ART EDUCATION Bound/' and many another choice bit of litera- ture will then mean more to them. They ought to hear the sweet, joyful gush of melody from a canary's throat, and see the bird produce it. Birds and bird songs and good music of every kind will seem dearer to them after such an experience in early childhood. An intimate acquaintance with the life history of a few flowers, the handling of a few choice books, familiarity with a few of the best works of fine art, each year in school, are all illuminating and potent experi- ences which every child should have. The oppor- tunity in every grade for children to express themselves not only vocally, but manually, is an inalienable right that must not be denied. In other words, the schoolroom should furnish ideals and standards of excellence in everything it involves. The teacher is fortunate who has an ideal , schoolroom; but perhaps the teacher is more fortunate who has not, for the opportunity to produce one with the cooperation of the children is not to be despised. 8 THE SCHOOLROOM A FACTOR A favorable school equipment A schoolroom decorated and furnished in such a way that its equipment and appearance are calculated to promote the growth of skill and taste can be achieved in any community by any intelligent and persistent teacher who has won the love of her pupils. To such a teacher all things are possible. The elements that combine to produce an interior of this kind are the colors of walls, ceil- ing, and woodwork, the wall and window decora- tions, and temporary exhibits of various kinds. These may well be considered in order. (i) The color scheme. The color scheme of a schoolroom should make the room appear at once cheerful and restful. This effect cannot be secured by the use of brilliant hues or violent contrasts of color. The colors selected should help to adjust the light which enters the room to the requirements of the eye. If the room is flooded with direct sunlight during school hours, the resulting bril- liancy should be somewhat reduced by the use of 9 l/80(. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/arteducationOObailrich Mtmiht CHucattonal jmonogmpi^js EDITED BY HENRY SUZZALLO PROFESSOR OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ART EDUCATION BY HENRY TURNER BAILEY EDITOR OF , / , THE SCHOOL ARTS MAGAZINE i '^VXHHaO' HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY BOSTON, NEW YORK AND CHICAGO (d^ COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY HENRY TURNER BAILEY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CAMBRIDCB . MASSACHUSETTS U . S . A CONTENTS Editor's Introduction v Foreword xiii I. Art Education; its Aim and Method . i II. The School Estate a Factor . . 3 III. The Schoolroom a Factor . . .7 IV. School Housekeeping a Factor . . 30 V. School Costume a Factor . . .32 VI. School Work a Factor . . • . 35 VII. Specific Instruction a Factor . . 45 VIII. The Teacher the Chiep Factor . . 94 Outline 99 296626 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION It is quite unnecessary to argue the worth of art education with those who have experienced beauty fully. To them it is an important value in life, one by which the refinement of human exist- ence is measured. If a large generosity of spirit be coupled with esthetic appreciation, these per- sons would gladly give every child some traim'ng in the creation and appreciation of the quality of beauty. They believe in art training because they would add to the general enrichment of human life. Unfortunately all are not possessed of an es- thetic experience which convinces and a generous spirit which shares. An ignorance which disdains refinement, a poverty which dares not aspire to it, and a selfishness made respectable by aristo- cratic traditions, — all conspire to sustain the prevalent belief that art is a luxury. Since educa- tion is so very common, and art can be made so very cheap, it seems amazing that a people, V EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION frankly democratic in aspiration, should have done so little to make the art element common in life. '\It may be that our particular tradition and History impede us. Doubtless the Puritan tradi- tion in American life has made us partly blind to esthetic values. To some of our people, many forms of art expression are mere frivolities. Play, athletics, dancing, and sociability are often re- garded as wasteful and trivial. Again we are not far from our frontier life. America is young. A short while back, we were all pioneers wresting a livelihood from nature under conditions which called for complete attention to economic needs. Now that we are prosperous, that early domi- nance of economic values still persists to the con- tinued subordination of esthetic considerations. The result is seen in our generally accepted aristocratic conception of art. The rich feel that beauty is a perquisite of prosperity. The poor hardly dare to consider it as their right. The ar- tists themselves, conscious of their best-paying clientage, despite their protestations to the con- trary devote a