This chapter presents the review of related literature about visual arts, community-based art education and cultural identity through visual arts to further support the study about the community-based art education in Tin Shui Wai.
The review posters the need to become aware, respect and conserve the historical and cultural heritages in Tin Shui Wai through realization of the importance of the community-based art education and visual arts.
Nature of Visual Arts
The visual arts are arts that we see. Paintings, drawings, visual designs, photography and computer art are examples of visual arts. Visual works of art stay in one place, unmoving, while we observe them.
The arts have its own language, language that is different from our normal spoken language. Feeling like emotion, intuition and other form or idea without words is the language of the visual arts just like the other arts.
We can discover worlds of experience that are all around us or inside us that cannot be described quickly or easily with mere words through paintings, drawings and other visual arts. Visual arts help us give meaning to what seems meaningless as well as to recapture feelings and experiences that we had once or would like to have again. (Jewell, 2002)
Visual arts are powerful for most of us since we are a very visual race. We are primarily visual sensors of five-sense data. So much of what we experience can be identified and recalled much more quickly with one picture since a picture as the old saying goes is worth a thousand words. We also have parts of our brains very well trained from infancy to absorb and process visual images, brain parts that are quite different from those that process verbal thinking. Thus, we are very primed and ready for the visual stimulation of the visual arts. (Jewell, 2002)
The artist, though unspoken, is communicating with us when he creates a visual work of art such as painting. His words are not spoken things but rather through color, line, shape and texture. There are so many different things an artist can say just by making the different combinations in the art work. (Jewell, 2002)
For example, what does red make us feel? What does grey? What does a bunch of sharp, jagged lines, as opposed to a series of gentle curves, make us feel, especially when they are drawn in forms we recognize such as sharp, jagged eyebrows or gently curving ones? (Jewell, 2002)
There are so many other ways that an artist can deliver the message without speaking. Paintings and works of art in general are meant to move us, especially in ways that words often can't. We shouldn't be looking for some kind of abstract symbolic meaning or other intellectual idea when we search for the meaning of a painting since it may be there intellectually or it may not. What really is there is feeling. (Jewell, 2002)
This is what we should first search for in trying to figure out what the painting or photograph means. We can develop a wider and far- seeing eye for what the artists really trying to do by letting ourselves aim to discover the feelings of a visual work of art. (Jewell, 2002)
Importance of Visual Arts
Visual arts play a vital role in schools since it develop the intelligence and the overall personality of the students. Studies have shown that students who are exposed to visual arts tend to display above average intelligence when it comes to mathematics and science. (Oliver, n. d.)
Students who are greatly exposed to visual arts have been observed to exhibit refined manners and develop a much-matured outlook on life. Most educators have also noticed that students perform better in class when visual arts are incorporated in their curriculum. (Oliver, n. d.)
Moreover, visual arts provide meaningful self-expression of all students. This is the reason why a great number of educators have integrated visual arts in some of their subject areas in the curriculum. (Oliver, n. d.)
Applying the knowledge and the skills in visual arts as well as considering the historical concepts of the visual art works to the student’s ever-expanding personal world creates appreciation of their own values and likewise appreciate the values of others and somehow discover the connection of visual arts to the universal needs of people in terms of their values and beliefs. (Oliver, n. d.)
Visual arts are also used in therapy procedures for aiding child development. It assists in educating disabled children, especially those who are blind and have hearing problems. Moreover, visual arts also help in building communities and mural projects. It also used to provide education for mentally ill individuals. At present, continuous studies are being conducted to discover more benefits derived from incorporating visual arts in educating students. (Oliver, n. d.)
