Expressive Art of the 20th Century

The reformation of twentieth century art education was fueled by self-expressive art techniques. According to Stankiewcz’s (2001) article Freeing the Child through Art, “modern artists and critics began to appreciate the spontaneity and simplicity of children’s paintings during the early 20th century” (p. 29). During this time, the art education curriculum moved from goal-based learning to that of creative self-expressionism. Joseph Mayer and James Hall played influential roles in introducing the concept of creating a curriculum that supported the emotional health of the individual over the traditional “cookie-cutter” educational techniques.

The expressive-art movement was unknowingly fueled by Joseph Mayer, a practicing pediatrician who researched and authored publications noting that children who were taught in a less-rigid and more-expressive manner had a much healthier and happier emotional state than children of the 19th century traditional educational practices. His research and articles found “that the visual arts might contribute to more humane schools” (Stankiewcz, 2001, p. 27). Alike, James Halls’ book With Brush and Pen, declared “that respect for each child’s individuality, encouragement, of self-expressing and support for seeing and creating beauty should permeate art teaching (Stankiewcz, 2001, p. 28). Hall promoted the paint brush as the favored and profound art tool of the progressive art reform due to the fluidity of its application.

Building on the foundation laid by both Joseph Mayer and James Halls were three key figures in early history of American art education. The three individuals that promoted self-expressive art focuses and techniques within the classroom were: Ruth Faison Shaw, Florence Cane, and Victor D’Amico. These key figures believed that it was important to educate and allow children to learn to freely express themselves from an early age. According to artist and therapist Florence Cane, “after age eight or nine, children seem to lose much of this delightful freshness and become stale” (Stankiewcz, 2001, p. 37). Thus, these art educators believed that providing students with experiences in which children could explore subjects of interest using their imagination to interact with the stimuli-related qualities of the environment. Each of their scholarly work and publications played an integral role in making expressive-art techniques a global phenomenon and immortalizing the art movement.

Ruth Faison Shaw was an artist, educator, entrepreneur, and therapist over the span of her lifetime. Shaw was credited for developing the art concept of finger painting and introducing finger painting into the education curriculum. Her curriculum and teaching styles consisted of more experiential and expressive learning techniques. Ruth Faison Shaw believe that “art education should be free from restrictions entered popular conscious largely through finger painting” (Stankiewicz, 2001, p.35). Ruth Faison Shaw published her book, Finger Painting: a Perfect Medium for Self-Expressionism in 1934. Shaw’s publication generated national attention to the concept of finger painting and the genre of expressionism.

Florence Cane pioneered infusing therapeutic techniques into art education. Her experiences working at the Walden School influenced her progressive stance on using expressive art techniques within her curriculum. Cane was progressive in reforming a curricula that was student-focused and based on embracing the student’s imagination, exploration, self-discovery, and spirituality. According to Stankiewicz’s (2001) article, “Florence Cane encouraged children to create freely by painting from imagination rather than visual models, by visualizing from memory with the eyes closed, by working with the painting upside down, and the painting with the less-dominant hand” (p. 36). In 1951, Florence Cane published a book The Artist in Each of Us which promotes art that focuses on of mind, body, and spirit.

Victor D’Amico played a revolutionary role in the Progressive reformation of the education and art education curriculum. D’Amico explored the spiritual, emotional, and cognitive state that children underwent through artistic endeavors. He was attentive to various sensory and stimuli-related qualities. According to Stankiewicz’s (2001) article, Victor “argued that children must explore their external environment to wake the artists within” (p. 37). Victor D’Amico took students on trips and experiences that promoted their ability to explore and experience the world around them. Through his career, Victor D’Amico was avid in his role as an influencer of progressive self-expressive art techniques through his many article publications.

Personal Reflection The readings from this week both changed and enhanced my understanding of the role of art education. The twentieth century marked the change in art education through both the modern and progressive reformations where art education curriculum moved from goal-based learning to that of creative self-expressionism. Through the readings, I learned that the mental and emotional state of my students can benefit greatly through expressive art techniques.

According to Paul Duncan’s article Children Never Were What They Were: Perspectives on Childhood, the idealized persona that we have defined as the innocent and naïve childhood may not be anything more than just a stereotype that society has given as a definition. The concept of childhood may just be us educators wishing upon our students that they can experience a blissful life adulthood— where they are forced to acknowledge and be introduced to the pain of the world. However, this idea of childhood is not the same childhood that our students are faced with today. I agree with Paul Duncan’s article that the idealized world that we believe exists in childhood has been overcome by the unpleasant truths of today such as: divorce, hunger, violence, death, betrayal, and etc. I found many of my students used the art class as a place of hope, a safe place, and a place where they would be accepted.

I believe that we as educators must acknowledge and accept the harsh realities of childhood for our current 21st century students. Through acceptance, we will better understand our students, and find ways to support them and maneuver their learning through their realities. Just like the progressive art educators of the 20th century, educators of the 21st century should teach our students how to deal with adversity, and create positive space throughout their life to use as both an outlet and method of learning.

References

Duncum, P. (2002). Children never were what they were: Perspectives on childhood. In Y. Gaudelius & P. Spiers (Eds.) Contemporary issues in art education (pp. 97-107). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Stankiewicz, M. A. (2001). Freeing the child through art. In M. A. Stankiewicz, Roots of art education practice (pp. 25-43). Worcester, MA: Davis Publications.