Notes from Experiments in Creative Art Teaching
D'Amico's thoughts on the qualifications of an art educator include:
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Notes from Mining Modern Museum Education
D'Amico-the Museum-the Art Carnival
Victor D’Amico. Inside Out. Retrieved from http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_
out/2010/06/25/mining-modern-museum-education-briley-rasmussen-on-
victor-d-amico
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Notes from The Art Museum as Educator
General Information on D'Amico's Philosophy
Berkley, CA: University of California Press.Retrieved from https://books.google.
com/books?id=xbG_W0mevmIC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_
summary_ r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
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Notes from Creativeness and Reaction in Art Education by Victor D'Amico
Teaching is indoctrinary when:
3, pp. 10-14). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan. Retrieved from https://books.
google.com/books?id=yatUAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA304&lpg=PA304&dq=Creativeness+
and+Reactions+in+Art+Education&source=bl&ots=kPq48o3GGs&sig=ZGSOPW
xxCIavI9s6FUa8zUAsT8M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vpbWVP7lMKvesATA
D'Amico's thoughts on the qualifications of an art educator include:
- Experience in the area (painting, sculpture, etc.) in which he/she is expected to guide others
- Understanding concepts of psychological growth, both creative and general
- Warm human attitude
- Inspired feeling toward the arts
- Respect for individuality
- Devotion to excellence and design and craftsmanship
- Ability to stimulate and develop the creative interests of others and to communicate the aesthetic values that underlie all creative achievement
- The fundamentals are the development of individuality and the awareness and sensitivity to aesthetic values in works of art, in human relations, and in one's environment
- The child's natural way is to use art as a personal language
- Young children are by nature free and spontaneous in their expression and tend to work by automatic direction or kinesthetic feeling
- Children are grouped by age (no exceptions)
- Classes need to include both two- and three-dimensional expression-painting, clay work, collage, construction
- Materials include tempera, watercolor, colored chalks, inks, non-firing moist clay, various materials for building and collages such as cardboard, construction paper, tissue paper, material swatches, popsicle sticks, swab sticks, buttons, yarn, bottle caps, etc
- Projects need to be challenging
- Group work stimulates creative response and brings interaction between children
- Color reproductions (of various styles) can be hung in the classroom to motivate creative activity
- Develop a habit of visiting museums
- Copying is harmful to creative growth, it is unethical, it is a form of counterfeiting or stealing
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Notes from Mining Modern Museum Education
D'Amico-the Museum-the Art Carnival
- D’Amico felt the role of the museum was that of a laboratory for the development of creative teaching practices. And thus, his programs became his experiments.
- D’Amico’s most widely acclaimed and influential program, the Children’s Art Carnival (1942–1969), was an experiment in modern art education that tested and developed his ideas about children, creativity, and modern art.
- The Carnival constructed an ideal environment and circumstance for creative development. It transported children into a separate world devoted to their creativity, imagination, and art making.
- The Carnival was a space for children—no adults were allowed. It empowered children to be self-directed and to take on adult roles in a safe, supportive environment. It also offered children various modes of free-choice learning through visual, tactile, and kinesthetic experiences.
Victor D’Amico. Inside Out. Retrieved from http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_
out/2010/06/25/mining-modern-museum-education-briley-rasmussen-on-
victor-d-amico
________________________________________________________________
Notes from The Art Museum as Educator
General Information on D'Amico's Philosophy
- D'Amico believed that people of all ages could derive satisfaction from an art experience regardless of artistic talent
- Children must work in a way natural to them
- D'Amico opposed the use of coloring books because they require a precision and rigidity unnatural to a child
- Given the time and encouragement to explore and express ideas freely on his/her own, the child will learn perspective and other mechanical techniques as he/she needs them
- D'Amico placed importance on the role of teachers and the understanding of the parent
- D'Amico always had something for students to manipulate, he didn’t believe in just looking at something.
- No adults allowed (with the exception of the teacher)
- The emphasis is on independence; teachers help only when they seem to be needed
- The purpose of the carnival is to expose the public, parents, and teachers to what children can do when they are stimulated to work creatively
- “Creative children are the result of an education that develops creativeness; uncreative children are the victims of indoctrinary teaching.”
- D'Amico championed art as a process and a life experience
Berkley, CA: University of California Press.Retrieved from https://books.google.
com/books?id=xbG_W0mevmIC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_
summary_ r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
________________________________________________________________
Notes from Creativeness and Reaction in Art Education by Victor D'Amico
Teaching is indoctrinary when:
- It imposes an idea or a method on an individual without the opportunity for him to conceive, assimilate, or use it for his own benefit
- It ignores the psychological and emotional status of the individual and sets up a group of regulations or formulas for him to follow blindly
- It leaves no room for choice and offers no opportunity for evaluations or decisions
- It permits no personal sensitive reactions or aesthetic experiences
- It imposes discipline for discipline's sake, or when it seeks to subordinate the will of the student to established authority rather than making him aware of the need for acquiring certain concepts, knowledge, techniques, or skills
- It prevents individual initiative and induced imitation of any kind, be it thought, technique, or style
3, pp. 10-14). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan. Retrieved from https://books.
google.com/books?id=yatUAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA304&lpg=PA304&dq=Creativeness+
and+Reactions+in+Art+Education&source=bl&ots=kPq48o3GGs&sig=ZGSOPW
xxCIavI9s6FUa8zUAsT8M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vpbWVP7lMKvesATA