Revitalizing History
Recognizing the Struggles, Lives, and Achievements of African American and Women Art Educators
Ami Kantawala, Paul Bolin (Eds.)
by Jessica Baker Kee (The Pennsylvania State University)
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"Revitalizing History is an insightful collection of multi-storied histories long overdue in the telling. The editors and authors of this remarkable text remind us that histories are always in the making and re-making, and are as much about collective community practices as they are about influential individual narratives. However, this anthology offers more. It not only gives voice to silent subject matter, but it also reveals the material processes historical researchers use in assessing practice-based evidence found in the visual traditions of art and culture. As such, Revitalizing History tells us as much about contemporary dilemmas facing artists and teachers today, as it does about the struggles, lives, achievements of colleagues from the past."
Graeme Sullivan, Director
Penn State School of Visual Arts
"By bringing to light the hidden histories of African-American and women art educators, Revitalizing History disrupts the monumental narratives of art education. This text is indispensable to any art educator who wants to envision their classroom as a public space that has the potential to radically transform our understanding of the past, in relation to our present and our future."
Dipti Desai,
New York University
"Paul Bolin and Ami Kantawala have curated a remarkable collection of essays describing histories of unconventional art educators – African Americans and/or women whose creativity extended not just to their own art and educational endeavors, but also to forging their unique paths in a society that constrained their possibilities. From a community of Black landscape artists in Jim Crow Florida to a relentlessly creative puppeteer, artist, and educator who struggled with disability, the rich variety of accounts in Revitalizing History opens wide our understanding of those who found ways to thrive outside of mainstream institutions that largely excluded them. Bolin and Kantawala are uniquely well suited for editing this project given their longstanding commitments to rendering visible the works of artists hidden from history. This volume will appeal not just to art educators, but also to artists, historians, and general readers who admire stories of human tenacity and imagination."
Jackie Blount,
The Ohio State University
"This is a unique and original collection of essays from scholars both established and emerging on the subject and practice of art education history. Carefully crafted stories of art educators working with individuals and communities in specific locations and within particular institutional contexts are offered as examples of how one can attend and become attuned to the stories and representational practices of others from other times. The histories presented in this book speak to the socially and culturally embedded nature of what might appear as individual accomplishment and contributions to art education. All essays attest to how educators of the past have devoted time, thought and attention to helping others to live in the company of art. They, too, demonstrate how one can find ways of conceptualizing one’s educational and pedagogical practices by paying attention to the educative practices of others.
The essays in this collection, first presented at the Brushes with History: Imagination and Innovation in Art Education History conference held at Teachers College Columbia University in New York during November of 2015, represent an approach to doing historical research, which the editors, Ami Kantawala and Paul Bolin, describe as ‘history from below’ by which they mean histories produced by paying attention to the stories and accounts produced by those who are typically less likely to be consulted or heard in the production of history traditionally understood. As a result, this collection of essays presents a fresh set of accounts of the practice of art education in times past.
This collection of essays will be invaluable to those who are interested in learning about and conducting histories of art education as the essays demonstrate ways of thinking and doing historical scholarship that are productive in their potential for continuing to articulate the past in compelling and ever more nuanced ways."
Dr. Dónal O’Donoghue,
The University of British Columbia, Canada
"The contributors to Revitalizing History: Recognizing the Struggles, Lives, and Achievements of African American and Women Art Educators provide significant new knowledge about the ways in which people learn about art. Impressive is that this volume concentrates on the people and institutions responsible for facilitating this education rather than simply examining pedagogical strategies over time. Significant to this anthology is that it tells the story of art education from the perspective of women and African American educators who are largely unknown. Also significant are the ways in which the authors describe the institutions or communities within which these art educators are working. Reading these accounts provides readers with a nuanced historical view of how people learn about the arts and how individuals, communities, and institutions, made learning about the arts possible. This volume will be of interest to scholars working on art education history as it broadens the contexts from which historical studies emerge. For others, the volume will be a source of inspiration for posing new questions about the history of art education and choosing methods through which this history can be discovered."
Prof. Doug Blandy,
University of Oregon
Historical inquiry forms the foundation for much research undertaken in art education. While traversing paths of historical investigation in this field we may discover undocumented moments and overlooked or hidden individuals, as well as encounter challenging ideas in need of exploration and critique. In doing so, history is approached from multiple and, at times, vitally diverse perspectives. Our hope is that the conversations generated through this text will continue to strengthen and encourage more interest in histories of art education, but also more sophisticated and innovative approaches to historical research in this field.
The overarching objective of the text is to recognize the historical role that many overlooked individuals—particularly African Americans and women—have played in the field of art education, and acknowledge the importance of history and historical research in this digital age. This text opens up possibilities of faculty collaborations across programs interested in history and historical research on a local, national, and international level. By assembling the work of various scholars from across the United States, this text is intended to elicit rich conversations about history that would be otherwise beyond what is provided in general art education textbooks.
