesis outlines these benefits which include the potential for technology to make learning more personal, assist students in their future careers, and allow opportunity for collaboration. Still, several obstacles impede the full-fledged realization of that potential, often leading teachers to avoid or ignore technology in their pedagogical strategies. This thesis addresses these obstacles and provides practical and theoretical solutions. Once these obstacles are overcome, teachers will be better able to incorporate new technology in their lessons, such as social media, podcasts, …

Classroom Community: Questions Of Apathy And Autonomy In A High School Jewelry Class, Samuel E. Steadman

Theses and Dissertations

Student motivation is investigated in this study as a means of abrogating apathy within a public high school Jewelry course. The study is an attempt to answer a personal question of whether students could be internally motivated to a level of excitement that they would take ownership for their personal learning and the learning of their classmates. The study also addresses four main points that cause apathy, or are caused by apathy, they are: zero sum competition, compassion and support for classmates,ownership of the physical facilities, and the development of a conscientious public. Through a desire to test data on …