Mary Godfrey: A Visual Presentation Of Art Education

In reviewing Godfrey’s papers, I believe she went above and beyond her role as the assistant art supervisor for Virginia. She created meticulous hand drawn organizational charts that articulated the administrative structure for art education in secondary schools, designing curriculum and classroom layouts, and was instrumental for the first statewide art education conference at Hampton Institute. She also met with executive directors of the Virginia Association and state officials discussing how to integrate art education in the school programs, and development curricula on teacher training (Mary Godfrey Papers, box 1, folder 2). Furthermore, not only was Godfrey a highly effective art supervisor, she was a talented artist. Virginia State

In 1953, UCLA graduate Katherine Watson leaves her progressive California home to become a professor at Wellesley College, a conservative women’s school. On her first day of teaching, Watson is horrified to learn that her class had memorized the entire syllabus and textbook. As a result, Watson decides to teach Modern Art instead of the traditional art listed by the syllabus. She challenges her students to define art and to discover the true intention of the artist. By doing this, Watson is encouraging her students to think for themselves. Her intention is to help them understand that as women, they have the freedom to do as they please; they do not have to conform to societal expectations. These teachings cause significant problems in the

"Studies show that students in the arts outperformed their non-arts peers on the SAT by 96 points, while a child who has continued access to arts education has a 74 percent higher chance of planning to attend college” (Urist 9). The arts teach several lessons to children and they provide an equal opportunity for everyone. The arts also provide a different form of discipline and insight into the real world. While others may say that sports make kids strive for good grades, the arts support children in a different way. Others may also say funding should go towards core subjects, but what they don’t know is that the humanities use the core subjects during classes. Even though fine arts are not exciting for everyone, they should receive more funding in schools because fine arts keep kids out of trouble, provide a way to express oneself and help teenagers make life decisions.

Rosemary Barilla, an eighth grade Language Arts teacher, felt an overwhelming need to incorporate fine arts into her teaching. With each book read or study taught, she added projects or outings that brought an aspect of the fine arts into the lesson. When she had the class read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, she had the students make one thousand Japanese origami paper cranes. During the class’s study of Haiku poetry, she had the class learn to do sum-e brushstrokes of bamboo. By combining art with the English curriculum, the students were better able to grasp the topic and retained the lesson in a deeper, more meaningful way. She often did this with the support and assistance of the school’s art teacher. Ms. Barilla stated,

Teaching has always been a desired career option for myself, more importantly, being an art teacher. With anything, there are pros and cons to my predetermined thesis. I consider myself an artist before I see myself as a teacher, this may be one of the biggest faults in my career choice or one of my greatest advantages in the world of education. The balance between teaching and art may be a difficult obstacle to overcome. From my overwhelming love of the arts to my loathing of school standardization, teaching is a serious career move that I need to evaluate.

manner, it is not hard to find ourselves participating in the minimum amount of work to meet all requirements for an objective. This lethargic mindset sounds like a simple way to construct a daily routine but should not be the framework for today's educational requirements and standards. The value between core and non traditional classes should not to be compared in importance, both are essential to a student's education. Studies show students who are offered art in their early years of education show greater success rates than students who are not involved in creative, visual, and performing arts courses. Elective classes, oftentimes the only highlight of a student’s day, teach valuable skills used in daily life. What distinguishes art as an essential element to a student's education? Simply for the well known fact students need time to refocus and generate new ideas beyond core content, schools that include a creative class in student’s schedules allow them an opportunity to do that and if not more. Art education goes beyond the covered content and learning potential, but also offers the individual a chance to relax, refocus, and generate expressive ideas beyond the traditional classroom setting and coursework.

Before summarizing this article, little information is necessary about the author. Jean Temple is an educator and writer who focuses on English and Literature. She composed the Journal, The English Journal bimonthly, and it consists of many writings including the article The Function of Art in Education. Understanding the author’s information is important when researching a peer-reviewed article because it benefits to understand what the author is writing about.

Why are art classes the first at being cut in schools? It not only because they have a large budget, but school administrators do not think they are necessary to curriculum. As these cuts are being made it is causing children and students to be less cultured and are not able to develop creativity, which will help in their future careers. Therefore, it is important to have art classes in schools so children stay in school and are interested, develop skills which will further their education, and develop skills to help with life and future careers.

I have always struggled with anxiety. I constantly worry about things I have no control over and often obsess over the safety of my loved ones. Despite the severity of my anxiety attacks, I have always refused to take medication to control my worrying. Thankfully, in eighth grade, I discovered visual art. Drawing has always provided me with a mental paradise. When I create art, I can control what happens to my piece, which helps alleviate my issues with lacking control over most situations. As a child, art eased my concerns that I was the “weird kid” as I was the only one out of my family and my small charter school that suffered from severe anxiety. As bell hooks noted in her memoir, Bone Black, “The books are a new world, I am less alone” (78). I immediately related this quote to the way I felt when I discovered my passion for visual art.

Art programs for our young elementary students is imperative because it provides them with the critical foundation to be able to express their thoughts, emotions, feelings, and understanding of the world around them. Furthermore, the arts programs for this age group encourages creativity, improves fine motor sills, increases academic performance, and boosts focus. For instance, “Teachers in a number of districts in California are using classic works of art to inspire

1. Of the Eight reasons listed in Chapter one (pages 1-10 in text) for reasons that art is important in a

Art has existed for many centuries, longer than human civilisation. The earliest settlers who were the Indigenous people, had art as part of their cultural practices and identities. It was also used as a communication tool for emotions and conflicts situations (Nathan, 2008). They also used art to mark seasons and time, and to record historical events. In addition, as art can be any form, song and dance were seen as an art that were used to welcome or accept death and birth of humans. Theatre is also a form of art to propose solutions to life’s dilemmas such as Shakespeare’s plays. Also paintings of great nobles, heroes and villains were displayed and passed onto next generations. Hence, (Ewing 2010, p.1) asserts that language alone would not have been able to communicate the important moments of our time.

The continued success of art education should be focused on studying art through individual experiences, and development. Also art history and the study of visual culture are meaningless in the lives of learners unless they are better integrated into the art education curriculum (Mcfee 1960:18). Although arts education has made great historical strides Efland (1990:263) still questions the system of art education curricula particularly the educator’s way of facilitating skills

There are many careers that have to rely on the arts and all the rest are influenced or supported by the arts. Art is found in many areas of life to stimulate creativity and expand knowledge. Many politicians decide to cut arts funding because they think the arts is not a necessity in our school systems. They also believe that cutting funding in the arts will allow the United States to excel in the subjects we are failing at in a worldwide standpoint such as the sciences, engineering, and mathematics. Although many of them feel that way and want major budget cuts in the arts, the people of our nation can fight and protest the government for what we want. Art integration is very important to classrooms because of cognitive learning, identity, social justice, and future careers. Art is found around every corner.

My time at South Forsyth Middle School gave me experience with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. The students ranged from on-level art students to advanced year-long students. I came across a trend of endless opportunities within the classroom for the students. If the students came across a technique or type of artwork that they wanted to try, the school and Ms. Wood made that happen. She had high school teachers and college professors present their studies and beliefs to the students in order to widen their perspectives and outlook on the art community. For example, they had the opportunity to watch a high school teacher come and create pieces of pottery on the wheel. This can almost give students a sense of motivation, encouraged them to look past art as they know it, and see the beauty of art from someone else's perspective.