disproportionate amount of their gemus and energy to art forms especially adapted vi EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION to the uses of the prosperous leisure class. Their interest in design applies itself to the composition of portraits far more than to the structure of cups and saucers. They have the defense that creative power must supply the demand of the appreciative. If such be the case, we must develop a democratic art through the bestowal of taste on the multitude. This is the task of art education in the schools. In a restricted way we have been engaged in art education through the schools for some time. But the results have not been satisfactory. The whole program needs careful criticism and thorough reconstruction. To begin with, the program for art education in the schools has been narrow and fragmentary, — a small amount of drawing and color work, a little singing, and some literature. And most of the things sung, read, and drawn have been un- related to the common Kfe. We did not make sub- stantial progress in moral teaching as long as we were content to coniftne it to the Sunday School or other classroom period. Progress came when morality was treated as an aspect of the child's vii EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION whole Kfe. Art teaching must undergo a similar evolution. It is well enough to teach art in special class periods in connection with special subjects. It is better to care for art everywhere in school life. Life at school is full of unused opportuni- ties for art teaching. One has only to look at the school premises to appreciate this fact. But it is probable that the program must create oppor- tunities not now existent in school life. Festi- vals, dramatizations, dancing, and other esthetic expressions of sociable life require fuller oppor- tunity than the school provides. Then the school's whole theory of transmitting art from classroom to adult life will need to be changed. The present belief is that the child can be put through adult ways of doing things and, finally, when he has become a full-fledged mem- ber of society, be counted an art devotee. The futility of such dogma has already been made apparent in intellectual teaching. Its futility is \even more obvious when applied to the training ^f the sensibilities. The only way to become aoroughly intellectual or esthetic is to observe rational or artistic standards in one's own absorb- viii EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION ing affairs. Then as affairs enlarge from the nar- row boundaries of childhood into the wide world itself, the methods of a logical or esthetic life are extended. Beauty, like morals and rationaUty, must be made the daily and ubiquitous habit of school Hfe. School life, properly conducted, is the child's own life. As adults will be expected to keep beautiful their temples of government, their habitations, their parks and streets, the children must from the start be held responsible for art in their own institutions. The grounds, the gar-< dens, the schoolroom, the conduct of sociability, — are all their own. As men often gather in a formal way to discuss the beautifying of their city, the children will come together in the art period to learn the manner of making their own domain more attractive. The formal study of art so many periods a week is important, but it is fruitless without the thought of realizing beauty in the child's immediate life. Finally, the aim of art education needs modifi- cation. The first teachers of drawing and music were largely professional artists. They trained future mechanics, farmers, and .merchants as \% ' EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION though they were all destined to belong to an artistic profession. The interest of students was killed with prolonged practice in a technique that they did not require in the constructions and expressions of their own Uves. Meanwhile the opportunity to develop appreciation had passed. By way of extreme reaction against this point of view, many now urge that art education should aim exclusively at art appreciation, artistic power being completely subordinated as a purpose. There is probably much sanity in this extreme reform. To be sure, most people will control the esthetic quality of their lives through the exer- cise of choice among other men's creations; but there is always need and opportunity for artistic construction in every man's life. Hence it should not be completely omitted. Again, it must be remembered that little children learn best through active experiences, and artistic expression with them may thus be a pedagogical means rather than an end. As they grow older they will gain a further development of appreciative taste, through personal choice operating among varied opportunities. EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION It was with such convictions as the above in mind that a monograph on art education has long been sought for this series. It is with a sure appre- ciation that the treatment needed is here provided that the