Concerns in Secondary Art Education || Inquiry-Based Teaching Using the World Wide Web

National Art Education Association

Inquiry-Based Teaching Using the World Wide WebAuthor(s): Naree Wongse-SanitSource: Art Education, Vol. 50, No. 2, Concerns in Secondary Art Education (Mar., 1997), pp.19-24Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3193639 .

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Artist

The bronze sculpture, HfoI, by Luis Jimenez shows this artist's deep interest in figurative art and popular imagery. Figurative art uses people and objects as subject matter, rather than abstract forms or pure color. In HeFiothe artist uses a coyote as his subject matter. Since Jimneez lives in Hondo, a small mountain community in Nev Mexico, this choice of subject matter is not distant or exotic. Rather, it means tking images from his everyday life. The hovl seems to be the essence of the coyoe.

Looking at the sculpture itself, it appears as a very compact mass, an outgrovth of the earth. No parts extend out. It is reminiscent of wood sculpture, as if it had been carved.

All the attention in the sculpture is focused on the act of hovling. The triangular shape of the coyote gives a feelig of tension and power. The color and texture of the bronze surface changes to indicate the ground, the underside of the animal and the fur of its back.

World Wide W7eb

INTRODUCTION

T ~he World Wide Web is a vast, image-rich, and essentially

free educational resource that offers exciting opportunities

for enhancing teaching and learning in art. Businesses,

government and nonprofit organizations, colleges and uni-

versities, schools, special interest groups, and individuals have their own

BY NAREE WONGSE-SANIT

MARCH 1997 / ART ED U CATION

I etscape: RrtsEdNet Wn1

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ADDRESSES FOR WEB SITES REFERENCED The URLs, or addresses, for the Web sites mentioned in this article were accurate at the time of writing; however, some may have changed by the date of publication.

Ariadne, a site devoted to Hellenic civilization, Greece gopher://ithaki.servicenet.ariadnet.gr: 70/19/HELLENIC_CIVILIZATION/MUSEUMS/ART_MUSEUMS/ MUSEUM_OF_SCULPTURE_AND FIGURINES_OF_LOUKIA_GEORGANTI/ George%20Karaiskakis

Art of Kim Thomson Web site, Santa Fe, NM http://www.olworld.com/kthomson/

ArtsEdNet, the Getty Education Institute for the Arts, Los Angeles, CA http://www.artsednet.getty.edu/

ArtsEdge, The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, Washington, DC http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/ Carousel Web site http://www.access.digex.net/rburgess/Stein.html/ Desert View High School Mural Project, Tucson, AZ http://wacky.ccit.arizona.edu/-susd/dvmural.html Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI http://www.dia.org/ Dia Center for the Arts, New York, NY http://www.diacenter.org/

Diego Rivera Virtual Museum http://www.diegorivera.com/

Fayetteville Manlius School District Art Department, Manlius, NY http://www.fmhs.cnyric.org/clay/ LatinoWeb http://www.catalog.com/favis Life magazine http://pathfinder.com/@@nPXLX*BqaAIAQDiH/Life/essay/foall .html

Lycos, a Web search site http://lycos.cs.cmu.edu/ National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. Http://www.nmaa.si.edu/

Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya, Japan http://www.cjn.or.jp/tokugawa/index.html Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy http://www.televisual.it/uffizi

University Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA

WebCrawler, a Web search site

Yahoo, a Web search site

home pages or web sites. Cultural institutions from around the world have been posting information and educational materials on the Internet. This article offers suggestions for how teachers in their class- rooms might use a set of resources found on the World Wide Web.

THE WORLD WIDE WEB The World Wide Web is the portion

of the Internet that includes pictures as well as text and provides the ability to link information on one computer with relevant information on another computer anywhere in the world. At its most basic level, the Internet is a net- work of computers that are connected to one another (much like telephones

http://www.uampfa.berkeley.edu/

http://webcrawler.com/

http://www.yahoo.com/

Below, from left to right: Figure 4, George Karaiskakis, by Loukia Georganti. Figure 5, Foal, on LIFE Magazine Web site.

