The Enduring Ideas of Victor D’Amico
I remember walking into my classroom for the first time. After graduating with a degree in Interior Design, I had plied my artistic skills in the field, as well as taught art in some small-group homeschool settings. But teaching art in a classroom was an entirely new venture. At the time, I asked the principal if there were lesson plans or curriculum available. His response was, “No. Just figure out what you need and let me know.” Honestly, I had no idea what I needed or what I was doing.
Quickly, I became the art teacher who stood in front of the class and provided step-by-step instructions so students could create Pinterest-worthy artwork—the kind that looked good hanging in the halls and made parents smile. However, upon reading an article by Efland (1976), I realized my students were missing a most important element - creativity. That realization marked the beginning of my journey into uncovering how to teach art. Thus, my research began. I surveyed different curriculums, methods, theories, textbooks, crafts, and other ideas. Along the way, I became familiar with Victor D’Amico, a pioneer in the field of art education. I was so intrigued by his teaching philosophy that I began to ponder: What would happen if I incorporated an art education philosophy of the past into my present day art program? Over the next few months, I read everything I could find written by D’Amico.
D’Amico’s Philosophy of Art Education
I found D’Amico’s ideas to be similar to what is commonly known today as “choice-based art education” (Douglas & Jaquith, 2009). According to Rasmussen (2010b), D’Amico thought art education should be based on making art and the “cultivation of creative artistic vitality” (p. 461). He believed children should see themselves as artists and work as artists. Their art should be about their lives, their families, and their experiences (D’Amico, 1953). He felt the art teacher’s role was to motivate and stimulate the students’ interests and probe for individual thinking and solutions (D’Amico, 1960).
A Curriculum Inspired by D’Amico
Inspired by D’Amico’s writings, I developed a nine-week art curriculum incorporating his ideas. Since D’Amico believed that the purpose of art education should be making art and cultivating creativity, the lessons were designed with emphasis upon three enduring ideas: (a) everyone has creative potential; (b) artists can develop their creative abilities, and (c) creativity is an essential life skill. The curriculum was student-directed in that other than providing a short introduction at the beginning of class, my role throughout the class period was to provide motivation, encouragement, and direction if needed.
D’Amico (1953) believed painting to be “one of the best media for stimulating creative response” and one that “encourages spontaneity and originality” (p. 27). With this in mind, the first two lessons were designed for students to explore, experiment, and experience painting spontaneously (See Figure 1). During these lessons, students painted both inside and outside of the classroom. D’Amico (1970) considered assemblage to be one of the "means for structuring a basic program of creative expression” (p. 4). Therefore, the next two lessons were designed to involve assemblage whereby the students were tasked with creating collages and constructing hanging wire structures (See Figure 2). Next, since D’Amico (1953) believed clay to be “one of the most adaptable and fertile media for satisfying a child’s creative yearnings” (p. 117), the students modeled animal or human figures out of air-dry clay (See Figure 3).
Quickly, I became the art teacher who stood in front of the class and provided step-by-step instructions so students could create Pinterest-worthy artwork—the kind that looked good hanging in the halls and made parents smile. However, upon reading an article by Efland (1976), I realized my students were missing a most important element - creativity. That realization marked the beginning of my journey into uncovering how to teach art. Thus, my research began. I surveyed different curriculums, methods, theories, textbooks, crafts, and other ideas. Along the way, I became familiar with Victor D’Amico, a pioneer in the field of art education. I was so intrigued by his teaching philosophy that I began to ponder: What would happen if I incorporated an art education philosophy of the past into my present day art program? Over the next few months, I read everything I could find written by D’Amico.
D’Amico’s Philosophy of Art Education
I found D’Amico’s ideas to be similar to what is commonly known today as “choice-based art education” (Douglas & Jaquith, 2009). According to Rasmussen (2010b), D’Amico thought art education should be based on making art and the “cultivation of creative artistic vitality” (p. 461). He believed children should see themselves as artists and work as artists. Their art should be about their lives, their families, and their experiences (D’Amico, 1953). He felt the art teacher’s role was to motivate and stimulate the students’ interests and probe for individual thinking and solutions (D’Amico, 1960).
A Curriculum Inspired by D’Amico
Inspired by D’Amico’s writings, I developed a nine-week art curriculum incorporating his ideas. Since D’Amico believed that the purpose of art education should be making art and cultivating creativity, the lessons were designed with emphasis upon three enduring ideas: (a) everyone has creative potential; (b) artists can develop their creative abilities, and (c) creativity is an essential life skill. The curriculum was student-directed in that other than providing a short introduction at the beginning of class, my role throughout the class period was to provide motivation, encouragement, and direction if needed.