following is offered. If only it can be got into the minds, as well as the hands, of teachers, it will aid greatly in the widespread re- form of our art teaching. FOREWORD Can rules or tutors educate The semigod whom we await? He must be musical, Tremulous, impressional. Alive to gentle influence Of landscape and of sky, And tender to the spirit-touch Of man's or maiden's eye: But, to his native centre fast, Shall into Future fuse the Past, And the world's flowing fates in his own mould recast. Emerson. ART EDUCATION I ITS AIM AND METHOD The purpose of art education is the development f of appreciation for the beautiful and of power to produce beautiful things. Such taste and skill will not appear when the teacher stamps his foot. They are fruits. They must be grown. The seeds that will produce them are in the heart of every normal child. Sometimes these seeds are of such potency that they will sprout and bring forth fruit under what seem to be the most adverse conditions; but our whole theory of education rests on the conviction that conditions can and should be controlled and utilized. We believe that if the rocks be removed, the thorn-bushes burned, and the hard-trodden soil broken up, the seeds will be more likely to produce the hundredfold. Taste develops gradually through the making of choices with reference to some ideal. Skill I : • . ;-: ART EDUCATION develops slowly through doing things with refer- ence to some standard of excellence. In art edu- cation, therefore, every possible opportunity should be given for those conditions and activi- ties through which taste and skill may mature. This means, first, beautiful school buildings and grounds. II THE SCHOOL ESTATE A FACTOR A BEAUTIFUL school estate, large or small, in city or in country, means an estate that appears adequate and consistent. The building should be one of the best in town — better than the average home of that town — and well placed in an ample lot. The lot should be large enough to admit of a spacious playground and a lawn with shrubs and flowers. If both the play- ground and lawn are impossible, the playground is preferable. The beauty that appears in the faces of healthy, happy children at play is finer and more desirable than that guarded by '^Keep-off- the-grass" signs. But both are never quite impossible. Even in cities with paved courts, ivy may grow upon brick walls, veiling them with life, a life that weaves a fresh pattern every spring and a more richly colored one every fall. And in the smallest yard there is room for one tree at least, one colony 3 ART EDUCATION of active tenants working wonders in handicraft — buds, leaves, blossoms, fruit, for the delight of seeing eyes. Perhaps room cannot be found upon the ground for even one flower garden; but room can always be found in the windows. If the janitor is such an ogre that window gardens cannot thrive inside the schoolroom, for six months at least they can thrive outside the window. Nature will be gracious to them. One of the delights in German cities is the loveli- ness of the window-gardens. The best of these are often in the civic buildings, the city hall, the court-house, the police station, the public school. Boxes of wood made to fit the window-ledge, and lined with zinc, or better, with copper, to retain moisture, and painted to harmonize with the colors of the building, may become a source of delight to the children and to the pubhc. Planning the boxes, measuring, estimating, mak- ing the wooden part, ordering the lining (if it cannot be produced at school), painting the boxes, learning how to fill them, plant them, care for them, and how to get the greatest amount of 4 THE SCHOOL ESTATE A FACTOR enjoyment out of what they produce, — these activities constitute a series of first-class exercises having art-educational value. If the school lot is extensive, and lawns and gardens are possible, they should be cared for by the children, under supervision. We forget that in forty years the children now in school will be the owners of the town. Ought the town of that day to be a place of parks and boulevards, of handsome civic buildings, attrac- tive places of business, and delightful homes? Then the children in the schools now must be led to feel that they are already citizens of the town beautiful, cooperating factors in producing ideal conditions everywhere, beginning in the yard of their own school. The making of a plan of the grounds to scale, the location of the grass-plots, walks, and gardens, the preparation of the soil, the ordering of the shrubs and seeds, the planting of these, the care of the growing things, are all art-educational projects. Moreover the offering of a half-hour outdoors for mowing the lawn or weeding the garden would do more to stimulate the mental activities of certain pupils indoors 5 ART EDUCATION than would a bunch of birch twigs brought into the schoolroom. The point is that a good school building, hap- pily at home in its well-cared-for lot, gives the children an ideal with which to compare their own homes and begins to develop taste; and that