Art Education Commons^™

Space For Creative Decision-Making: How Art Is Being Taught, Nicky Perini

Whittier Scholars Program

Art classrooms are expected to help bolster students’ abilities to make creative choices and express themselves; however, there is no official approach to guide teachers on how to foster this in their classrooms, where they are also meant to teach formal elements and discuss the importance of art. In order to get a look at how teachers approach their classrooms in a way that is feasible within a school, I reviewed current literature about creativity, common practices, and theory, and then interviewed three middle school art teachers about how they conduct their classrooms. I found that there are vastly different …

Art Teams Year 2 Report, Guy Trainin, Hyeonjin Yoon, Libby Valerio-Boster, Kimberley D'Adamo

Research and Evaluation in Education, Technology, Art, and Design

The Art TEAMS Year 2 Report outlines the progress and achievements of a grant-funded teacher professional learning initiative in art education. Focusing on integrating visual and emerging media arts into various subjects, the project has significantly surpassed its goals, evidencing its success through both qualitative and quantitative assessments. The wide-ranging engagement from educators across different settings underscores the initiative's effectiveness and its role in fostering a vibrant community committed to excellence in art education.

The curriculum developed for teacher professional development spans 8 graduate-level classes, focusing on pedagogy and emerging media arts, and is supported by a dedicated website for …

Flower Layering Exploration With Influence From The Impressionist Movement, Kayla M. Bremmer

Senior Art Portfolios

Art Education Senior Capstone Exhibition work and unit plan by Kayla Bremmer during the Fall 2024 semester.

Exposing The Camera: The Pedagogical Possibilities Of Critical Camera-Based Arts Curriculum, Oscar Keyes

Theses and Dissertations

Cameras are a ubiquitous part of our everyday lives, especially in schools, found in students’ smartphones and state-of-the-art surveillance systems. This research project emerged from an iterative redesign process of a Photography for Art Education course, structured around the camera’s dual nature as a tool for creative expression and social control. While cameras have long been used to address social issues through documentary techniques; this critical eye can be turned onto the apparatus itself. This study drew heavily upon the historical work of Allan Sekula (1986), who observed how easier access to cameras resulted in both democratization (for the People) …

Understanding Students' Racial, Ethnic, And Cultural Identities Through Art, Kelsey Rose Long

Art 895 Research Papers

My study aims to understand how students’ beliefs and feelings about their racial, ethnic, and cultural identities impact the creation of artwork in the art classroom. This is achieved by examining students' interactions with their teachers in the art classroom through autoethnography and ethnography. This study finds that students express their complex cultural identities through artmaking by incorporating visual culture and lived experiences connected to their families and the cultures they grew up in. This research provides art teachers with practical strategies to design and implement more culturally sustaining art lessons so they can better understand their students’ cultural identities.

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 …

Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Pedagogy In Art Education, Amelia Guido

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This thesis explores the implementation of Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed (ECTI) ecosystem in art education. With the increasing levels of anxiety and depression among adolescents and the growing emphasis on social-emotion learning (SEL), this study sought to address the ways art education may benefit students socially and emotionally. However, through research, an understanding and a need for an equity-centered education was formed. While SEL practices place emphasis on utilizing the social and emotional skills-based core competencies, ECTI education focuses on addressing trauma and systemic inequities to create supportive and inclusive learning environments.

The literature review encompasses an understanding of trauma and its …

The Border Crosser's Pocketbook: A Guide To Engaged Pedagogy In After School Arts, Britney Coppick

Masters Theses

The questions that sparked this research were developed after spending time working internationally and locally with youth in after school arts programs. These inquiries aim to critically examine the way after school arts programs are run in relation to the culturally and racially diverse communities they serve, discuss how these methods engage with the field of arts education as a whole, and ultimately provide practical approaches, strategies, and tools that educators can implement in these programs. Written from the perspective of a white, female educator who works in racially diverse learning spaces, this project is aimed at enabling educators in …

Design: A Path To Agency, Design Thinking: An Educational Imperative, Seva Simone

Masters Theses

Design(ing) and Design Thinking are valuable frameworks that should be used to drive agency: This thesis explores what design and design thinking are and builds a case for incorporating design into art education.

