Featuring: Ruth Faison Shaw
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. Shaw was born in 1889 in a rural area of North Carolina; it was there that she had her first teaching job as an elementary school teacher (Stankiewicz, 1984, p. 20). During World War I, Shaw took the opportunity to travel to Europe to assist in France as a YMCA canteen worker. In 1923, while in Europe, Shaw decided to open a progressive, English-speaking school in Rome for American students. Her curriculum and teaching styles consisted of more experiential learning techniques. According to Stankiewicz (1984), “she believed that children learn by receiving from without and that they create from within, uniting the two by their adaptability” (p. 20).
In 1926, Shaw was influenced by a student that decided to paint on the bathroom wall with the iodine and blood combination from his minor injury for pure enjoyment (Mayer, 2005, p.7). From that moment on, Shaw developed expressive art methods for her students into her own curriculum. Since, her development and subsequent incorporation of finger painting into her own curriculum, Shaw patented in 1931 a safe non-toxic paint for children to use for finger painting. “Shaw believed that simple roots existed in each school subject; children should discover these root ideas through playful sensory experiences with simple materials” (Stankiewicz, 1984, p.20).
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. Eventually, Shaw returned to the United States and decided to take on a position that educated, and nurtured, individuals outside of the classroom. Shaw worked as a therapist using art-rich methods—such as finger painting— to heal and nourish those undergoing traumatic stress, anxiety, grief, etc.
(Note: The portrait of Ruth Faison Shaw (above) had the color applied to it through the method of finger painting; I as the artist, found it fitting to try to embody the emotional journey that artists receive through the art of finger painting.)
References
Mayer, V. (2005) Rediscovering Ruth Faison Shaw and her Finger-Painting Method, Art Education, 58(5), 6-11.
Stankiewicz, M.A. (1984). Self-Expressionism or Teaching Influence: The Shaw System of Finger-Painting. Art Education, 37(2), 20-24.
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