participation in the production and conduct of such a thing means the doing of something worth while with reference to a standard of excellence, and makes for skill. Ill THE SCHOOLROOM A FACTOR The ideal schoolroom for a kindergarten or first primary grade is large, well lighted, with an agreeable soft color upon the walls. It is properly heated and ventilated, and has in addition a place for an open fire, an aquarium, a canary bird, a window garden, and a piano. A few well- chosen casts and pictures adorn the walls. A case of accessible books, a cabinet of illustrative mate- rial, and a supply-closet are also essential. The furniture includes a sand-table and a work bench. In the upper grades some of these things can be dispensed with, and other things must be added. In every grade the ideal is a handsome, conven- ient workroom, so well designed, so perfectly cared-for, that its every element is delightful and educational to the children of that grade. Little children ought to feel all that an open fire can give on a dull, chill day when rain is falling or snow is driving. Whittier's '^Snow- 7 ART EDUCATION Bound/' and many another choice bit of litera- ture will then mean more to them. They ought to hear the sweet, joyful gush of melody from a canary's throat, and see the bird produce it. Birds and bird songs and good music of every kind will seem dearer to them after such an experience in early childhood. An intimate acquaintance with the life history of a few flowers, the handling of a few choice books, familiarity with a few of the best works of fine art, each year in school, are all illuminating and potent experi- ences which every child should have. The oppor- tunity in every grade for children to express themselves not only vocally, but manually, is an inalienable right that must not be denied. In other words, the schoolroom should furnish ideals and standards of excellence in everything it involves. The teacher is fortunate who has an ideal schoolroom; but perhaps the teacher is more fortunate who has not, for the opportunity to produce one with the cooperation of the children is not to be despised. 8 THE SCHOOLROOM A FACTOR A favorable school equipment A schoolroom decorated and furnished in such a way that its equipment and appearance are calculated to promote the growth of skill and taste can be achieved in any community by any intelligent and persistent teacher who has won the love of her pupils. To such a teacher all things are possible. The elements that combine to produce an interior of this kind are the colors of walls, ceil- ing, and woodwork, the wall and window decora- tions, and temporary exhibits of various kinds. These may well be considered in order. (i) The color scheme. The color scheme of a schoolroom should make the room appear at once cheerful and restful. This effect cannot be secured by the use of brilliant hues or violent coarrasts of color. The colors selected should help to adjust the light which enters the room to the requirements of the eye. If the room is flooded with direct sunhght during school hours, the resulting bril- liancy should be somewhat reduced by the use of 9 ART EDUCATION tones of dull green or cool grays in wall and ceil- ing. If on the contrary the room receives no sunshine while in use, tints of yellow and orange, very light warm grays, should be used to give a sunny quality to the interior. In such a room the ceiling should be an ivory or cream white to reflect as much warm light as possible. A safe general rule is: Always make ceilings much lighter than walls, but of a hue in harmony with them; paint the woodwork a color similar to that of the walls but slightly darker. If the finish of the room be "natural wood,'' the colors of the walls must be modified somewhat to bring them into harmony with the finish; or the finish may be modified in color by means of stains, to fit into any desired color scheme. The one thing to remember is that a fine interior always has a definite tone of its own. It impresses the eye as being an orange, a yellov/, a green-yellow, a green, or a blue-green room.^ ^ These terms suggest more intense colors than any school- room should present. They are the names of the key colors, the colors that when mixed with white and other pigments produce soft grays of different hues. These hues may be dis- tinguished from one aaother in common speech by such terms 10 THE SCHOOLROOM A FACTOR If the room receives a large amount of light, the whole scheme of color may be darker than in a moderately lighted room. On the other hand, if the room is not well lighted, the color scheme must be very light in tone. The best medium for schoolrooms is oil color, flat finished; that is, treated in such a way that when dry the paint does not have a glassy sur- face. Surfaces thus colored may be washed when- ever necessary. For the windows an easily adjustable, sanitary, and durable shade is the best. If "Venetian blinds" are used, one side may be painted a color to harmonize with the building as seen from the outside, and the other a color to harmonize with the walls