8750 Research in Art Education
Essex Garner
Research Question
What are the effects of Democratization of the Visual Arts in
Relationship to Technology
How has the Democratization of the Visual Arts
effected its Relationship to Technology?
What is Democratization of the Visual Arts? It is a
concept that every individual can engage in the arts, and
all of those individuals are free to express the creativity
within the media, and the arts is not simply for those who
are trained or otherwise skilled, but anyone.
Typically, art and art history was something only the
privileged could either afford or study, although in
today’s society the field is gradually becoming more
available to the everyday person, making it a more
democratic phenomena.
Baby Boomers also helped with the democratization of
the visual arts: They (we) grew up believing anyone could
become an artist, and anyone could buy art or deal in art.
PhotoShop is another factor of the democratization
process, and the cheapening of visual media.
Research Proposal:
The investigation of why are the visual arts becoming a more
democratized phenomenon in relationship to technology?
How was the visual art instructional method at the root of
civilizations pedagogical development, and why is it imperative that
the visual arts take us into the next millennium and beyond?
How has the Democratization of the
Visual Arts effected our educational
system?
Answer: DBAE
What is DBAE
Discipline-Based Art Education (DBAE)
is a method of teaching and studying art in
the modern classroom that exposes students
to four distinct art disciplines: criticism,
aesthetics, art history and art production.
Developing knowledge and skills in these
four areas allows students to attain a more
thorough comprehension of visual arts.
Supporting data of the democratization
correlation of integrating DBAE in the
classroom with traditional curriculum
development and technology:
• 65 % of the population are visual learners.
• The brain processes visual information 60,000
faster than text.
• 90 % of information that comes to the brain is
visual.
• Visual aids in the classroom improve learning
by up to 400 percent.
• Students who are twice exceptional (2e) are often
visual learners.
Assumptions: There is a “Love/Hate relationship” of Visual Artist’s
in reference to this democratization.
• A great number of graphic artists and illustrators where put out of work
because of it.
• However, the same graphic artists and illustrators today are needed to design
and conceive visual interfaces with almost everything we come in contact with in
this global society.
• There has been a marginalization of the study of the visual arts, and its
importance in relationship to our societal developments.
• There is also a marginalization of the visual artist themselves which impacts
the validity of the pedagogical standing.
• “Stereotyping” = Those visual artists are not like the rest of us.
• The same psychomotor dexterity that’s needed to produce in the Fine Arts
domain is needed to produce in the Digital Arts domain.
Limitations of this democratization:
(Pro and Cans)
• Availability of visual resources in or out of the
classroom for teachers, students, and the everyday
user of the media.
• The aesthetics and visual effects in digital media
are becoming relative to the amount of money one
can spend on their equipment. (Matter Matters
versus the Digital Divide).
• Not all classrooms or school districts can afford
keeping abreast of visual technology. Although
technology is becoming less expensive, which
ultimately makes it more democratic; what’s cheap
for one person or school may still be too high a cost
for another.
Limitations “Cons” of democratization
(Con’t)
Why?
• Studio classes in the visual arts are expensive.
• Expensive textbook (pictures cost more to print).
• Apps, software, computers and media equipment is
forever being upgraded, and keeping abreast of these
upgrades becomes an economic impossibility for
many.
The democratization of the Visual Arts is about “control” or the loss
of it. You may have heard this one before:
• With all this new visual technology at my fingertips, and I, being a person with
innate spatial intelligence; why do we need visual arts instructors.
Answer: Would you build your home on a faulty foundation. The language of
visual literacy is the cornerstone of our anthropological lineage.
Someone has to be able to connect the language of visual literacy with the
mathematician, scientist, and explorers to “design” vehicles that will ultimately
take us out of this solar system and beyond.
Methods of Research and
Analysis:
• Starting with the quantitative
approach, and then refining the data
using quantitative method.
• Individual surveys of my
students and willing participants.
• Review and compare research
findings in educational, and media
data.
Research Questions and sub question:
How is technology changing art?
RQ1 - Are you more inspired when using technology to think about art
in new ways?
RQ2 - Would you prefer a computer to draw or a pen and paper?
RQ3 - Does digital media scare you or are you technically savvy?
RQ4 - Which is more important: Ones ability to draw or ones ability to
understand the process?
RQ5 - Which would you prefer in this class as the major part of your
grading rubric; test scores or your portfolios analysis?
RQ6 - Has technology helped with your understanding of the Fine Arts in
this class?
RQ7 - Would you prefer this class to be all on-line or taught in the
traditional method?
RQ8 - Would you prefer to visit a museum on-line or in person.
RQ9 - Has technology made you a better visual artist?
Sub question: Has digital media improved your comprehension of
Visual Literacy.
Possible Findings:
• Our first educators were the Paleolithic
visual artists.
• The democratization of the visual arts is
inevitable, and it is not a new
phenomenon, because the first learning
tools for our civilization were in fact
visual”
Example: Rosette Stone and
Hieroglyphics.
• Globalization, “control”, and automation are the
driving forces behind this democratization.
• “In my opinion” the word “artist” is used too
loosely.
Other notes that are in support of
the democratization phenomenon:
• The Getty Museum lets users view
art online in 3D with the help of
augmented reality technology.
• You can now take virtual tours
through Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel.
• You can look at renaissance
paintings in the Uffizi Gallery in
Florence “all for free.”
Timeline:
- Interview students at the beginning of the semester
- Continue the discussion and related topics through midterm.
- Interview and survey students at the end of the semester to
see what opinions of democratization may have been altered.
- During the last week of class report the quantitative numbers to
the class and other related data findings.
Permission:
Yes, from the students themselves.
Literary Information:
Gangwer, Timothy (2009). Visual Impact, Visual Teaching, Using Images to Strengthen Learning. Introduction to Visual
Teaching. Corwin Press.
Gude, Oliva (2009). 2009 Lowenfeld Lecture by Olivia Gude, Art Education for a Democratic Life.
Retrieved June 10, 2012, From:
http://www.arteducators.org/research/2009_LowenfeldLecture_OliviaGude.pdf
Elsevier , (2005). Democratization of the arts, Jonas: Mosby's Dictionary of Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Retrieved June 14, 2012, From:
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/democratization+of+the+arts
National Art Education Association, NAEA (2011). Position Statement on 21st CenturySkills and Visual arts Education.
Reston, VA. Retrieved June 10, 2012, From:
http://www.arteducators.org/Alphabetical_Listing_of_Position_Statements_Adopted_as_of_July_2011.pdf
National Assembly of State Art Agencies (2006). Critical Evidence, How the ARTS Benefit Student Achievement.
Retrieved June 10, 2012, From:
http://www.nasaa-arts.org/Research/Key-Topics/Arts-Education/critical-evidence.pdf
Pink, D. (2005). A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. The Penguin Group New York, NY
Visual Teaching Alliance (2012), Pre-K-Adult. Facts, The Visual Teaching Alliance Statistics: Teacher
Training Workshops Tools and Resources. Round Rock, TX. Retrieved June 15, 2012. From:
http://www.visualteachingalliance.com/
Possible Findings.
• Computers may not be as critical to learning as modern educators
give them credit for, but the human brain is. The democratization of
the visual arts is the inevitable part of this process.
• The next generation of visual artist will have more global
opportunities and employment than we think. Teaching our children
about the visual arts and DBAE is a solid part of this foundations
future.
• Right brainers will rule the world (Pink, 2005), and the visual
artist will be their supervisor.
The future is here