An examination of contemporary literature related to Protestant attitudes towards the use of art in the church resulted in the development of two constructs pertinent to Southern Baptist churches. The first construct reflects a grounded theory that historically, Southern Baptists' negative attitudes towards art in the church was based on fears of idolatry which is why the permanent use of art in the church has been controversial. In contrast, the researcher developed a new construct which he termed "active use of art" and defined as creative visual expression of one's faith on a continuing basis as opposed to images placed permanently in the church. The purpose of this dissertation therefore, was to investigate Southern Baptists' attitudes toward art in general and to determine whether or not the active use of art would be accepted, thereby providing a method of circumventing traditional negative stereotypes about art. This qualitative study included three components: (a) an examination of contemporary literature related to historical, doctrinal and aesthetic influences on Baptists about art in the church; (b) a survey of Southern Baptist value positions based on positions articulated in the review of literature; and (c) an ethnographically based action research component consisting of an art workshop and art devotional in three Southern Baptist churches. The point was to define active art to the congregations and to initially assess its acceptance. / The key findings of this study were that the active use of art overcame the traditional objections to the permanent use of art, and that Baptists were overwhelmingly in favor of the use of art, whether permanent or active, as long as it served instrumental goals of the denomination. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-11, Section: A, page: 3779. / Major Professor: Tom Anderson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

Video art is a more recent development and use of video technology. This much less commonly known aspect of video making focuses on art rather than entertainment. Video artists are interested not only in the formal visual aspects of the medium, but also in those other intrinsic qualities of the medium. The particular language of video art can be understood, however, only when the proper education is gained by the viewer. That is, a method of critically viewing video art is needed in order to help students understand this new art form and be able to derive meaning from video art works. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to develop a framework for critiquing video art in an educational contest. The basic structure of the framework developed is based both on Lippitt's (1973) framework for the development of a model and Van Gigch's (1991) model building concepts. In this study, the framework is composed of five major constituents which are: supports and policies of the government, collaborative relationships, art criticism, educational methods of art criticism, and instructional framework. They are structured as a framework for pedagogically developing secondary school students' critical skills, which are required for critiquing video art. In addition, this instructional framework can be used as reference by regular classroom teachers, arts specialist teachers, or school administrators. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 57-04, Section: A, page: 1449. / Major Professor: Jessie Lovano-Kerr. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1996.

This exploratory study investigated two dimensions of organizational stress, role conflict and role ambiguity, in local arts agencies. The purpose was to examine the nature of the executive director's position to determine if role-related stress factors were present and, if so, whether the presence of role-related stress was associated with the level of perceived managerial effectiveness of the director's position by the director and by others. / The conceptual framework is given for organizational stress, role theory, and managerial effectiveness. A contextual overview of the development of nonprofit organizations and local arts agencies is also provided. / Two mail surveys were conducted. The 24 respondents to the Administrative Questionnaire comprised the first sample of state-recognized local arts agencies in Florida. Subsequently, four agencies were selected on the basis of geographic location, budget, salary, gender of arts administrator, and indications of turnover. Agency directors supplied a list of ten individuals identified as members of the role-set for the director. Those 40 individuals comprised the second sample and received the Role-Set Questionnaire. / Descriptive statistics were calculated to provide an overview of organizational and administrator characteristics. Stepwise Multiple Regression was employed to investigate the relationship between individual and organizational characteristics and role-related conflict conflict and ambiguity, between individual and organizational characteristics and perceived managerial effectiveness, and between managerial effectiveness and role-related conflict and ambiguity. / Measurement on the role ambiguity and role conflict instruments revealed a low level of conflict and ambiguity. Two independent variables, Number of Volunteers Used and Number of Arts Groups Served by the Agency, proved to be statistically related to role ambiguity and explained 39% of the variance. One independent variable, Size of the Community Served, was related to role conflict and explained 14% of the variance. No statistically significant findings were reported between managerial behavior and effectiveness and role stress. / This study established the presence of role-related conflict and ambiguity in this sample and identified conditions which might contribute to it. The research suggests that the problem of role stress may increase over time for this complex management role. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-12, Section: A, page: 3830. / Major Professors: Jessie Lovano-Kerr; Betty Jo Troeger. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