of the room as seen from within. If "roller shades" have to be used, they should be selected by experiment with great care. A shade of the wrong color, when the sunlight strikes it, may neutralize or overpower the whole color scheme of the room. as yellow-gray, green-gray, etc. In more technical language the colors may be described as hues of one quarter intensity or less. II ART EDUCATION The furniture for a new building can be had ir; any desired color, and should be ordered toned according to architects' specifications. In an old building the color of the furniture may have to be ignored, unless it is too bad. Then it can be scraped off, and the wood stained and repolished. In color the furniture should be related to the walls by similarity or contrast, but as dark as the finish of the room or even darker in tone. If a schoolroom is ugly and gloomy in effect, and the school authorities are apathetic or pov- erty-stricken, a determined teacher may repeat history by appealing directly to the fathers and mothers of the school children. A perfectly defin- ite plan of what is required, tactful requests to some for "moral support," to others for money to purchase materials, and to still others for work, will be sure to be successful. A popular teacher has seldom if ever failed to secure from his dis- trict anything he has desired for his schoolroom when he has asked in the name of the children. (2) Wall decorations. The walls of the school- room should be enriched with works of fine art. These should be chosen with reference to the 12 THE SCHOOLROOM A FACTOR grade of the children who are to occupy the room, and with reference to the wall spaces and the amount and direction of the light they re- ceive. These decorations are usually pictures or casts, or both. The first step is to decide what decoration the room requires. Whatever is added should enhance the beauty of the room. This means that every- thing must appear to be *^made for the place," — not too large, not too small, properly lighted, and effective as seen from the seats. The most important place in the room is of course the wall directly in front of the seated children. This wall is usually without windows and well Kghted from the side. Here the chief decoration should be located. One large beauti- ful picture or cast in a given area is better, as a rule, than many small ones. If more than one seems desirable, all the elements upon the wall should form a pleasing group, with the central element dominant. A receipt for decorating schoolrooms cannot be given. Each room presents a unique problem, to be successfully solved only by a person of taste; 13 ART EDUCATION but certain general statements may be made which in every case will be worth considering, (i) Narrow spaces between windows are not good places for pictures, or casts in low relief. (2) Casts in relief demand a strong side light. The lower the relief the more oblique the light should be. (3) A picture presenting but slight contrasts of light and dark demands more light than a picture presenting strong contrasts. The most brilliant picture may therefore be hung on the darkest wall. (4) The mat or frame of a picture should be in harmony with the picture, and of a value darker than the strongest lights of the picture and lighter than its strongest darks. If both mat and frame are desirable, the frame should be darker than the mat. (5) Casts should be framed into the wall or so installed that they appear vitally related in some way to the wall itself. (6) Pictures should be as closely related to the wall as possible. They should not rest upon the top rail of the blackboard and tilt forward into the room. If hung by vertical wires attached near the upper corners of the frame, the picture will hang nearly flat against the wall. Perhaps 14 I THE SCHOOLROOM A FACTOR the best way is to fasten the picture flat against the wall by invisible hangers. Having determined the number, the size, and the kind of decorations the room requires, the next step is to select the subjects. Here again no receipt can be given. One rule only admits of no exception: Whatever the subject it should be a work of fine art. From among the many pictures and casts of recognized merit, selections should be made appropriate to the grade or purpose of the room. Broadly speaking, little children delight in pictures of animals, of children, and of home Hfe. Older children like pictures which show people at work, pictures full of action, pic- tures which tell stories easily read. Later, his- torical pictures, and pictures which express a sen- timent, a mood, an aspiration, are more likely to be appreciated. Antique fragments, photo- graphs of ruined temples, famous views of historic sites, do not appeal to children, and should not be forced upon them. In high schools, possibly in upper-grade grammar schools, children should have the opportunity of seeing pictures which deal with the deepest, most significant experi- IS ART EDUCATION ences of life, — pictures like "The Soul Between Doubt and Faith," by Vedder; "The Tempta- tion,'' by Cornicelius; "He