The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

October, 193 5 Page 223 taking;' its place with other sul)jects in the curricu- lum through systematic courses of study. It is no longer a subject for a Friday afternoon's amuse- ment period when children haphazardly co])y the teacher's ideas on ])aper while the teacher herself clears her desk in order to leave early. New courses of study for art are logical and systematic, built up ste]) by ste]j as orderly as a course of study in arithmetic or any other basic subject. They are Iniilt upon the idea that any child can learn to draw anfl to appreciate his surroundings as surely as he can learn to read, write, or do a sum. You cannot expect him to express himself graphically without a step-by-step background any more than you can ex- pect him to write a composition without having mastered the mechanics of writing. It is u]) to the classroom teacher to permit the child to use the vocabulary for self-e-xpression that the art teacher is trying to put into his hands. It is. indeed, the classroom teacher who must help him find the ideas he wishes to express, whether it is the nature study lesson, the geograi)hy lesson, or the historv lesson. Such ideas lose their spontan- eit}- if they must be referred to the art class. It is here the teacher may guide the child's leisure time. Teachers have long since recognized the fact that not all children can express themselves orally. How often have you said of a child, "He doesn't do good oral work but he hands in excellent examination japers." Then why not give him credit if he can iescribe graphically what he cannot tell ? The eye retains what the ear soon forgets. In a nature study Idass a little foreign boy could draw for the others [the tracks of any wild animal living near the river, lis recitation was far more dramatic than any oral iescription he could possibly have given. A sixth grade history class were studying med- ieval castles. Several, on their own initiative, went lome and constructed castles from paper cartons md colored jiaper. Another grou]) asked to bring ip clay from the river bed in order to construct a Imodel of the Parthenon. .\ fifth showed their cnowledge of interiors when they built at home models of Pioneer kitchens. These children were building historical backgrounds more poignant than any the teacher could build up by mere words. The teacher may find a piece of chalk more dra- matic than words. "Draw and the child draws with you. Talk and you talk alone," as Henry Turner Baile\' put it. You cannot teach a child to love beauty unless he is surrounded by beauty. You cannot put over to the child the beauty of the (jrand Canyon or the exquisiteness of the Taj Mahal in a room of four barren walls. Xo fine idea can come from a child who sjiends his day staring at blank walls. Xo matter how new the school, how fine the architec- ture, the school room is still barren until the teach- er fills it with personal touches. Every teacher must l)e "art conscious" if the art dejiartment is to function in the school curriculum. I have spent considerable time and expense in decorating my classrooms. In the art room I have concentrated on Indian art. Resides three large colored paint- ings of Indian life by Robert Westley Anieck and numerous smaller ones, some by Indian artists, I have quite a collection of such samples of Indian life as katcinas. jugs, water jars, a tom-tom, strings of Indian corn. While I had seldom discussed the objects in the room, I wondered how much impression they had made on the children. I met each of my fourth, fifth, and sixth grade art classes in their own room. I asked them to make a list of the things in the art room that impressed them and to tell me the thing they liked best in the room. I was much sur])rised to find out from this questionnaire that, first, no object missed their attention. They are as sensi- tive to their surroundings as wild animals. Sec- ondly, I found out that while a few preferred the I)ictures, most of them like the katcinas, bowls, In- dian corn, tom-tom and some even liked the cactus garden best. Xo exhibit of art of the Southwest would be complete without a cactus exhibit. Think- ing over my grade school life, I recall such objects as vases, bowls, baskets and where they were placed in the room, while I have no recollection of pictures on the walls although I know there were many, I tried the same questionnaire on each child for his home room. I found the same facts to be true. They miss nothing about their surroundings. Ex- hibits that are left up for a short time make a great- er impression than objects that are in front of them throughout the year. From the results of the questionnaire I drew two conclusions. Exhibits should have a definite pur- pose and should not he left out for too long a time. Then, all investments in art need not be in pictures. In my sixth grade where European geography and history are studied, we are investing our money in sami)les of j^easant art. We have already samples of Czecho-Slovakian pottery and two beautiful Pol- ish batik wooden bowls, and we expect to add more next year. X"ot all investments in art need be expensive. "Home-made" devices sometimes add the most cheer to the room. Dark, unsightly parts of the rcjoms should be attacked first. Attractive bulletin boards and border spaces should be carefully planned and changed often. Teachers who teach in old buildings are more fortunate than those who teach in new ones for a thund) tack here and there will not do much harm. Oiu" building is old. The ceil- ings are high. At the top of the high windows are