Community-Based Art Education
Community-based art education is an organized community art programs to improve art skills and alternately outreach programs to empower special groups of people. It is a program that promotes contextual learning about local art and culture. Examples of community-based art education are the community service projects and the public art itself. (as cited in Art Designs, 2006)
The community-based art education is a teacher initiated. Informal education is provided by this visual culture. With the expansion of technology and visual media, increasing numbers of citizens are learning about a range of issues through imagery. Thus, we could consider this as another form of community-based art education. (Art Designs, 2006)
There are reasons why educators feel the need to contemplate community-based art education. First, well intentioned citizens try to figure out what they can do to support or reform school art programs. Second, arts administrators seek to advance their enrollment figures. Third, citizens try to eliminate art education from school curriculums. Fourth, teachers try to figure out how to get students involved in "real world" situations. And lastly, educators and artists confront important social issues through their artistic endeavors. (as cited in Art Designs, 2006)
At the risk of drifting away from some of the traditional focuses of art education, art educators need to take a careful look at the rationales, goals, and definitions of community-based art education before dismissing it, or conversely, implementing new programs of their own. (Art Designs, 2006)
Today, with our pluralistic postmodern perspectives, arts educators often design new community-based programs specifically for local citizens and special groups including at-risk youth, homeless individuals, older adults, handicapped people, gifted and talented individuals, the incarcerated, and others not always included in mainstream K-12 art classrooms. Such programs take place in schools, park facilities, arts centers, art museums, retirement centers, and store-front galleries, in addition to local, state and federal prisons. Sponsoring institutions are often nonprofit and governmental, although one can also find a growing number of for-profit businesses where individuals can "drop in" to use studio facilities. (Art Designs, 2006)
Community-based programs and projects have a continuum of purposes. At one extreme of the spectrum reside programs that teach traditional art skills and knowledge. Others are about learning to appreciate local cultures with no intent of social reconstruction. At the far end of the spectrum are projects designed for social change. The art teachers should not be concerned about the duplication of their efforts. They should incorporate the strengths of what students are learning in both informal and more organized extra-curricular education. Since students learn much about art in their individual communities, teachers should build on what they have already learned. (as cited in Art Designs, 2006)
Today, community-based art education is the dominant method by which individuals learn about art. (Art Designs, 2006)
Cultural Identity and the Visual Art
Art education is culturally identified as a subject area that enables children to use their imagination and creativity to produce pieces of artwork from a wide variety of materials. This identification may also include the study of famous artists and their well-known artwork. The Culture of Education in the Visual Arts. (1999).
The cultural identity is constructed through various signs and symbols that the culture attribute to art education. Symbols include art making materials. The Culture of Education in the Visual Arts. (1999).
Another example of art education symbols are the variety of medias- both two and three dimensional that are used to illustrate subject matter. In addition to more practical symbols of art education are the humanitarian symbols which may include connecting with artists and their work, both contemporary and historical. The Culture of Education in the Visual Arts. (1999).
The art and crafts around communities, in stores and on posters will always be a symbol of a reflection of art education. The Culture of Education in the Visual Arts. (1999).
Another facet of creating a cultural identity is to reflect on the cultural rituals that are often associated with art education. The most apparent rituals include the various processes that are employed to make art. It is important to remember that such rituals/processes are influenced by the geographical location of the school district. The Culture of Education in the Visual Arts. (1999).
Another cultural ritual attributed to art education is the physical demonstration that the art teacher must provide for students in order to teach them specific techniques. This demonstration often includes safety precautions as rituals that the students will then strictly employ to create art without hurting themselves with the tools in the making. The Culture of Education in the Visual Arts. (1999).
Other ritual distinctive to art education is the practice of critiquing students’ art work, often done by the whole class in order to provide constructive feedback and criticism of the finished piece of art. One final ritual that should be imperative to an art education program is class field trips to museums, galleries, and artists studios that connect the learning of art in the school to actually viewing art in the community. The Culture of Education in the Visual Arts. (1999).
It is important to connect these cultural rituals and symbols of art education to not only show how they produce a cultural identity, but also form a sense of social solidarity among students, teachers, and communities. The Culture of Education in the Visual Arts. (1999).
Summary
The visual arts are arts that we see. It has its own language-the language of feelings, emotions and ideas without words. We could discover the world outside and inside us through visual arts. The visual artist through unspoken can communicate with us when he creates visual work of arts like painting. Paintings and works of art in general are meant to move us, especially in ways that words often can't.
Visual arts play a major role not only in academic purposes but also in health and medicare related aspect and in the community as well. It develops the intelligence and the overall personality of the students. Moreover, visual arts also provide meaningful self-expression of all students. It is used in therapy procedures for aiding child development. It assists in educating disabled children, especially those who are blind and have hearing problems. And finally, visual arts also help in building communities and mural projects.
As an alternative to the traditional art education, the community-based art education providing an informal education in visual art was designed. This community-based art education is specifically for local citizens and special groups including at-risk youth, homeless individuals, older adults, handicapped people, gifted and talented individuals, the incarcerated and others not always included in mainstream K-12 art classrooms.
Community-based programs and projects have a continuum of purposes. At one extreme of the spectrum reside programs that teach traditional art skills and knowledge. Others are about learning to appreciate local cultures with no intent of social reconstruction. At the far end of the spectrum are projects designed for social change. Visual arts and cultural identity are related. The cultural identity is constructed through various signs and symbols that the culture attribute to art education.
References
Art Designs. (2006). What is Community-Based Art Education?. Retrieved October 3, 2006, from http://artdesigns.lx.ro
Jewell, R. (2002). Experiencing the Humanities. University of Minnesota.
Oliver, S. The Importance of Visual Arts in Schools. A Free Article. Retrieved October 3, 2006, from www.afreearticle.com
(1999). The Culture of Education in the Visual Arts. Retrieved October 3, 2006, from www.orgsites.com
No comments:
Post a Comment