Had Great Posses- sions," by Watts; "The Golden Stairs," by Burne- Jones; "The Great Good Book," by Miss McChesney. From about the fourteenth to the eighteenth year occurs one of the most critical periods in the development of character. It is the period of transition from the childish to the adult point of view. Experiences begin to take on deeper meaning, ideals begin to emerge, decisions begin to assume greater importance; frequently the spirit gets oriented for life during this period. Pictures of the right sort have been known to be of real value in influencing decisions during these critical years. Their effect in some cases is not immediate; but they are remembered and treas- ured and have their fruitage in after years. As Emerson says in his "Ode to Beauty" — "All that's good and great, with thee Works in close conspiracy." If faithful colored reproductions of masterpieces are to be had, they are more delightful to the younger children than pictures in black and white. i6 THE SCHOOLROOM A FACTOR Many of the modern large-sized color prints made especially for decorative purposes are excellent. A good carbon photograph, or other facsimile reproduction in black and white, is preferable to a false color print, and for some subjects is ideal. As a rule etchings and fine engravings are out of place on the wall. They do not ** carry'' well enough to be effective from a distance. They belong in the reference cabinet. If casts in the round are used they should be located with reference to favorable lighting, the background against which they appear, and con- venience in using the room. They should not be in the way, nor in positions which seem pre- carious. Usually they demand a well-designed pedestal or wall-shelf. A wall-shelf supporting a cast should appear adequate. The solid mass of a cast does not look well supported upon a thin- edged shelf with cast-iron brackets beneath it. The effect of the whole should be consistently solid throughout. Narrow spaces between windows may some- times be made attractive by means of hanging pots of plants, or (if the room is to be used at 17 ART EDUCATION night) by small, well-designed fixtures for lights. The danger is always in the direction of over- decoration; and such spaces are usually better left blank. In a favorable schoolroom the attention of the children should be directed to the color scheme and the decorations, as occasion serves, and reasons should be educed for the presence of the various elements and their interrelations. The room will then become an intelligible object les- son, a recognized standard of excellence, in the light of which other interiors will appear as better or worse. During the last twenty-five years more than a million dollars has been ex- pended in the United States for pictures and casts for schoolroom decoration. Of this amount prob- ably less than five per cent has come from the public funds. The money has been secured from local private purses largely through the efforts of enlightened teachers. (3) Temporary exhibits. The development of taste and skill may be further stimulated by means of beautiful things placed temporarily on exhibition in the schoolroom. Among these are flowers and 18 THE SCHOOLROOM A FACTOR other plant forms; vases and other examples of fine craftsmanship. (4) Flower arrangements. Children love flowers, and in the country especially often bring them to the schoolroom. Through the cooperation of the teacher this instinctive activity may become the source of perennial delight and of growth in power to produce beauty. A place should be reserved — upon the teach- er's desk, or on a stand, or shelf, where the light falls at a favorable angle — for the display of good flower arrangements throughout the school year. Such arrangements will include not only "flowers'' in the ordinary sense, but all the beautiful decorative material the plant world affords. When school opens in September, the goldenrod should be supplemented with the ripened grasses and sedges, and sprays of berries. In October the asters and the ripened leaves of rich color should appear in the schoolroom. In November, sprays of seed-pods and of the late- fruiting shrubs; in December, sprays of the ever- greens. During the other .winter months, sprays from bushes and trees which retain seed-packs 19 ART EDUCATION and dried leaves will furnish bouquets of rare beauty. All these should be selected and arranged with the utmost care, in appropriate receptacles, that their beauties may be seen to the best advantage. The children should cooperate in this to the fullest possible extent. Some teach- ers appoint committees, of two pupils each, to secure and arrange bouquets at certain times. Each committee must be able to give good reasons for the selection of the vase and for the way the sprays are adjusted to it, both as to form and color. In the early spring pots of crocuses, hya- cinths, and tulips nurtured by the children indoors will precede the bouquets of wild flowers. Lastly, in April, May, and Jime will appear sprays of the blossoming trees. The children should be led to see the wisdom of certain generalizations concerning flower arrangement: (i) A group should be limited to one kind of flower and its foliage.