Blog Post 3: The Aims of Art and Design Education

Based on the readings:

1. Hooks, B. (1998) Art on my mind: Visual politics. New York: New Press.
2. Becker, C. (2019) ‘World Economic Forum Annual Meeting’, in How art became a force at Davos. Davos: World Economic Forum. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/02/how-art-became-a-force-at-davos/#:~:text=The%20arts%20provide%20a%20way,which%20they%20hope%20to%20repair. (Accessed: 18 March 2024).

Note* I will be using the term ‘creative practitioners’ as a umbrella term for people working within artistic and design-related disciplines.

Note** My aims are highlighted in italics.

Aims of Art and Design Education:
In the first part of the workshop exercise, I highlighted the terms ‘communication skills’, ‘innovation’, ‘community engagement’, ‘disciplinary understanding’, ‘equity’ and ‘inclusivity’ as particularly important to me. The reflection below highlights what I believe to be important aims of Art and Design education. This is neither exhaustive nor complete, but rather an attempt to frame my argument through the lens of what I have learned from the two pieces and further readings.

On communication, discipline and community:
Art and Design practice has not only a place and relevance but equally a strong function within discourse related to scientific and other disciplines. Becker (2019) provides us with a case-study that helps elucidate the manner by which creative practitioners can intersect these spaces and add value to them through ways of working and making. Art/Design as work, thought or frameworks can be used to bridge gaps and bring people closer to issues in ways that might be mutually enhancing (for the stakeholders) (Muller, Froggett and Bennett, 2020). This brings me to my next point: Art and Design education should not exist solely in the vacuum of academic spaces, galleries and exhibition contexts but place a stronger emphasis on engaging communities . I have always been inspired by the work of Muller, Froggett and Bennett (2020)- The idea of engaging the public as a crucial entity in the third space of Art-Science collaboration could help students articulate how they might frame and/or communicate their work in broader contexts. Further, encouraging students to embrace inter- and trans-disciplinary practice within these contexts could help create social, cultural and political impact within communities.

On inclusivity and equity:
I will be focussing here specifically on how art and design is critiqued or included into the canon of literature around these subjects. This is also (again) in particular response to the reading and work done by Sylvia Ardyn Boone and  Bell Hooks (Hooks, 1995). It’s evident that we (educators) have struggled in the past with how we include, present and critique work that represents minority voices into teaching and learning. Looking at UAL’s commitments to decolonising the curriculum and anti-racism amongst others – it is clear to me that we must all do our bit in making education more equitable and more inclusive. As a person of colour, this is important on a personal level as well. In the time that elapsed since Radiance from Waters, Hooks writing and now  – it feels like the tension between aesthetic sensibility of the work and its perceived intentionality (Hooks, 1995) still exists. In a world of digital computing and social media, it simply manifests in different ways- through algorithms and other systems of classification. First and foremost as educators, we must question the content we consume, the content we deliver and the implicit relationship between the two. We must also give our students, through teaching and learning – the ability to question content, its inclusion, equity and relationship to knowledge. The inclusion of minority voices in Art and Design should be relevant irrespective of whether its intentionality is to challenge existing structures or towards other aesthetic/non-aesthetic concerns (Hooks, 1995). Beyond questioning bias and assumption, we must practise this (inclusivity and equity) in an active sense through curriculum design.

References:

1. Boone, S.A. (1986) Radiance from the waters: Ideals of Feminine Beauty in Mende art. New Haven: Yale University Press.
2. Hooks, B. (1995) Art on my mind: Visual politics. New York: New Press.
3. Becker, C. (2019) ‘World Economic Forum Annual Meeting’, in How art became a force at Davos. Davos: World Economic Forum. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/02/how-art-became-a-force-at-davos/#:~:text=The%20arts%20provide%20a%20way,which%20they%20hope%20to%20repair. (Accessed: 18 March 2024).
4. Muller, L., Froggett, L. and Bennett, J. (2020) ‘Emergent knowledge in the third space of art-science’, Leonardo, 53(3), pp. 321–326. doi:10.1162/leon_a_01690.