Design isn’t a mainstream subject of study in public school curricula. Design offers a unique body of knowledge that is highly relevant to the inner-workings of our world: knowledge imperative to teach if we want to succeed in solving wicked problems like global warming and mitigating global injustices. Studying design allows students to connect academic learning to the world outside the ivy, bridging the gap between the …

Impact Of Art Educators: Artistic Practices, Political Advocacy And Pedagogy Of Frida Kahlo And Faith Ringgold, Gabriela P. Cantu

Masters Theses

Throughout the accomplished careers of Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) and Faith Ringgold (b. 1930), both women produced intimate autobiographical art that was exhibited in major institutions such as The Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum of Modern Art, and The Louvre. Beyond their art, I present an analysis of their commitments to work as political activists and arts educators which reveals their prioritization of the social, political, and economic advancement of their respective communities. I argue that their pedagogy, as a culmination of personal and cultural interrogation and celebration, produced measurable success in impacting future generations of diverse artists and …

Art 25500: Identity, Community, And Culture In Art Education-Spring 2023, Marit Dewhurst

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

The Importance Of Our Performing Arts, Gina Parker, Russell Brakefield

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

This essay is titled "The Importance of Our Performing Arts" and it was written in February 2022. I was taking an argumentative writing class at the time where we have free range to choose a topic to write about, so naturally, I choose something I am passionate about, the impact of youth theatre on our adolescents. The prompt was to identify a driving question or phenomenon related to the arts to investigate and develop a complex thesis you could argue in the paper through the use of rhetorical strategies, I decided on the discussion between funding in STEM (science, technology, …

Live-Art: A Business Plan Of A Start-Up For Art Education And Art Collection, Chuzhe Wang

MA Projects

Live-Art is a start-up venture in New York City that combines online and offline art
experiences, which blurs the boundaries between art education and art collection and organically integrates the two fields. Our philosophy is to inspire people to live with art and create their own art kingdom. By strengthening each individual’s engagement in the art world, we aim to improve our users’ art appreciation perception through art education and to encourage them to create an aesthetic atmosphere for their living environment through art collection. Traditionally, education is more focused on non-profit, while art collection is more on commercialized consumption. …

The Significance Of Art Education: Creating A Digital Classroom Advocating Art Education, Keri K. O'Connell

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Art programs have always been essential to education; they have provided students with a safe place to express themselves and make risk-free choices. However, due to budget cuts to the public school systems, art education is in jeopardy. The impact of the budget cuts on art education is widespread and has reduced student access to the arts and lowered the quality of the art education programs within our public school system. Schools can only provide students with the necessary resources, such as art supplies, technology, and professional development for art educators, with adequate funding. When schools are not receiving adequate …

Assessing The Perceived Impact Of A Local, Community-Engaged Mural Project On Preservice Art Educators In Foundational Coursework, Caitlin M. Black

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study merged the methodological frameworks of qualitative case study and narrative inquiry (Sonday et. al, 2020) to assess the perceived impact of a local, community-engaged mural art project (Mending Walls) on undergraduate preservice art educators in foundational coursework. The study was grounded in existing research in three areas: community-engaged murals, community-engaged pedagogy, and community-engaged teacher preparation. These concepts were used to frame the study and provide further rationale for the inquiry. The purpose of this case study was to understand how undergraduate preservice art educators perceived the impact of using a local, community-engaged mural project (Mending Walls) in …

Teaching Critical Consciousness With Contemporary Artists, Emily Ancona

Art 895 Research Papers

This study explores the level of critical consciousness of students by introducing contemporary artists who explore critical issues in their work. In this action research study, I examine my student’s artwork and written reflections before and after introducing them to multiple contemporary artists. I will explore the ways that these artists can encourage students to create artwork that has a higher level of critical consciousness.