Figure 6, Carousel Horse from Carousel Web site. Figure 7,

The Liberation of Aunt Jemima, Betye Saar. Figure 8, Art and

Music page, Latino Web.

ART EDUCATION / MARCH 1997



are) and thus able to "talk" or share data with one another. Eventually scientists devised an easier way to link information that resided on different computers on the Internet and developed a method of transmitting images, and even sound and video, along with text. These advances led to the creation of the World Wide Web, "the scenic route" of the Internet. Software known as web browsers makes accessing information on the Web as easy as pointing an arrow and clicking a mouse. Many web browsers are available, including Netscape Navigator, Mosaic, and browsers provided by America Online, Compuserve, Microsoft, and Prodigy.

The World Wide Web consists of web sites, computers on the Internet on which someone has placed information for others to access. Web sites can be modest, comprising a single home page, serving as a kind of "electronic bill- board." Sites can also be large, with one home page that acts somewhat as a title page and table of contents of a book and contains many different links to other "pages." Each of these pages is actually a file which contains information and hyperlinks to other web pages within the site or to other sites. Hyperlinks are words or phrases that, when clicked, take the user to a relat-

ed page; they are embedded footnotes. Web pages often include graphics, such as photographs, drawings, and other images, and may also incorporate audio and video clips.

Because of the ability to combine text and images on web sites, many art- oriented sites have appeared on the Web. Hundreds of museums have pro- duced web sites which feature online exhibitions of their collections or travel- ing exhibitions. For example, the web site of the University Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, CA, provides online tours of exhibitions, even after the actual shows have moved to other museums (address for web- sites are listed at the end of this article). The web site of the Detroit Institute of Arts features artworks from the museum's Ancient, Oceanic, African, Asian, American Art, and other collections, organized into "virtual galleries." The web site of the National Museum of American Art extensively incorporates images, allowing a visitor to the site to view artworks from exhibitions and search for artworks from the museum's permanent collection. Many interna- tional art museums and contemporary art galleries have web sites, such as the

Tokugawa Art Museum in Nagoya, Japan, and the Uffizi in Florence, Italy. There is also a web site known as the Diego Rivera Virtual Museum contain- ing images of the artist's paintings and murals. The web site of New York's Dia Center for the Arts includes works by contemporary artists as well as projects created specifically for the web.

Schools have web sites and many feature student artworks. For example, students at Desert View High School in Tucson, Arizona, have created a web site which describes a school mural project. The web site of Fayetteville- Manlius School District in Manlius, New York, features online displays of students' artworks. Web sites such as the Kennedy Center's ArtsEdge focus on art education also. The World Wide Web can serve as a virtual research library, albeit a somewhat haphazardly organized one. Thus, an art educator who becomes familiar with the World Wide Web has the potential to tap into rich resources, particularly visual ones, for teaching art.

ARTSEDNET In September 1995, the Getty

Education Institute for the Artsl intro- duced a web site called ArtsEdNet (Figure 1), designed primarily for

Discussions by DBAE Discipline Experts We asked Matim Roselbeig, professor of at history at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, to discuss a work of art from four poi of of vie-those of the artist, the critic, the esthetician, and the art historian. These four disciplines form the foundation of discipline-based art educaton, an approach that can open up nev ays of making, seeing, and understanding art for students of all ages. Dr. Rosenberg chose Betye Saar's 7Tbje.LrUwtiz fA lt'Atwrt.J (1972).

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Betye Saar's Tj2.Lt,eaOtw tALmrOt.iu, n, created in 1972, is a work of mixed media, a series of images layered one on top of the other in a box. Overall, it measures about 11 3/4 by 8 by 3/4 inches--about as big as a book. Yet, this assemblage of found objects, with the artist's significant choices and alterations, overflows its rather small and intimate space vith a disruptive, even magical, inensitv

MARCH 1997 / ART EDUCATION



Teaching with the Web can also enhance

object-based learning: students who have seen

images online may be motivated to look for the

actual artworks in real-life settings.

