SAN MARINO, CALIFORNIA.- The Huntington Library presents “Drawn to Art: Art Education and the American Experience, 1800-1950”, on view in the West Hall of the Library until January 4, 2004. The exhibit features selections from the Diana Korzenik Art Education Collection, comprising materials developed for teaching art making and art viewing to young people in the United States from the early 19th through mid-20th centuries.
“Drawn to Art” traces the evolution of art instruction in this country from its distillation of European theory and practice to the varying spins we as a nation and as communities have placed on such instruction during the past two centuries. In spite of persuasive arguments made for art education from the 1800s right up to the present day, public support for mandatory public school art instruction has fluctuated. The exhibit enables visitors to reflect on the role art plays in education today as they view art education in an American historical context.
National support for art instruction began with the idea, popularized during the early nineteenth century, that art is a worthwhile pursuit for all, not just for aspiring artists or society’s elite. The democratization of art education in this country in turn led to a reconsideration of the place art education should take in American common schools, a second major theme of the exhibit.
Art education for the young came to be seen by leading nineteenth-century educators and social reformers as a way of enhancing cognitive learning and as a means to teach useful skills and instill aesthetic attitudes through the making and viewing of art. Not only was art instruction seen as important in the training of designers, leading to more sophisticated products, it was also linked to other, less easily measured benefits, such as spiritual growth and understanding of self. Commercial benefits were evident early on. Businesses recognized that they could promote their products – coffee, sewing machines, pianos – via small booklets in which children could draw and color. Compared to public schools and private art classes, these promotional materials played a limited role in bringing art methods to children, but a viable one nonetheless. Perceived benefits to the child, commerce, and even society at large have all been a part of the American experience.