Project Zero, an interdisciplinary research group founded in 1967 and dedicated to effective arts education, has always viewed as central to its work the ability of persons to use and understand various kinds of symbols. The focus here is on the breakdown of symbolic capacities as well as their earliest origins. (Author/RK)

Although painting is still recognized as an international language, few people are actually capable of "reading" the great works of art that have given depth to mankind's existence. Here is a lesson in "reading a painting". (Author/RK)

Argues that art education is basic to school learning because it develops three levels of visual communication skills: the use of visual symbols to communicate at a very general level; to communicate accurately and specifically; and to communicate uniquely and expressively. (Author/SJL)

This second article in a series on children's artistic learning reviews the developmental process of symbolization and symbol representation by young children and analyzes the symbolism in works by three boys. Practical teaching considerations are discussed. For part one of this series, see the September, 1980 issue of this journal. (SJL)

Aimed at advancement of the arts through improvement of education for both understanding and production, this long range basic research program dealt primarily with the study of the varieties and interaction of human abilities, the nature of the tasks involved in the several arts, and the available means for inculcating or fostering the abilities…

Based on the presumption that art teachers ought to be able to describe the value of what they do and place it within a framework for rationalizing the contributions of their work to the educational development of the students they teach, this research is an attempt to describe what children learn when they paint, draw, or make three-dimensional…

Scientific discoveries concerning the bimodal functioning of the human brain have influenced the creation of a visual literacy methodology program at Iowa State University for future art teachers. Student teachers plan and prepare visual lesson plans designed to reverse the traditional pedagogical reliance on faculties dominated by left hemisphere…

Studies the employment of collage by young children as a symbolic activity in organized educational settings. Establishes a taxonomy of collage types and observes their development in two kindergarten classes. Concludes that collage promotes the acquisition of a flexible sequence of skills and reflects a range of abilities and approaches. (DSK)

More than 300 citations of books, articles, and conference papers published primarily within the last 20 years are listed with brief descriptions. The works include discussions of developmental theory, art education, art criticism, aesthetics, and philosophy of science as well as experimental studies. Research topics cover aspects of cognition…

Harvard Project Zero provides a series of technical research reports which study artistic creation and comprehension as a means toward better art education. The emphasis of the research is to improve art education through a better psychological understanding of symbol systems and media of art and through better understanding of the perceptual,…