K-12 art teachers, general classroom teachers who incorporate the arts into their curricula, art education graduate students and professors, and museum educators and others involved in art education. ArtsEdNet makes available on the World Wide Web information about discipline-based art education (DBAE); a variety of DBAE curriculum resources; information on the Getty Education Institute's professional development programs; changing online exhibitions and related programs; and advocacy information to help gain support for arts education in schools.

ArtsEdNet also enables art educators to join an online community via an e-mail discussion group, called ArtsEdNet Talk, in order to exchange ideas, lend support, and generally provide collegial connections to a wide- spread but often isolated group of educators. Additionally, ArtsEdNet serves as a point of entry to other web sites that are related to art, art education, education in general, and other sites of interest to educators. By far the largest portion of ArtsEdNet is reserved for curriculum resources of various kinds, from lesson plans to entire units, usually with images included.

THE MULTICULTURAL ART PRINT SERIES

Since 1989, the Getty Education Institute has been developing the Multicultural Art Print Series, or MAPS, a curriculum resource currently comprising 30 art reproductions. Developed in conjunction with art education consultants and six museums, MAPS is intended to fill a gap in the availability of teaching materials that reflect the cultural diversity of students throughout the United States. Each laminated print is 18 by 21 inches, with a color reproduction of the artwork on the front. Contextual information on the back of each poster includes biographical background about the artist and information about the culture from which the work originates, as well as information about the materials and techniques employed in making the artwork. A time line places the artwork in context with the major historical events of its era. Additionally, each print includes discussion questions and activities, divided by grade level (ele- mentary, middle, and high school) and by discipline (aesthetics, art history, art criticism, and art production). A teacher's guide providing a glossary, map, additional references, and pro- nunciation guide accompanies each set of prints. There are now six sets: Pacific

Asian Art, African-American Art, Mexican-American Art, Selected American Indian Artifacts, Women Artists of the Americas, and Arts of India. The next set will focus on art, architecture, and cultural heritage.

On the World Wide Web, ArtsEdNet provides images (when permission has been granted by the museum) and information from the backs of the prints and teachers guides. These images have been digitalized and can be viewed in three sizes. All the contextual information about each image provided has been adapted to take advantage of the hyperlinking capabilities of the World Wide Web. For instance, when reading on ArtsEdNet the background information for Dancing Ganesha, an artwork from the Arts of India set of prints, we learn that Ganesha is one of the sons of the Hindu god Siva. On the web page, we click the highlighted word "Siva" to find the phonetic spelling and learn that he is the destroy- er in the Hindu Trinity. One can read the material by scrolling down the screen or by printing a paper copy.

Thus, the complete poster series is available online as well as in print. Although these materials were original- ly designed to be used as print versions in the classroom, there are advantages to having MAPS available on the World Wide Web. They are free; they are accompanied by information on how to order them if one wants a printed set; all six of the sets can be previewed before ordering; and the teacher can print out the written curricular materials that accompany the images and that are essential to using the MAPS thoughtfully. Most importantly, the curriculum resources on ArtsEdNet can be extended to include relevant additional resources from other web sites. They may be used by a teacher to prepare a lesson for students or a teacher can




construct projects for a group of students to do. What follows is an example of a way to use one of the MAPS and related web sites to teach a lesson on art criticism.2