Exploring Universal Design For Learning In The Art Classroom: Connecting Theory With Practice, Emily Heerten

Art 895 Research Papers

This case study focuses on the Universal Design of Learning (UDL), specifically its impact into integrating it into the art classroom. I studied UDL to better enhance and implement flexible instruction in my art classroom the past three years. In this case study, I reflected upon my own art classroom experiences during this time. UDL has been an important aspect in my art curriculum in an effort to increase opportunities for artistic academic achievement for each student. I examined UDL and how to implement it into the art classroom. This was to fill in gaps in education that is meant …

Tiktok As Art: Visual Culture Art Education In An Afterschool Art Program, Chloe C. Morrell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research and the objective were to investigate the firsthand experience of

visual culture art education in an after-school art program. The after-school

program was focused mainly on an underserved population. We focused our

concentration on the social media app TikTok. The author investigated visual

culture theorists and discovered ideas from Terry Barrett and his use of

denotations and connotations and their relationship to art. The participants were

members of the Boys and Girls Club of Nacogdoches who analyzed TikTok

videos using annotations and denotations, then in return created their own

individual videos inspired by an original TikTok video. The …

Artful Healing: Exploring Creative Expression And Play In Children's Hospitals, Phoebe Strobino

Masters Theses

This thesis explores the role and accessibility of creative expression and play in children’s hospitals, and the impact these ideas have on patients. I explored these ideas through teaching four lessons at Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. Two of these lessons were taught in group sessions, and two were taught in one-on-one sessions, with participants ranging in age. Following an introduction to each lesson, I provide the plan itself along with general observations and reflections on teaching. Due to the nature of the setting, information is kept purposefully broad throughout my observations in order to respect the anonymity …

Toona Sinensis 桃花心木, Li Yang

Masters Theses

This thesis is my journey as an artist and art educator in search of creativity through the lens of sustainability, which may reveal the existence of questions one wonders about but does not provide a specific answer or solution to this within a limited time frame. Through this inquiry, questions are repeatedly asked: What is the definition of art? If art and education have a tremendous impact on human thought and perception, do they point people in the right direction when confronted with global issues such as cultural and natural sustainability? If so, what is the essential difference between art …

Care, Inclusivity, And Accessibility In Glass Art Education, Bridget Provan

Masters Theses

In glass art education care, inclusivity, and accessibility have been recurring themes that have kept arising in my journey. Specifically, why are they absent? As an art educator, I feel it is important to support and educate all students and their entire being. As an art student when I received any care I felt it was extraordinary but, in reflection, I feel it should be the minimum an educator provides. In my thesis I explore the importance of care, inclusivity, and accessibility in glass education and how to incorporate all three into multiple educational settings. This thesis is a culmination …

Contemporary Eco Theory In Art Education: Field Notes And Desire Paths, Margaret K. Mccullough

Masters Theses

This thesis is an investigation into patterns and overlaps of three critical elements in our world, art, nature, and education. Integral to this investigation and the contributions to humanity of these three are the accurate depiction of specific realities, upon which Science and the majority of global citizens agree, aesthetic sensibility, as well as beneficent solutions (i.e. those which do no harm.) Together we will examine the intersection of subjects, what they combine to achieve. We will consider how, taught and learned in unison, they may take on a position of greater prominence in efforts to solve real world problems. …

Revolution Of Steam Education: The Importance Of Interdisciplinary Art Education (Steam) In Elementary Education, Suyu Chen

Masters Theses

This thesis discusses how interdisciplinary art education benefits young children from different aspects, including gender bias in disciplines, developing creativity and imagination, motivating children to engage the class and improving their efficiency of studying. Through an interview with a STEAM educator and my own curriculum development, I show some examples of what STEAM can look like in the elementary class. I demonstrate that there is evidence showing that STEAM education can create an engaging learning environment for young children. When STEAM projects are introduced, children are more focused and interested in classroom activities when compared to STEM projects alone.

