For centuries the visual arts were taught and learned through private instruction and apprenticeship. Their arrival in school and the general curriculum came much later.
Benjamin Franklin proposed including the arts in his 1749 pamphlet outlining the ideal education for Pennsylvania’s youth. Franklin’s thoughts about pedagogy were well ahead of his time. He believed that students learned best by practicing the disciplines they studied, and he recognized the value of art in the curriculum.
“As to their STUDIES, it would be well if they could be taught every Thing that is useful, and every Thing that is ornamental: But Art is long, and their Time is short. It is therefore propos’d that they learn those Things that are likely to be most useful and most ornamental. Regard being had to the several Professions for which they are intended.”[1]
Fundamental art instruction was first introduced in U.S. public schools in 1821, but sputtered along for decades. Massachusetts was the first to mandate art instruction state-wide in 1870.[2]
An exhibit of Massachusetts students’ work at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition catalyzed national interest in expanding art education. The World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 heightened the nation’s awareness of contemporary arts practices from around the world and led to the development of more diverse and functional art materials. The St. Louis Exposition of 1904, the Jamestown Exposition of 1907, and the San Francisco and San Diego Expositions of 1915 successively lifted up the connection between art and practical instruction.[3]
Professional art training was governed by guilds in Medieval Europe as painters, sculptors, and other artists were seen as tradespeople. The first art academies arose in Renaissance Europe. The Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture was founded in Paris in 1648, and the London Royal Academy was founded in 1768. The painter, Joshua Reynolds was its first president.[4]
The first professional art school in the United States was the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, which was founded in 1805 by the painter, Charles Wilson Peale and the sculptor, William Rush. It remains a leading arts school and museum.
A number of other art schools followed. These include the Cooper Union (1859), the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1866/1882), Rhode Island School of Design (1877), Pratt Institute (1887), and Parsons School of Design (1896).
The College Art Association was founded in 1911 and remains the leading national organization for the visual arts in higher education. Following World War II and the implementation of the G.I. Bill, colleges and universities quickly became the training grounds for artists.[5]
By the 1960s fine arts courses became standard in the general education curricula of most undergraduate degree programs.
Today’s students are probably the most visually engaged generation, and they are certainly more visually facile than their predecessors. Contemporary media are driven by imagery, and we must continue to provide our students with the tools to understand and interpret what they see as well as the ability to contextualize images within history and culture.
This literacy will allow them to be wise consumers and producers of visual material, and as AI occupies an increasing footprint in our visual world, the visual world, these challenges will become exponentially more complex.
[1] From Benjamin Franklin: Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsilvania. Philadelphia: 1749.
[2] W.G. Whitford: “Brief History of Art Education in the United States,” The Elementary School Journal, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Oct. 1923), p. 109.
[3] Op. cit. pp.111-112.
[4] https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/academy
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_education_in_the_United_States