Annotated Bibliography

1.) Buffington, Melanie. (July 2007). Art to Bring About Change: The Work of Tyree Guyton. National Art Education Association: Reston, VA.

URL: http://www.NAEA-Reston.org/index.html

Tyree Guyton is an African-American artist who created the Heidelberg Project, a body of work that consists of public artwork such as painted abandoned houses, outdoor sculptures, and pieces made of found objects. Guyton’s work focuses on issues of racism, politics, religion, and homelessness. Buffington discusses specific works of art from the Heidelberg Project and integrates suggested lesson plans, including questions for discussion, art-making activities, and assessments, which parallel each public artwork. This article is intended for urban teachers looking to make connections between their students and the community by analyzing public artwork and its functions. The article also provides seven color images of Guyton’s work, which helps the reader visualize the content.

2.) Long, Trisha Wies. (March 2008). The Full Circling Process: Leaping into the Ethics of History Using Critical Visual Literacy and Arts-Based Activism. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

URL: http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.montclair.edu:2048/10.1598/JAAL.51.6.6

In an effort to change current classroom curriculum of teaching to the test, the author describes a multi-layered learning process called “full circling” that uses visual media as a text to be critically read and interpreted by all types of learners. Long thoroughly describes her four-step process of combining visual media (i.e. paintings, drawings, and photographs) with more traditional texts (i.e. reading and writing), and providing example images that compliment the full circle teaching method. The author works with urban adolescents, teachers, and university interns, describes how a teacher would begin the full circling process, and where the process is heading. This article is informative, clear, and is a good source for urban teaching methods combined with the arts. Integrating the arts into classroom curriculum stimulates creativity and critical thinking.

3.) Mishlove, Robert, Strange, Wayne. (October 2008). Knowing Neighborhoods: Students and Teachers as Artistic Colleague. Routledge: London.

URL: http://www.informaworld.com.ezproxy.montclair.edu:2048/openurl?genre=article&id=doi:10.1080/15411790802344272

Bob Mishlove is an art teacher at Nathan R. Goldblatt Elementary School in Area 7 on Chicago’s west side, and is a member of a city curriculum (CAPE). CAPE offered six teachers to work with visiting artists and to exhibit their work at one of Chicago’s highest art galleries. Bob chose to collaborate with one of his students, Wayne Strange, to create a photo instillation exploring the community surrounding Goldblatt Elementary School. The article is a conversation between Bob and Wayne about their experiences working together, including a collaborative artist statement, images of the installation, and the ways in which this experience has affected Bob’s curriculum. This article is important because it ties urban art education pedagogy with the surrounding community. It it crucial that students create their own learning experiences, and that art instructors facilitate these learning possibilities.

4.) Ross, Jerrold. (Jan-Feb 2005). Arts Education and the Newer Public Good. Heldref Publications: Washington DC, MD.

The federal financial support of the arts is declining, and the public’s knowledge of the importance of the arts is diminishing even faster. Ross argues that our anti-arts society has a direct influence on “teaching to the test” in current education, which is directly cutting imagination and creativity in learning and teaching. Moreover, Ross points out that schools’ “immagineless” curricula are hindering learning for the urban, “disadvantaged” youth. The article is very one-sided, but provides a lot of supporting arguments and facts. This article would hopefully make more school administrators, educators, and parents more aware of the affects “teaching to the test.” Educators would likely consider changing their curricula to incorporate the arts, imagination, and creativity.

5.) Hutzel, Karen. (2007). Reconstructing a Community, Reclaiming a Playground: A Participatory Action Research Study. National Art Education Association: Reston, VA.

URL: http://www.naea-reston.org/index.html

There are some art instructors who are heavily involved with the communities where they teach and provide methods of teaching that cater to the needs of the community, which broadens students’ perspectives on local art and culture. Hutzel conducts a study in her own community that examines participant’s perceptions the community of the West End neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio. The author is interested in how these perceptions shape community, art curriculum, and social change.

In the beginning of the study, participants were reluctant to work with an “outsider” of the African-American-based community, because in the past many had experienced white, middle class researchers making false promises and creating artificial hope in the community. Hutzel’s relationship to the West End community provided interesting tension in the beginning of the article.

Hutzel chose to focus on improving the community’s quality of life by creating an asset-based community art curriculum, as opposed to need-based approaches, which is important because it relies on the positive aspects of the community. The author held a service-learning pedagogy while working with adolescents of the community to create two public murals. Adolescents were required to dig into their personal experiences and perceptions to design their own portion of the mural. There are a few photographs of the mural in the article. Results from the study indicate that participants from the West End believe that their community has strong social bonds despite local violence and crime.

The article touches on important issues regarding art education, curriculum, community, and public art. It is necessary for art educators to examine the identities of urban youth and to create a curriculum that reaches students that live in low-income, minority, and violent communities. Urban art education should incorporate these realities into the curriculum as a way to make real connections between reality and education. Public art projects can give students the opportunity to change their existing environment in a positive way through art-making and community development. This article is a useful and inspirational tool for urban art teachers motivated to make a difference in the lives of their students.