The purpose of this study was to determine if beauty was important to elementary age children when exploring and making aesthetic judgements about works of art and to determine the criteria elementary students used in judging beauty in works of art. This study also explored beauty as a concept that could be used as an organizing idea for designing a thematic unit with the purpose of introducing elementary students to postmodern art and issues. One hundred and sixty first grade and fourth grade students looked at 20 pairs of art reproductions and picked the artwork they considered the most beautiful. The criteria elementary students use for determining beauty in artworks was found to be color, realism, subject matter and physical appearance of the subject of the work of art.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the creative arts program of the first four grades in the Bowie Public Schools to determine the extent to which it meets, or fails to meet, criteria developed for a creative arts program in a democratic form of education.

In this research, the author has undertaken to investigate what relationship, if any, exists between academic achievement of the child in the upper-elementary grades and his achievement in both or either, of the two- and three-dimensional arts.

The problem of this study was to ascertain the degree and kind of relation which might exist between a) certain measured indices of general creativity, ingenuity, and artistic judgment, and b) teacher judgments of artistic creativity within a senior high-school art population. One of the major purposes of this study was to identify a test or tests of creativity which might be used with senior high-school students to find those students with artistic potential who either should be counseled into art classes or for whom particular kinds of teaching procedures should be developed.

The purpose of this investigation was to observe the effect of supplemental art activities on classroom management. Supplemental art activities are assignments designed to replace "busy work" with meaningful, interesting learning projects for students. The supplemental activities allowed students who completed their regular work to direct free time to developing appropriate work habits and creative thinking. The investigation showed that additional prepared learning activities help to reduce classroom discipline problems. Students were required to continue the normal learning routine without surpassing the slower members of the class. Planned activities did not solve all classroom problems but did serve to educationally involve the faster students.

This study examined current conditions of existing multi-purpose studio art classrooms, or "dedicated spaces," in a cross section of America’s schools. To date, most of the research completed to assess the state of arts education programs in the last 20 years has been through government-conducted statistical analysis, detailing the number of part- and full-time certified arts teachers and the number of dedicated spaces in which arts programs are housed in each reporting school. The NAEA’s Design Standards for School Art Facilities served as the guideline for analyzing the physical design features and arrangement of the 18 classrooms included in the study. The work of Nel Noddings, Maxine Greene, and Parker Palmer provided framework for how the physical space influences human flourishing. The research utilized a multi-case study, and pursued two new methodologies: “Goldsworthy as methodology,” where Andy Goldsworthy’s inquiry-based creative practice in natural settings is transposed into the observation and analysis of art classroom design features; Design Thinking was used to understand the dynamic nuances that tie both physical features and human experience together. The findings suggest that a large number of spatial problems exist in the classrooms included in the study, that the current state of these art rooms are not indicative of spaces that are designed to support visual art learning and human flourishing, and offer insight into how to better facilitate the construction or rearrangement of studio art classrooms so that they are more intuitively suited to creative activity than they currently are.

Transformative Learning seeks to encourage learners to critically reflect on their assumptions and preconceptions, thereby transforming their existing frameworks and perspectives. This qualitative study investigates what Transformative Learning looks like in a diverse group of adult learners at a graduate school of education who attended sculpture classes intentionally designed to enable such change. When Transformative Learning is part of the teacher’s intention, how, if at all, does learning through artmaking in mixed media sculpture classes transform these adults with regard to their understanding of their identities as artists and learners (“Who am I?”), their approaches to artmaking (“How do I make art?”), and their understanding of art (“What is art?”)? Furthermore, the study seeks to understand what aspects of their class experiences contributed to these transformations. The study examines the studio creations and artmaking processes of five adults from diverse backgrounds and experiences and analyzes what they reported about their artmaking experiences. Data gathered from semi-structured interviews, retrospective surveys, and class artifacts are organized and analyzed based on three stages of the Transformative Learning cycle—Stability, Reflection, and Transformation. The five participants’ three stages are then discussed according to the participants’ perceptions of their identities as artists, their understanding of art, and their approaches to artmaking, based on the research questions. The findings of the study suggest that the participants experienced heightened levels of Transformative Learning in individualized ways. Data indicate that specific class activities—a gallery trip, in-class artmaking sessions with material and time constraints, and an artist statement exercise—contributed to participants’ transformations over the course of the semester. Once the semester ended, some participants took further actions based on their changed perspectives of artist identities, understanding of art, and approaches to artmaking, which indicates that dramatic shifts and multiple perspectives can be achieved in an art class designed to teach for Transformative Learning.