Two groups participated in three weeks of instruction in contour drawing, based upon Nicolaides' The Natural Way to Draw, Scanning Works of Art: A Guide for Teachers, was used with the experimental group to look at reproductions of drawings by well known artists, to see if this form of aesthetic scanning could enhance either, or both, verbal knowledge, as evidenced by performances on the Art Vocabulary test, and/or quality of drawings, as judged by Salome's Criterion Based Scoring of Instructional Effects. In addition, the study included the examination of relationships among six characteristics: the three independant variables; which were standardized academic achievement test scores, performance on the Group Embedded Figures Test; a measure of cognitive style, and art grade, and the three dependant variables derived from the evaluative measurements used for the art performances which were: Art Vocabulary test scores, and judges' scores on the two drawings based upon Salome's Criterion Based Scoring of Instructional Effects. / The data analysis for the first two hypotheses which compared the means of the two groups for significance in the effects of the aesthetic scanning treatment resulted in not rejecting the null hypothesis. The second part of the data analysis involved examining correlations between the six variables. Of the fifteen relationships examined for the two groups combined, ten were found to have significant Pearson Product-Moment Correlations. The Embedded Figures Test correlated highly with five other variables; the Art Vocabulary test, standardized academic achievement tests, art grades, and scores on both the lamp and figure drawings. Correlations for the same fifteen combinations of scores were examined for each group independently. The most notable difference was that in the experimental group there was a high correlation between scores on the Embedded Figures Test and the Art Vocabulary test, while the relationship between these scores in the control alone was not significant. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-12, Section: A, page: 3831. / Major Professor: Charles Dorn. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

This study set out to determine the feasibility of policy evaluation in arts administration with the proposed outcome being comprehensive evaluation guidelines appropriate for arts organizations. A theoretical investigation of the nature of the arts and arts organizations established that both can be viewed as open systems with consequent correspondent interrelationships. Based on this premise, it was concluded that evaluation is not only appropriate, but also essential for arts organizations because it becomes a vehicle for feedback into the system. This contributes to creative growth through encouraging flexibility and change. / Policy, as the common ground relating all aspects of the organization, was recommended as the initial focus of evaluation for arts organizations. Not only can this promote better functioning within the organization, it also enables the organization to address and assess recurrent issues in public policy. An open system model for policy was taken as appropriate because it corresponds with the open systems operating in the arts and art organizations. Specific applications such as program, audience or exhibit evaluation, it was suggested, should follow policy evaluations in order to be most effective. / In a review of the evaluation literature, certain evaluation methodologies were found appropriate for the open systems in the arts and arts organizations. Based on the open system theory and qualitative approaches, general guidelines were proposed which would be beneficial in producing effective evaluation in arts organizations. / The serendipitous result of the study was the emergent realization that appropriate evaluation can actually contribute to the creativity of the arts by establishing a milieu of positive energy for the organization within which the art resides. By not only differentiating between the art and the arts organization, but also providing an optimal climate for the art, evaluation becomes a positive force. Further, because the evaluation, itself, takes the open system approach it becomes a creative endeavor compatible with the open system operating in the art and the art organization. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-08, Section: A, page: 2063. / Major Professor: Marylou Kuhn. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

This study was designed to determine the cultural, environmental, and political/military factors which influence the visual imagery drawn by Iraqi children. Additional factors examined were traditional and Western influences, gender, location, and socioeconomic levels. The subjects were 180 children of different socioeconomic levels in urban and rural (suburban) public elementary schools in Baghdad. It was hypothesized that there would be no significant differences in drawings of male and female children, those from urban and rural locations, and those from low-, middle-, and high-income levels regarding choice of topic (culture, environment, political/military themes), and source of influence (traditional or Western). / Significant differences were found between male and female children's drawings in both urban and rural areas. Females depicted environmental themes more often than did the males while males drew political and war images more often than did females. In general, children drew traditional themes more than Western themes. Western influences dominated the drawings of children from urban areas while traditional images appeared most often in the drawings of rural children. High-income children were more concerned with Western and political/military themes than were children from middle- and low-income backgrounds. However, traditional themes were more dominant among low-income children than middle-income children. Both male and female children depicted their own sex in their drawings. / This study offers significant findings within the sphere of Arabic culture and cross-cultural studies. The findings also represent a case study of a nation that has undergone tremendous political, cultural, social, and economic changes in a relatively short period of time. It also adds a new dimension which has only limited representation in the literature--the element of political-military and war images--showing their influence to be as significant as those of culture and environment. Awareness of these factors should provide art educators with a better understanding of visual images children choose to draw. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-04, Section: A, page: 0856. / Major Professor: Jessie Lovano-Kerr. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