The Mind’S Eyes: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of Learning To Draw In Adulthood, Ramona Crawford

Educational Studies Dissertations

Amid a long period of deskilling in art school curricula, craft has been denigrated as inferior to art and confining for artists, but can craft liberate imagination? The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between an adult learner’s self-perceived capacity for imaginative expression in representational drawing and the development of her artisanal judgment during a self-directed program of classical study, online and in-person, over a period of 22 months (mostly during the coronavirus pandemic). The researcher created, coded, and analyzed drawings, photographs, field notes, diaries, and video recordings to track cognitive events and situative factors encountered in …

Using Art Education To Cultivate Self-Efficacy And Divergent Thinking, Julian Flores Rubalcaba

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to understand the experiences of an art teacher implementing art education with creative learning principles to cultivate students’ creative self-efficacy and divergent thinking at one middle school in the Inland Empire located in Southern California. The research continues to focus on how self-efficacy and divergent thinking cultivate through the process of art creation through project-based learning (Puente-Díaz & Cavazos-Arroyo, 2017). An art education is not a requirement for students to receive throughout their PK-12 general education in low socioeconomic schools due to an emphasis on the general education curriculum to focus on high-stakes standardized …

Remembering Dr. Melanie Buffington: Three Reflections On Her Impact And Influence, Luke A. Meeken, Hannah K. Sions, Carlisle Kramer

The Melanie Buffington Papers

Dr. Melanie Buffington's influence on the field of art education can be both acknowledged on a large scale through her history of scholarly publications, and felt on a more intimate scale through the countless emerging scholars and preservice teachers whose practices she shaped through her mentorship and pedagogy. In this piece, three emerging art education scholars and practitioners—a former student, a former mentee, and a former teaching assistant of Dr. Buffington’s—reflect on the impact Dr. Buffington had on their own practices

Course Syllabus Esc 414 Special Methods In Art/ Esc 714 Teaching Art In Middle And High School, Deborah Yasinsky

Open Educational Resources

Syllabus in art education for middle and high school students utilizing OER.

Reflections, Relationships And Art Class, Rochelle St. Martin Pettenati

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

My homeroom class was 8H. At that time the district grouped students homogeneously by rank or GPA. The “lowest” ranking class was 8H and they were mine. I remember the first day I met them, I was full of knowledge after completing my Master of Art Education just a few months before. I knew just what to do, just what to say. Undoubtedly, the students would love and respect me, and I would inspire them and teach them to love art. They would use art as another language for learning, I would differentiate to meet their needs and identify their …

Art Education As Mutual Aid: Community And Social Justice Based Initiatives, Janelle O'Malley

Student Projects

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, education has drastically changed. The months of pandemic coupled with rising political upheaval left issues with schooling at the bottom of the list. Yet, the repercussions of the pandemic have forever changed the face of our educational system. Especially hard hit during this time was subjects deemed unimportant such as music and art. These classes, which already have faced their fair amount of cutbacks, were once again left on the chopping block. Even though the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015 ensured that art would be treated as a core subject, it …

The Collaboration Of Art Museums And Art Education In The School Setting, Breanna S. Daugherty

Masters Theses

Many schools offer visual arts as an elective, so an art field trip could be seen as a fun reward instead of a required component of the curriculum. However, certain evidence has contradicted this idea. For instance, students who are able to visit an art museum, view original artworks, and discover the process of real artists have displayed long-term benefits. The latter range from enhanced behaviors, questioning, critical thinking, and empathy in students after visiting an art museum. This paper is a study of how an art museum’s educational resources can benefit and be implemented into a school setting. First, …