MEXICAN AMERICAN ART: LUIS JIMENEZ'S VAQUERO

One of the five images from the Mexican American Art series is Luis Jimenez's Vaquero, a monumental (16 1/2 ft. high) fiberglass and epoxy sculpture of a Latino cowboy on a buck- ing horse on display in front of the National Museum of American Art in Washington, DC (modeled 1980, cast 1990). This work lends itself to an art criticism lesson with references to art history, aesthetics, and art production. Extensions into social studies and lan- guage arts lessons are also possible. In this lesson, an image that appears on the World Wide Web functions much as a slide or other reproduction of an artwork does in the classroom. Students first studyJimenez's Vaquero by itself and then compare it to other works by Jimenez on the web, to artifacts in popular culture, and to works of other artists. The web sites mentioned in the following lesson were found by using search and index web sites which are available on the World Wide Web.3

Vaquero is a compelling image (Figure 2). First, ask students to examine it descriptively and interpretively. Elicit their comments about the subject matter, materials, and form. For example, is that a gun in his hand? What does the gun symbolize? How have attitudes about guns changed over the years? How does the fiberglass material influence your reactions to the work? Is the rearing pose of the horse more effec-

tive than if the horse and rider were shown standing at rest?

After examining Vaquero, click to other works by the artist. Open a second window on the computer screen and compare Vaquero and Howl, a bronze statue (60 x 29 x 29 inches) of a coyote (Figure 3). What are the similar- ities between the two images? Information about Vaquero on ArtsEdNet includes biographical background and cultural context for the artist's Mexican-American heritage. How does this information deepen interpretations of Vaquero? The article about Howl on ArtsEdNet presents writings by a critic, aesthetician, historian, and artist. Compare these to students' observations. How does this information about the artist and his works affect interpretations of both images?

The web site of the National Museum of American Art includes other works byJimenez: drawings, a lithograph, and a sculpture. How do these works better inform students' understanding of Vaquero?

How does Jimenez's portrayal of the horse and rider compare with and differ from other artists' renditions of similar subjects? A more traditional horse and rider sculpture by a Greek artist is available in Greece via the Internet (Figure 4). Open two windows at once and compare and contrast Vaquero and the work from Greece. Ask students to recall other horse and rider sculptures they have seen. The heroic theme of these monuments highlights how Jimenez's contemporary work made with modem materials follows a long line of tradition and is thus more traditional than it might seem at first. How does Jimenez's use of such heroic means to portray a working class individual affect

the image of a Vaquero, a Mexican cowhand?

Examine what the artist has done with his horse by comparing Vaquero to photographs of live horses from Life magazine's web site featuring a photo essay of racehorses on a farm in Kentucky (Figure 5). How do the real horses and Jimenez's horse differ? What has the artist exaggerated in Vaquero ? To what effect has he done this? How is Vaquero real and how is it fictional?

The text that accompanies the Vaquero also makes reference to carousel horses. Search for carousel horses; open a second screen and compare Jimenez's work to a carousel horse (Figure 6). How are they alike? How are they different? The material accompanying Vaquero onArtsEdNet sug- gests a more extensive discussion about the medium that Jimenez selected for it: brightly air-brushed fiberglass. Name other things made of fitbrglass. Are they functional or are they consid- ered to be works of art? What if the sculpture were made of a dull bronze instead of shiny synthetic? Does think- ing of fiberglass as an industrial material change our feelings about Vaquero? How does the similarity of Jimenez's sculptures and popular imagery, such as carousel horses, airbrushed hot rods, and commercial uses of brightly colored plastic influence interpretations of Vaquero?

Find other examples of horses depicted in art. A web site featuring the prints of an artist from Santa Fe, NM, Kim Thomson, includes many images of horses in pastoral settings. Compare these works to Vaquero. How are they different? How are they similar?

The theme of Vaquero, as noted in the introduction that appears on

MARCH 1997 / ART EDUCATION



ArtsEdNet, refers to stereotypes. How is Vaquero stereotypical? What attitudes and values does the artist convey about his cultural group? How? What period of time do you think the sculpture represents the - past? Is it "time- less" or does it depict a moment? When was the sculpture made?

