This article explores "prosthesis" as a metaphor of embodiment in art-based research to challenge the utopian myth of wholeness and normality in art and the human body. Bearing in mind the correspondences between amputated bodies and the cultural dislocations of art, I propose "prosthetic epistemology" and "prosthetic ontology" as embodied knowing…

In this article, the author analyzes Arthur Efland's "Art and Cognition," which advocates study of the visual arts for its cognitive benefits. The author argues that Efland's cognitive premises are largely sound but that his specific recommendations often belie the general principles he espouses. Efland focuses on the interpretation of baffling…

The author writes that the point made in this article is a simple, twofold one. First, if the test of time is a reliable, viable mechanism for assessing the value of works of art, and if the integrity of this test can be maintained even when indexed to a particular person, then it makes sense that this person should want to possess those works…

This descriptive study investigates the bases used to support judgments of artworks by preservice art teachers at two large universities. Bases art teachers might use to judge artwork range from personal preferences, to cultural expectations, to criteria drawn from values of various artworlds. The 26 preservice teachers in this study used a…

This anthology places art at the center of meaningful urban education reform. Providing a fresh perspective on urban education, the contributors describe a positive, asset-based community development model designed to tap into the teaching/learning potential already available in urban cities. Rather than focusing on a lack of resources, this…

Music video is one of the most influential visual culture forms to hit youth culture since the advent of television. Although provocative, the value of studying such visual culture as the music video in art education is much more than providing mere spectacle or motivational tactic. As many teenagers know, music videos portray meaning. They…

This article describes the learning experiences of three pre-service teachers within a university-level course entitled "Aesthetics and Art Criticism for the Classroom." Discussion is focused on the nature of the meaning-making that emerges from aesthetic encounters and its educational value. Specifically, what can pre-service generalist teachers…

In this article, the author profiles Pierre-Auguste Renoir and describes Renoir's work of art, "Woman with Parrot". Renoir gained a reputation among peers for taking exceptional pleasure in painting, and his style was said to celebrate beauty and sensuality. He is recognized for showing significant empathy for the sitters in his portraits, and for…

Hollis Sigler was an artist, teacher, and activist. Her works seductively invite us to consider fantasies and challenge to confront the monsters. Sigler's narrative artwork after 1991 focused almost exclusively on issues relating to her and her family's history with breast cancer. It purposefully calls into question the capricious nature of life…

Technological media catapults our perception into what Marshall McLuhan called "new transforming vision and awareness." As our lives become more and more immersed in such technologies as television, film, and interactive computers, we find ourselves inundated with a heightened sense of mindfulness--an aesthetic experience made possible through…

In this article, the author addresses the burden of non-Native expectation on Native artists, highlighting issues of authenticity, creation, and public display. The author writes about the booth sitters hired by collectors to sit--sometimes all night--and wait for the official opening of the annual Indian Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He focuses…

When displayed in museums and classrooms, Renaissance-era (1420-1600) painting, architecture, and drawing masterworks are often decontextualized from the social reality of the Academy system under which they were produced. For centuries, the artworks of the Italian Renaissance have seduced viewers with technical mastery, exquisite pigments, and…

Among the harshest critiques ever received during my doctoral coursework came from a professor who was noticeably perturbed that I had researched and written a paper on an artwork without considering the title in the interpretation and analysis of the work. The professor insisted that the title is necessary to understand the piece. As a diligent…

Can there be an aesthetic difference between an original painting and its forgery if they are visually indistinguishable? Answers of different philosophers are critically examined with the conclusion that none of them is satisfactory. Although their "solutions" stem from different views of the nature of art, they have one thing in common: They all…

People are immersed in visual culture and, therefore, are usually not aware of how power and privilege are enacted and how they operate in works of art from past and present times. Two premises infuse individuals' thinking on visual culture. First, that an activity-based approach to its study seeks to recognize how power and privilege function in…