As museums continue to shift from being object-centered to visitor-centered, they also need to reconsider their exhibition development practices to become more relevant to their communities. In alignment with this premise, this double case study investigates two exhibitions that were curated using the supported interpretation (SI) model for visitor-centered exhibitions. They were the Mixing It Up: Building an Identity exhibition, taking place at the gallery of the Tempe Center for the Arts in Arizona, and Contemporary Latino Art: El Corazón de San Antonio, an exhibition that took place at the former Texas A&M University-San Antonio’s Educational & Cultural Arts Center. In this dissertation, I examine how SI was implemented at these two exhibitions and how it can be implemented at future ones in other art centers or similar venues. Supporting questions explore the strategies and processes that were used at Mixing It Up and El Corazón, and insights on how the model worked in these two instances. This study was informed by the constructivist paradigm of inquiry. In it, I used a hermeneutic/dialectic methodology and qualitative methods of data collection. At the Mixing It Up exhibition, I conducted observations and unstructured interviews using a maximum variation sampling strategy, and I also analyzed secondary data gathered through one of the interactive components of the exhibition. At El Corazón, I worked exclusively with secondary data gathered through the visitors’ participatory opportunities embedded in the exhibition interface. Moreover, I used self-reflection and Serrell’s (2006) Framework for Assessing Excellence in Exhibitions from a Visitor-Centered Perspective as a professional development tool to go deeper into an understanding of SI and its implementation at these two exhibitions. The findings of this study reveal that both exhibitions included interpretive elements that encouraged visitor participation and validated a multiplicity of voices. But they also show that those components made the exhibitions more meaningful for visitors allowing them to make personal connections with the art on display by themselves or with others. Additionally, as this study investigates how SI worked at these two exhibitions, it also sheds light into possible ways in which it can be implemented at other institutions in the future, and provides recommendations for future applications of it as well as areas for further research. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Art Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2017. / October 10, 2017. / art museum education, interactive exhibitions, Latinx art exhibitions, supported interpretation (SI) exhibitions, supported interpretation (SI) model, visitor-centered exhibitions / Includes bibliographical references. / Pat Villeneuve, Professor Directing Dissertation; Carolyn Henne, University Representative; Jeff Broome, Committee Member; Ann Rowson Love, Committee Member; Linda Schrader, Committee Member.

Thesis. 1978. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 202-204. / by Andrée Beaulieu-Green. / Ph.D.

This dissertation focuses on understanding how art education is structured within high schools and colleges of Saudi Arabia, and investigates why educational institutions are focused on traditional art. While contemporary art is not a part of curriculums in high schools and colleges, in fact, practicing artists produce both traditional and contemporary artwork outside of educational institutions. The dissertation points to a disconnect between how art education is structured and perceived within educational institutions and how students learn and perceive art and art making during their transition from high school art to college art, and later as practicing artists. Interviews, observations, and document analysis illuminate how administrators, art educators, students, and artists perceive art and art making. Findings uncovered two main categories influencing the status quo: institutional dynamics and social dynamics. The art education system in Saudi Arabia is influenced by what is culturally acceptable, at the high school and college level. There is, however, a difference in terms of the liberty students are provided depending on their educational level. Practicing artists in Saudi Arabia also discuss the difficulties they face as a result of making contemporary art. The lack of knowledge about contemporary art has made it challenging to find supportive audiences in Saudi communities because of their ignorance about contemporary art and the availability of new media to inform them. Social dynamics such as religion, tradition, and gender are critical underlying factors directly linked to institutional structuring of art education. The findings in this study also reveal how older practices relating to arts and crafts are considered to represent ideal and acceptable art forms. Discussion and educational implications point to institutional and social dynamics at play, which hinder the progress of art education inside and outside of educational institutions. I recommend that change could take place gradually to improve the outlook on art education. Taking steps, such as educating individuals at the administrative level about contemporary art, ensuring educators possess proper qualifications to teach different forms of art, and considering the age group of students may go a long way in improving the value of art in Saudi society.