Engaging with History through Art One-day Exhibition and Gallery Talk

Annotated Bibliography

Theories and Framework for the Democracy of Art

Eisner, E.W. & Day, M. D. (2004) The Art of Infancy. Handbook of Research
     and Policy in Art Education, NAEA. Routledge Taylor and Francis Group. 
     New York & London.

     Elliot Eisner is professor of Art Education at the Stanford University in California, and is one of the United States foremost art educators. In one of the research articles in this book “The Art of Infancy” by John  Matthews (pp. 253-294) he looks at children’s problem solving skills with and without the aid of digital technologies, and the observational techniques of these children as it relates to their innate visual literacy skills. His observations were linked in sensorimotor exploration, media differences, and interpersonal social contexts as it related to culture, race, and the importance of spontaneous art. (pp. 262-267). These observations also connected the schematic developmental theories of Viktor Lowenfeld’s research "Schematic Developments" and Piaget’s cognitive developmental practices of infants (pp. 279-284). Finally, surrounding research is forwarded as to why the theory and exercise of “Play” is an important contemporary educational tool that must be repeated to prepare pupils for the future. (p. 284).

Gangwer, Timothy (2009). Visual Impact, Visual Teaching, Using Images to
     Strengthen Learning. Introduction to Visual Teaching. Corwin Press. Second Edition

     Timothy Gangwer is a leading writer in the field of visual literacy, and he has taught in a host of positions in this field for more the twenty-five years. He also served as a trainer for the United States Department of Education’s National Diffusion Network, and for a while he was an elementary teacher of students with learning disabilities. This book looks at classroom testing practices that engages brain activity (p. 3).  He also shares in this literary work as his views as he puts it “ready to use visual learning activities in language art, math, science, social studies, and art. The “Six Methods” of visual learning which links our visual learning capacities in our brains.” The first method is our brains learning compatibility to differentiate instruction in understanding Howard Gardner’s theories in Multiple Intelligence against the auditory cortex which helps us understanding dyslexia The next method is through the use of photographs. This method of visual communication helps us understand the decoding process and photographic tips in technology based digital instruction in and out of the classroom that links again, visual literacy. The performing & Fine Arts domain affects our brains through musical literacy, role-play, and drama material acquisition. Our brains visual communication skills for English and ESL learners helps the mind to make sense of learning standards that puts together mappings of visual journals. Last, subject specific visual learning activities in language art, math and science helps with the development of pre-kindergarten portfolios. (p. 7).

Pink, Daniel. (2005). A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. The
     Penguin Group: New York, NY.

     Daniel Pink lives in Washington, DC, with his wife and three children. He started out as a lawyer because his parents encouraged him in this field, but found his calling in the study of the human brain and it activities, especially the right side of the brain.  His is the author of four books about the changing world we live and work in. He also illustrates the effects of how the Asian marketplace, the abundance of material “stuff” and automation are the driving forces and predominate factors behind most all new age concepts we find ourselves in today. Nevertheless, they are all inevitably linked in visual literacy (pp. 28-44). He argues and many agree with him that the future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind "brain activity" (pp. 3-7). In this text, he describes that the left hemisphere of our brain deals with tasks that are logical, analytically driven, and sequentially and mathematical orientated.

      The right hemisphere of our brains deals with tasks that are more artistic. The era of “left brain” dominance, and the Information Age is giving way to a New World in which “right brained thinkers "you the artist,"” and their distinct qualities of a set of six senses are leading the way (pp. 65-67). These qualities are design (pp. 68-99), story (pp. 100-128), symphony (pp. 129-157), empathy (pp. 158-184), play (pp. 185-215), and meaning (pp. 216-241).  These concepts of learning and understanding visual literacy are the language of the twenty-first century and beyond. This is a compelling and validating position for art educator, and understanding why art is becoming more democratic. The future is already here, and right brainers will rule the future. Pink also makes the statement that “the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) will be replacing the Master of Business Arts (MBA)” in our global economy. Pink outlines six fundamentally human abilities that are absolutely essentials for professional success and personal fulfillment and reveals in his book how to concur them.

