What does a book report on the life of a nineteenth-century Hungarian obstetrician named Ignaz Semmelweis (1818-1865) have to do with art and art education, the subjects I’m now immersed in? Quite a lot, as it happens. Never heard of Semmelweis? Neither had I until I read a historical fiction about him entitled The Cry […]
belief perseverance, Ignaz Semmelweis, institutional theory of art, Semmelweis Reflex, The Cry and the CovenantLeafing recently through a back issue of Arts & Activities (which bills itself as “the Nation’s Leading Art Education Magazine”), I was struck by yet another instance of the foolish injection of political issues into art education.1 An article entitled “Design Thinkers” featured the following photo: The project shown had been carried out in 2016. […]
2017 Design Thinkers Conference, Arts & Activities magazine, politicization of art education, Timothy GoodmanThe founding and activities of Saudi Arabia’s MiSK Art Institute ought to be good news for art lovers. As the first institute of its kind in the formerly arch-conservative Saudi kingdom, it aims to support emerging Saudi artists and increase their interaction and visibility both within and beyond the kingdom. Operating under the auspices of […]
Ahmad Angawi, Ahmed Mater, Al-Qatt, Amr Alngmah, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Dana Awartani, Edge of Arabia, Islamic art, Misk Art Institute, Rashed Al Shashei, Saudi art, Stephen StapletonHaving just received a promotional copy of Scholastic Art magazine’s December 2017 issue, entitled American Pop Art: Working with Ideas, I’m moved to comment. But there is so much wrong with it that I scarcely know where to begin. A logical starting point, I suppose, would be the cover, featuring an Andy Warhol Campbell’s [Tomato] […]
Andy Warhol, Dutch genre painting, Edward Ruscha, elevating the everyday, fine art, high art, Nicolaes Maes, portraits, Roy Lichtenstein, Scholastic Art, self-portraitsThis week, September 10–16, is National Arts in Education Week—an annual event established by Congress in 2010 to celebrate the value of the arts in education and gain broad support for it. On what grounds could any civilized member of society object? The answer is that the value of arts education largely depends on the […]
4'33", Jeff Koons, John Cage, National Art Education Association, National Arts in Education Week, Oliver Herring, Richard Kessler, STEM to STEAMJust in time for a new school year, the September 2017 issue of Scholastic Art magazine features ten paintings that students should know, because they form part of “our collective cultural history.” Surely a worthwhile undertaking for a publication aimed at middle school and high school visual art education programs—until one examines the works selected […]
10 Paintings to Know, Arnolfini Portrait, art education, avant-garde, Basquiat, cubism, Dora Maar in an Armchair, Grace Lin, Picasso, Scholastic ArtTwo exhibitions this spring have powerfully belied the artworld pretense that all contemporary art is in an anti-traditional “cutting-edge” vein. And unlike the contemporary work that fills today’s leading museums and galleries, they offer art lovers something to rejoice in. The smaller of the two shows is Self-Portrait (April 20 – June 20)—at the Eleventh Street […]
art education, Art Renewal Center, Classical Realism, contemporary art, self-portraits“Resolved that there is much useful to be learned from Kamhi’s 2014 book, and that this book can be profitably read and studied by art educators at any level of their professional development.” That resolution—proposed by Distinguished NAEA Fellow David Pariser—prompted lively debate at the 2017 conference of the National Art Education Association in New […]
academic debate, Amy Brook Snider, Anna Kindler, Art21, David A. Pariser, Elizabeth Murray, filter bubble, Joe Fusaro, Kevin Tavin, Lorrie Blair, NAEALast weekend’s terrorist events in New York City have again reminded me of the dangerous folly of some in academia who purport to be art educators. In a blog post last December on the horrific terrorist attack in San Bernardino, I referred to “art educator” Kevin Tavin, now Professor of International Art Education at Aalto […]
art education, Kevin Tavin, see something say somethingGoogle my first and last name with the words “art education” and the first item you will find dubs me “The Joe McCarthy of Art Education.” Which prompts me to respond at this late date to that scurrilous blog post written in 2010. The author, Richard Kessler, then headed The Center for Arts Education—a non-profit […]
art education, arts advocacy, avant-garde, Joe McCarthy of art education, John Cage, Mannes College of Music, Mark Morris, Merce Cunningham, politicizing art, Richard Kessler, social justice in education