BECOMING A CURATOR OF MEMORIES: MEMORIALIZING MEMORY AS PLACE IN ART MAKING FOR ART EDUCATION
Heidi C. Powell
MAKING PLACE THROUGH MABEL SPOFFORD (1883-1981): ARCHIVAL MATERIALS, ASSEMBLAGES, AND EVENTS
Christina Hanawalt and Sue Uhlig
NANCY RENFRO AND THE FABRIC OF OUR LIVES: DISCOVERING ART EDUCATION HISTORY THROUGH PUPPETS, PLACE, AND PEDAGOGY
Christina Bain
LESSONS FROM DOROTHY DUNN (1903-1992): THE STUDIO AT SANTA FE INDIAN SCHOOL, 1932-1937
Elise Chevalier
MATTERS OF TASTE, MEASURES OF JUDGMENT: THE McADORY ART TEST
Mary Hafeli
THE LIFE AND WORK OF HELEN GARDNER
Kirstie Parkinson
UNCOVERING HIDDEN HISTORIES: AFRICAN AMERICAN ART EDUCATION AT THE HAMPTON INSTITUTE (1868-1946)
Jessica Baker Kee
THE DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS OF McCARTHYISM ON AFRICAN AMERICAN ART INSTITUTIONS
Debra A. Hardy
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART’S DEPARTMENT OF FILM: HOW EDUCATIONAL FILM PROGRAMS RESPONDED TO SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CHANGES IN THE UNITED STATES
Rebecca Dearlove
CONSTRUCTING SOCIAL IMAGINARIES: EXPLORING ANNA CURTIS CHANDLER’S (1890-1969) STORYTELLING PRACTICES AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, 1917-1918
Allison M. Clark
THE HIGHWAYMEN’S STORY: LANDSCAPE PAINTING IN THE SHADOW OF JIM CROW
Kristin G. Congdon
Dr. Paul E. Bolin received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Art Education from Seattle Pacific University in 1976, and afterward taught high school and middle school art in Oregon. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a M.S. in Art Education (1980) and a Ph.D. in Art Education (1986). Bolin taught at the University of Oregon between 1986 and 1991 before moving to The Pennsylvania State University where he was a member of the School of Visual Arts faculty from 1992 – 2001. In fall 2001 Bolin began teaching at The University of Texas at Austin, where he is now a Professor and serves as both Assistant Chair and Graduate Advisor for Art Education. Much of Bolin's research centers on the investigation of historical issues within the field of art education, and is directed particularly toward matters of art and public schooling in the late nineteenth century. For eight years (2001-2009) Bolin served on the Editorial Review Board of Studies in Art Education. For the two years 1999–2000, Bolin was editor of the National Art Education Association journal Art Education. Bolin has received teaching awards from the University of Oregon, The Pennsylvania State University, and The University of Texas at Austin. In both 1997 and 2007, Bolin received the Manuel Barkan Memorial Award for published research by the National Art Education Association. In 2001 he was awarded Outstanding Art Educator of the Year, by the Pennsylvania Art Education Association, and in 2009 he received the Texas Higher Education Art Educator of the Year, presented by the Texas Art Education Association. Also in 2009, Bolin was elected as a member of the Distinguished Fellows of the National Art Education Association.
Dr. Ami Kantawala serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Art and Art Education Program at Teachers College, Columbia University since 2007. She also served as a full-time Lecturer and Program Manager in the Arts Administration Program at Teachers College from 2011-13. She completed her BFA in Painting and Metal craft at Sir J. J. School of Applied Art in Bombay, India, and went on to complete her Ed.M. and Ed.D. in Art Education at Teachers College, Columbia University in 2007. She has published articles in research journals such as Visual Arts Research, Studies in Art Education, and the International Journal of Art and Design Education. She recently guest co-edited three special issues titled, “Critical re-framing of art education histories” (2013) and “Insightful and creative leadership within arts education: history, challenges, opportunities, and practices” (2014) and “From mentorship to intellectual partnership: Co-authoring and dialogic production through co-construction of research" (2016) for the Journal of Visual Inquiry: Learning and Teaching Art (Intellect Publishers). Her current research includes documenting the learning and teaching experiences of artist-teacher Mabel D’Amico (1909-1999)(research funded by the National Art Education Association Foundation), histories of international art education, historical research methods along with mentoring and leadership in art education. Kantawala also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Visual Inquiry: Learning and Teaching Art; Studies in Art Education; Journal of Social Theory in Art Education and Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education. Kantawala was recently awarded the 2017 Eastern Region Higher Art Educator of the Year Award by the National Art Education Association.
Art education, women art educators, African American women, educational history