Liu, Eric and Brandon, Scott Noppe (2009) Imagination First, Jossey-Bass A

      Wiley Imprint, San Francisco, California.

     There are two authors for this text: First is Eric Liu who is a graduate of Yale University and author, educator. Next is Scott Noppe Brandon who is the Executive Director at Lincoln Center Institute in New York, New York. Scot is a graduate of Ohio State University. In their book Imagination First, there are overlapping collaborations that offers a blueprint into tapping into the power of ones imagination, which is the core of innovation. This book draws from literature from the author Daniel Pinks A Whole New Mind and the Adventures of Johnny Bunko; a couple of my personal favorites. In the introduction (Part One, The Premise, entitled “The Scenes of the Crime (pp. 2-16) the authors forward three scenario readings which forces the reader to look at their own interpretations of when their dreams were stagnated, and smothered out. The entire contents of this book contains short and powerful stories concerning imagination, and why imagination and thinking in our global society should not be infringed upon, and the after effects of those infringements. My personal favorite imagination stories are; Practice 15 – Cloud Appreciation (pp. 118-122), Search out ambiguity and sit with it. Practice 21 – Rewrite History (pp. 146-151), Turn “what would’ve been’ into “what could be”. Lastly, Practice 28 – Fail Well (pp. 186-191), Treat failure like a skill.
Artistic Research

Gude, Oliva (2009). 2009 Lowenfeld Lecture by Olivia Gude, Art Education 

     for Democratic Life. Retrieved June 10, 2012, From:     http://www.arteducators.org/research/2009_LowenfeldLecture_OliviaGude.pdf

     Olivia Gude is a Chicago artist of more than twenty years and an art educator and coordinator of Art Education and an Associate Professor in the School of Art and Design at the University in Illinois, Chicago. Her lecture on art education for a democratic life took place in 2009. The focus was on how we have these unique abilities, experiences and habits of the mind in our lives that are developed through art education (p. 1). Next is how educating through the arts gives us the tools necessary in language arts, and other related developmental learning stages K-12 (p. 2).  Her topics for this lecture consisted of being: self-aware citizens of a democratic society, and forming voices for democratic dialogue. She also used the schematic developmental theories linked in Viktor Lowenfeld’s research when research with our student capacity for sensing and expressing their own thoughts and perceptions. (p. 2, 3).

Jacob, Tom (2010). Arts Education Promotes Emotional Intelligence. Culture & Society
     Education Finding.  Miller-McCune, Smart Journal Real Solutions. Retrieved
     August  25, 2010
http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture-society/arts-education-promotes-emotional-intelligence-6883/

     Tom Jacobs is a journalist writer with the Los Angeles Daily News in Santa Barbara, California, and he also writes for the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Ventura County Star. This particular article addresses two papers that were published in reference to Art Education and their policy reviews. The first article centered on issues of  “No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and Fine Arts Classes,” by Tina Beveridge of Lower Columbia College in Longview, Washington. This article details the ways a test-centered methodology in our educational system devalues art, which was subtle: “The courses that remain are often classified as “fun,” which conveys the unintentional message “the arts do not require skill, knowledge, commitment or work.” The second article entitled “How the Arts Help Children to Create Healthy Social Scripts” by Liane Brouillette of the University of California, Irvine. Here a position if forwarded that says for children to become successful adults, they need to know more than just how to read write and multiply, and the arts are an invaluable teaching tool for this success. The three "R" methodology. The article concludes with a quote by Brouillette, also a staunch arts advocate “anyone else who realizes the skills learned in arts classes “are basic to the maintenance of a healthy democracy.” This is one of the researched articles that I found to substantiate my research on the topic of Art becoming more democratic in our society.