D’Amico (1953) believed painting to be “one of the best media for stimulating creative response” and one that “encourages spontaneity and originality” (p. 27). With this in mind, the first two lessons were designed for students to explore, experiment, and experience painting spontaneously (See Figure 1). During these lessons, students painted both inside and outside of the classroom. D’Amico (1970) considered assemblage to be one of the "means for structuring a basic program of creative expression” (p. 4). Therefore, the next two lessons were designed to involve assemblage whereby the students were tasked with creating collages and constructing hanging wire structures (See Figure 2). Next, since D’Amico (1953) believed clay to be “one of the most adaptable and fertile media for satisfying a child’s creative yearnings” (p. 117), the students modeled animal or human figures out of air-dry clay (See Figure 3).
During the final two weeks, students participated in the Art Carnival, named after D’Amico’s most widely acclaimed and influential program (Rasmussen, 2010). Students began the Art Carnival by playing games designed to stimulate the creative process. The students were also given the opportunity to create at art centers - one for each method we had covered. The assemblage center contained an assortment of supplies. Clay and tools for carving/stamping were at one center; while brightly colored tempera paint and paper at the other.
There were two small seeds planted at the beginning of the unit to enhance the learning experience. They were told that going forward we would refer to the classroom as the “Art Studio” and that they were now “artists” not students. I discovered this helped students identify themselves as artists and encouraged confidence. Following D'Amico's instructions for the art educator, I allowed the artists to work freely and independently. Only when an artist wasn't sure what to do or how to get started did I offer assistance.
Using prompts and questions to encourage creative thinking and guide the process along, I would say things like: Have you thought about what kind of background you might add to your painting? What type of lines could you use to represent how you feel? Tell me, what’s your plan for this part of your painting?
Findings
I field-tested my curriculum with a group of my fourth-grade artists to evaluate the effectiveness of D’Amico’s philosophy and methods. Through classroom observation, checklists, artist reflections, informal interviews and photographs of in-process and completed work, I collected progress data. Weekly, I would review this data to evaluate successes and weaknesses in the curriculum, and in my teaching methods. Three common themes emerged from my research.
First, I found that the artists were willing to explore and experiment with art techniques that were new to them. In some cases, this meant painting with unusual objects like sticks or old markers dipped in paint. At other times, it meant figuring out how to make pompoms with yarn. Second, I discovered that D’Amico’s methods encouraged individuality while allowing artists to work at their own level. As a result, the majority of artists were engaged and eager to participate each week. For the most part, the artists exhibited concentrated effort and attention throughout the period. They retained interest and seemed to enjoy the challenge of uniquely expressing themselves through whatever they were creating. Finally, since the artists were encouraged to freely express their individual ideas while using methods new to them, there was noticeable improvement in self-confidence and the amount of personal pride they took in their work.
Insights and Recommendations
Through this research I learned that the goal of a successful art program is not always about moving toward new ideas. Sometimes, it is about incorporating the old ones. My findings revealed that applying D’Amico’s methods resulted in students willing to step out of their comfort zone and try new ways of doing things. I also found students encouraging each other to do so. As a result, I will continue to integrate D’Amico’s ideas in my classroom. I recommend implementing D’Amico’s methods into your curriculum or researching art teaching methods from the past and incorporating them into your curriculum where they seem relevant. For more information on this research, or to view the curriculum, please visit http://www.art2020.weebly.com.
References
D’Amico, V. (1953). Creative teaching in art. Scranton, PA: International Textbook Company.
D'Amico, V. (1960). Experiments in creative art teaching. New York, NY: Museum of Modern Art.
D’Amico, V. & Buchman, A. (1970). Assemblage a new dimension in creative teaching in action. New York, NY: Museum of Modern Art.
Douglas, K. & Jaquith, D. (2009). Engaging learners through artmaking. New York:Teachers College Press.
Efland, A. (1976). The school art style: A functional analysis. Studies in Art Education, 17(2), 37-44.
Rasmussen, B. (2010b, October). The laboratory on 53rd street: Victor D’Amico and the Museum of Modern Art, 1937-1969. Curator, 53(4), 451-464. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2151-6952.2010.00046.x/full