Question 4: Response to Olivia Gude

Question 4:

Olivia Gude is after a change in contemporary art education. Gude argues that having 7 strict principles or elements of design seems to be a modern concept. That leading thinkers in art education at the turn of the century never mentioned any sort of list of concrete elements or principles that students needed to learn or to be practicing to become meaningful artists or to engage in thought provoking soul expressing art work. In talking about contemporary teaching textbooks which apply the 7 principles Gude vents:

 Oliva Gude touching up one of her murals.

"The artworks are viewed and understood using the streamlined 7 + 7 Euro-American system of describing form, therefore students often do not learn the aesthetic context of making and valuing inherent to the artists and communities who actually created the work."

Gude asserts that much of art teaching can fall into problematic one sided western storytelling projects, which can lead to a hazard when observing work form other cultures or places, turning international/inter-cultural art into something to be appropriated for use in western aesthetic culture and education.
Gude talks about how instructors such as Paul Klee taught exercises such as drawing a line not a s a preliminary test or exercise to help student s move to the next level of drawing but rather as a means for them to realize and experience intimately the "social energy released by abstract art." [Gude]

Gude goes on to question and compare our system of art education with those pioneered in the early 20th century by figures such as Dow:

"Dow advocated a new system of art education he believed would bring to the student "an increase of creative power" (1920/1997, p. 65). But 75 years have passed since he wrote those words. We owe it to our field and our students to study the art of our times and to begin, as Dow did, with probing questions and far reaching goals. What do our students need to know to understand the art of many cultures, from the past and the 21st century? Today, what knowledge do students need to stimulate and increase their creative powers?"

"Burg und Sonne"  A piece by Paul Klee

I love the questions she poses. I believe that a sincere pondering of these questions could lead each individual to understanding better what type of curriculum their students might need planned that year in order to engage in vibrant question provoking experimental creation.

However there is some merit to having an across the board teaching of artistic principles and elements of design, such as shading, perspective, and value. These principles or elements can greatly help a student who is striving to learn how to represent realistically the world around them, or perhaps give them tools which they can then bend as they move into more modern or abstract methods of creation. There is something to be said also of having students grounded in basic principles across the nation so that colleges and universities may have a better grasp on what their students have experienced and conscientiously plan a curriculum for entering students.

However I ultimately side with Gude. if we are to create a space for innovation perhaps it is time to ease off the ones sided approach to what it means to be an artist. Perhaps this would open up a realm of possibilities in education for teachers and students alike who before shied away form art because they "could barely draw a stick figure."

Art is so much more than just blatant realism, which seems to be what the 7 elements and principles of design focus on, creating a  greater opportunity for feelings of failure and boredom in art classrooms.

Gude suggests creating a curriculum that is based around what the students are experiencing in their communities juxtaposed against art movements such as modernism and postmodernism. This gives students a chance to use art as a channel for engaging in life in more meaningful relevant ways. Thus their art education simultaneously becomes increasingly relevant and meaningful.

Perhaps it is indeed time to change the way we approach our art curriculum as a nation.