Games have played an important role in modern educational methodologies. Beginning with the work of luminaries like Froebel, Montessori, and Dewey and continuing through the Cold War, the counter-culture movement of the 1960s and '70s, and into the present day, shifts in educational practice can be traced historically using the lens of games,…

Viktor Lowenfeld (1903-1960), one of the most influential art educators of the 20th century and author of "Creative and Mental Growth" (1947, 1952, 1957), barely talked or wrote about his early teaching experiences at the Chajes Realgymnasium, a secondary school for Jewish youth in Vienna, where he taught art and math for 14 years before…

Viktor Lowenfeld (1903-1960) has been abundantly documented as having influenced art teaching in the United States. Scarce attention, however, has been given to the significant and remarkable advancements he made to resist structures of institutionalized racism and promote inter-racial cooperation. Lowenfeld was a mentor to several notable African…

What did art education look like within the confines of the Japanese American Internment Camp classrooms? Did the art education in the camps reflect the same curriculum that was being taught outside the camps and what other factors may have played a part in the students' experience? I propose that there were at least three significant…

Historical inquiry in art education forms the basis of any research undertaken in the field. It is on this path that we discover ignored moments and personalities and clarify challenging ideas, thus approaching history from multiple perspectives. This historical study attempts to reframe the past of colonial Indian art education within the broader…

This analysis of archival materials discovered at Fisk and Atlanta Universities examines the teaching careers of Aaron Douglas and Hale Woodruff, two African American artists who came to prominence during the New Negro Movement in the 1920s and taught at historically Black universities in the 1930s and 1940s. These artists had a profound influence…

The aims of educating for economic, cultural, and pedagogical purposes have existed since the early inception of art education. Looking at how and why these aims evolved in the early era of art and design education has potential for better understanding how and why design should be incorporated into the art education curricula today. This article…

In this graphic representation, two characters/caricatures discuss, contemplate, and fantasize the history of the field of art education, its current state, and future manifestations. The conversation is illustrated around the possible reconceptualization of art education. Through text and visual metaphors, the philosophical beliefs, theoretical…

Through the presentation of three historical accounts, this article explores the roles imagination and speculation may play within the writing and study of history. By looking at these three incidents, each drawn from the history and historiography of art education over the past 150 years, through a perspective that embraces the value of utilizing…

The Federal School was a correspondence art school in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the early 20th century. At that time, scientific methods changed the organization and practice of commercial art training and industrial education, which included correspondence courses from the Federal School. Standards of intelligence were determined with…

Critical art histories have strategically contributed to the constitution of visual culture studies as an interdisciplinary field that interprets the mediations of mass-produced imagery in contemporary culture. This article advocates for an anti-historicist perspective of art historical knowledge connected to cultural analysis and centered on the…

Reconceptualizing contemporary notions about creativity in visual arts education should be an important issue in art education today. Currently, creativity may not be a primary focus at National Art Education Association conferences or in its publications. There are recent indications that art education is a site where creativity can be developed…

In June 1869, a coalition of 12 individuals and two businesses presented the Massachusetts state legislature with a carefully crafted petition. This document called for lawmakers to take action in requesting that the State Board of Education develop a plan to initiate drawing instruction in Massachusetts public schools, or to establish educational…

Information regarding enactment of drawing education legislation in the United States during the 19th century centers almost exclusively on events that occurred in Massachusetts, primarily the Massachusetts Drawing Act of 1870. Legislative history regarding the ratification of drawing education laws in states surrounding Massachusetts is available…