A Blending of Disability Studies, Art Education, and Museum Education

Many museums have been critically characterized as elitist institutions that offer few inclusive services to meet the needs and interests of marginalized populations and communities (Hill, 2016; Sandell & Nightingale, 2013). Some museums, however, are turning to visitor-centered approaches that refocus their efforts to concentrate on the needs and interests of visitors instead of the objects on display (Love & Boda, 2017; Weil, 1999). One population often still overlooked by museums are adult visitors with developmental disabilities, thus the need for increased museum programming. This work represents a literature review that begins with a close examination of conceptual frameworks provided by disability studies, followed by how disability studies relates to art education and inclusive art-making for individuals with developmental disabilities. Next, the review presents an overview of literature related to developmental disabilities, with a specific focus on adults with developmental disabilities and recreational options available to them. Finally, the literature review delves into the museum experience and visitor-centered museum education. By blending best practices in disability studies, art education, and museum education, museums are primed to create needed inclusive programming and connect with new audiences

AR Portrait Painting in Dialogue with Woman, Life, Freedom

oai:mzwp:id:33685This paper introduces AR portrait painting in Dialogue, a novel arts-based research methodology that integrates Augmented Reality (AR) technology with portrait painting to effectively analyze and visualize data while fostering collaborative and democratic knowledge construction. The methodology leverages the interpretive, analytic, and performative potentials of AR portraiture to illuminate complex sociocultural contexts of the research. Central to this approach is the acknowledgment and valorization of diverse subjective interpretations, inviting researchers, participants, and viewers in the co-construction of knowledge through dialogue. The intersubjective and open-ended knowledge construction is particularly pertinent for investigating ongoing and intricate social and political issues. Furthermore, the multiplicity of subjective perspectives and diverse interpretations within the AR portrait painting methodology enhances the credibility, authenticity, and truthfulness of the generated knowledge. To exemplify the utility of this innovative methodology, a case study is presented that showcases how AR portrait painting in dialogue effectively represents and communicates the experiences of Maryam, an Immigrant woman, as a resident of transnational spaces. Finally, discussing the potential and challenges of employing the AR portrait painting methodology provides valuable insights for art educators seeking to integrate AR art into their pedagogical practices

Beyond the Canon: Seeking Black Women Artists in K-12 Art Education Teaching Resources

Despite the plethora of textbooks and teaching resources to guide the instructor in transmitting knowledge and skills for classroom instruction and curriculum development, many K-12 art education resources feature White, Eurocentric artists. Black women K-12 art educators are challenged to locate resources that enhance students’ understanding and interest in racial and gender identities. This research critically explores the representation and availability of Black women artists in K-12 art education textbooks and teaching resources. The images and artists in art education textbooks are crucial and can affect students’ understanding of art and teachers\u27 development of an inclusive curriculum. I, therefore, investigated, through a Black feminist perspective, the underrepresentation of Black women artists in art education teaching resources. Drawing on narrative inquiry, I interviewed Black women elementary and secondary art educators throughout the United States to reveal the availability of Black women artists for classroom instruction and curriculum development. As a result, the data collected highlights emergent themes and subthemes that describe patterns of Whiteness in art education. This research demonstrates the need to diversify K-12 art education textbooks and teaching resources beyond a few token Black women artists

Moments of Becoming Artist-Teachers

In this article, I re-present the findings from my arts-based dissertation that examined the ways five preservice art teachers (two graduate and three undergraduate students) perceived and used matter in their responses to studio prompts, reflective visual journals, and PK-12 art curriculum they created within the context of an art education curriculum course. After providing a brief overview of the study and arts-based methods, I re-present each of my findings by means of excerpts from original found poems, brief narrative summaries, and mini visual essays comprised of images of participants’ artwork and visual journals. This article, therefore, provides a glimpse into both the process and product of my dissertation as well as my attempts to continually make sense of it as I search for ways to share portions of it with the world. Ultimately, this study, including the results, presentation, and now re-presentation, reveals the nuances of a brief moment along preservice art teachers’ journeys of becoming artist-teachers. These findings and re-presentation carry implications for PK-12 art education, art teacher preparation, as well as arts-based research as a methodology

Practicing Change, Changing Practice: Gallery Educators’ Professional Learning in Times of Reckoning and Upheaval

Art museums are increasingly responding to calls for exhibitions, community engagement, and institutional changes that confront and unsettle taken-for-granted knowledge, structures, and ways of working. Grounded in such a dynamic and evolving field, this qualitative study asked the following: What does gallery educators’ own learning look like -- and what motivates it? How does ongoing competency building inform critical dialogue with visitors and support wider efforts to reshape the field through an ethos of social justice? Drawing on tenets of critical pragmatism, transformative adult learning, and constructivist grounded theory, my thesis comprised three manuscripts based on findings from two series of interviews with gallery educators in Canada and Scotland. This article highlights my findings, contextualizing my analyses on the shifting ground shaping gallery education in both countries. In doing so, it contributes to both a relative paucity of scholarly research on critical professional learning in art museums and an emerging body of literature addressing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the working lives of gallery educators and the futures that lie ahead