Museums are deeply symbolic institutions that communicate complex systems of belief and value through various channels and at various levels. Thus museums function as cultural metaphors. It is hypothesized that the metaphoric properties of a museum can be discovered through the application of ethnographic and critical methods of study. This is such a study of an individual museum, the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. This study was designed to gather data about the Heard and critically analyze and interpret them using metaphor as the sense-making construct to determine meaning and significance. A critical examination of the museum--its physical space, collection, exhibitions, programs, internal organization, staffing, and other human activities--is paired with data from interviews with staff, volunteers, and visitors. These data are interpreted through the application of various paradigmatic cultural metaphors. The result is a synthesis of the museum as a cultural institution, with implications for policy development at the Heard Museum and for research on similar cultural institutions. It is found that the Heard Museum is a powerfully metaphoric and symbolic structure, embodying a number of deeply-held conceptual systems that resonate at the nexus of several cultures. The findings are discussed in relationship to social and cultural changes currently taking place in America and to the methodological questions surrounding inception of the study, and conclusions and recommendations are posited, both for researchers and for museum professionals. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: A, page: 0694. / Major Professor: Tom Anderson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

The need for mentally retarded adults to achieve their maximum abilities is increasingly being recognized by educators and therapists. The literature, although limited, suggests that a comprehensive art program, both educational and therapeutic, could serve as a means of providing activities for the development of needed skills to help mentally handicapped adults become more educated; therefore, to become more independent (Shaefer-Simmern, 1948; Wilson, 1977; Klager, 1977; Kunkle-Miller, 1978; Levinson, 1978). Such an art program could help make the entire educational process become of maximum value to these adults. / Mentally retarded adults who are multiply handicapped and exhibit a low self-esteem, poor communication skills, learning difficulties, and/or behavioral problems need additional opportunities for self-expression, and the building of personal strengths. Art activities may provide mentally retarded adults with a chance to create freely, to feel a sense of individuality, and to experience mastery, success, and acceptance of who they are and what they are. Such activities may enable a client to cope more effectively with the demands of his/her physical, mental, and social deficiencies. Thus, the development of a conceptual framework of art may be needed in order to provide art programs for mentally retarded adults. Therefore, the objectives of this study focus on: (1) an examination of the literature, (2) an examination of the process and information collected from the three exploratory studies, and (3) the development of a conceptual framework of art education and art therapy. / The conceptual framework for use in the development of art programs for mentally retarded adults who are multiply handicapped and are living in a restricted environment includes: (a) approaches to art therapy, (b) assessment procedures, (c) methods of implementing art activities that are educational and therapeutic, and (d) ways of incorporating art into an Individual Program Plan. There seems to be evidence that an art program for mentally retarded adults consisting of the elements cited in the framework would be a service to the mental retardation field. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-04, Section: A, page: 1183. / Major Professor: Marylou Kuhn. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 1999. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2747. Typescript. Abstract precedes thesis as preliminary leaf. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-92).

This study was designed to compare the effects of a multisensory art criticism approach with a traditional (visual) art criticism approach in interpreting a work of art. Parade (1960) by Jacob Lawrence was the artwork chosen for the study. Two groups of visually impaired and blind high school participated in this study. Group 1 received the multisensory instruction, which included music, and tactile stimuli, and then the traditional instruction. Group 2 received the same exercises but in the opposite order. All students (N = 18) completed two assessments on their knowledge and interpretation of the work on Likert-type affective scales. Assessment 1 came after the first treatment for each group and assessment 2 came after the second treatment for each group. Results implied that there was an interaction between scores based on which method was presented first. The scores indicated that multisensory instruction is more effective after traditional instruction is presented.