A discussion of stereotypes leads to a comparison with another work on ArtsEdNet, The Liberation ofAunt Jemima by Betye Saar (Figure 7). What stereotypes does Saar present in this work? Based on observation of the image and contextual knowledge from the accompanying material, we learn that Saar is of African descent. What attitudes does her painting suggest about stereotypical images of African Americans? What evidence do you have for your views? Jimenez is a Mexican American whose work presents a Mexican American perspective, while Saar is an African American whose work presents how white people have depicted African Americans. How do stereotypes influence people's opin- ions?

CONCLUSION: TEACHING ON THE WEB

Starting at ArtsEdNet, the lesson moves to a museum in Washington, DC, to Greece, to Life magazine online, to a web site with carousel horses, a site in New Mexico, and finally back to ArtsEdNet, all from a classroom in the United States. The exploration process could take an hour or a week, depend- ing on how extensive the lesson is. Teachers could search for other relevant sources on the World Wide Web: for instance, the references to Jimenez's Mexican American background could take the lesson to sites on Latino life and culture (Figure 8),

which in turn may be extended into a social studies lesson. What can students find on the web about African American cowboys, for example? Thus, the World Wide Web is an immediate source of images and information, providing quick access to a wide variety of materials.

The art criticism lesson described here centers on Jimenez's Vaquero and includes comparisons with photographs of live horses, sculpted fig- ures on horseback, other works by Jimenez, carousel horses, and works by other artists. Studio projects may be built upon this lesson using the Internet. Students could conduct fur- ther research on their own about the art historical tradition of portraying horses. Vaquero as an example of how monumental public art leads to broader questions of aesthetics of public monuments in general and the messages they convey. Classroom activities can be made interdisciplinary by devising activities that incorporate social studies and writing. Teaching with the web can also enhance object-based learning: students who have seen images online may be motivated to look for the actual artworks in real-life settings. Material available on web sites of museums provide ways to prepare for and reinforce museum visits. Finally, by using ArtsEdNet Talk, the e-mail discussion group, a teacher could send questions to other teachers to answer, ask for additional ideas or suggestions, or share her successes with colleagues online.

Due to the vast amount of material on the Internet, the teacher is vital in steering a course through the tangled World Wide Web. Although the breadth of resources is impressive, the Web is idiosyncratic and often gives the illusion of order while remaining unor- ganized. Designing class activities

which are substantive and meaningful is as crucial as ever. Learning and teaching are not replaced by the utter quantity or scope of material. The teacher needs to provide ongoing guid- ance to students making expeditions of the Web. As with other resources, the Web is a tool that needs to be used skill- fully in order to be most effective, but it provides a resource like no other to support wide-ranging, inquiry-based teaching and learning in art.

Naree Wongse-Sanit is a program asso- ciate at the Getty Education Institute for the Arts, Los Angeles, California.

NOTES 'In July 1996, the Getty Center for Education

in the Arts became the Getty Education Institute for the Arts. The new name has been used throughout.

This lesson was devised by Dr. Terry Barrett, art education professor at Ohio State University and 1995-96 visiting scholar at the Getty Education Institute. He is the author of CriticizingArt: Understanding the Contemporary, Mayfield, Mountain View, CA, 1995. Aspects of this lesson are based on the written material that accompanies the Vaquero poster in the "Mexican-American Art" set of the Multicultural Art Print Series, published by the Education Institute in 1992.

3Commonly used search and index sites for the Web are Alta Vista, Lycos, WebCrawler, and Yahoo. The words "horses" and "art" were used to find the web sites for this lesson. Please note that none of the currently available search and index sites on the Web are very good by library standards. However, they are often able to locate at least some relevant web sites on almost any topic.

AUTHOR NOTE Special thanks to Candace Borland, Kathy

Talley-Jones, Sabrina Lynn Motley, and Marlin Murdock of the Getty Education Institute, Carrie Sutton of the J. Paul Getty Museum, and Dr. Terry Barrett of Ohio State University for their helpful comments and insights regarding this paper.




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Concerns in Secondary Art Education || Inquiry-Based Teaching Using the World Wide Web