^ (2) Sprays 1 This is a rule for beginners. If two kinds are used the rule is, " Each the other adorning." The group should present ele- ments which contrast with one another and yet have some- thing in common. For example, large sprays of wild roses with meadow rue. The "flowers" of the rue are almost like the 20 THE SCHOOLROOM A FACTOR look best when arranged in positions which sug- gest their natural growth. (3) Sprays whose chief beauty is the beauty of color may be massed; sprays whose chief beauty is a beauty of form should not be arranged in such a way that that beauty is obscured/ (4) The receptacle should not vie with that which it holds; it must appear of secondary importance. (5) The arrangement should present a chief center of interest with one or more subordinate centers. (6) The arrange- ment should appear to be balanced rather than bisymmetrical. (7) A single growing plant, brought to perfection of form by human skill and taste is the ideal floral decoration.^ stamens of the roses in both form and color, and therefore in harmony with them. Properly grouped with the roses, they suggest a filmy cloud about them, like a bridal veil. ^ Pansies and peonies, for example, are color plants. Masses of them are rich and splendid. Easter lilies are /orm plants. A single vigorous flowering stalk, with its exquisitely graceful leaves and flowers, is bouquet enough. The finest beauties of lilies are lost in a crowd. 2 Left to itself outdoors, the plant*s aim is not primarily beauty, but self-preservation and perpetuation of species. To be a decorative success, usually it must be relieved of its other responsibilities and instructed by man, so to speak, before it can realize his ideal of beauty for beauty's own sake. But fre- 21 ART EDUCATION Exercises in floral arrangement are capable of jdelding more profitable returns with a majority of pupils than exercises in original design with conventionalized plant forms. (5) Mounted pictures. For convenience pictorial art may be subdivided as "Illustrative Art" and "Fine Art." Illustrative art has as its aim the making of something clearer, more vivid, more attractive than it would otherwise be. It exists for the sake of that something. Fine art has as its aim beauty — "Its own excuse for being." This classification is broad, and hardly scientific; for an illustration may be beautiful, a veritable work of fine art, like Rubens's "Descent from the Cross," in Antwerp Cathedral. On the other hand, some works of fine art — Rodin's **John Baptist," for example — are not beautiful in the ordinary sense. In a general way, however, in illustration the story is of first importance; in fine art, the way of telling the story. Illustration corre- quently a plant that has had its own way outdoors, a violet growing in an open pasture, a dandelion amid short grass, an isolated clump of sedge, when transplanted entire into a proper receptacle, will present an arrangement of extraordinary beauty. 22 THE SCHOOLROOM A FACTOR spends roughly with prose; fine art with poetry. Illustrations are to be consulted; works of fine art are to be contemplated. Such pictures as a view in a London street or in a harvest-field in Dakota; a portrait of the German Emperor or of Holmes; a photograph of a group of palm trees or of a bouquet of prize roses, come under the head of "Illustrative Art," and should be kept in the closet for occasional use. Such pictures as Corot's "Spring," Alex- ander's "Walt Whitman," a garden by Maxfield Parrish, or a fish by Jakuchiu, are works of fine art, worthy of daily companionship. Such pic- tures cannot all be hung permanently upon the walls of the schoolroom. They may be included, however, in the school's collection of master- pieces. Such a collection every school should acquire. The making of a school picture gallery is one of the most delightful art-educational activities yet discovered. The method of procedure is as follows: — (a) With the assistance of the children the teacher begins to gather sheets of cardboard, ART EDUCATION any size and any color — white, black, brown, gray, etc. — suitable for mounting pictures. (h) With the assistance of the children, the teacher begins to gather pictures of all kinds. The best are likely to come from the current magazines, from the advertising literature of book publishers and picture dealers, and from "art publications." ^ (c) From these pictures the best, the most beautiful in composition and in color, are selected, by vote of the children (under the wise guidance of the teacher), for the school gallery. (d) The selected picture is carefully trimmed to its edge, or to within a sixteenth inch of its edge, and tried upon various sheets of cardboard until the one is discovered upon which the picture ap- pears to best advantage. One picture may require a light mount, another a dark one; one may look best on a warm gray, another on a cool gray, or a green gray. As a general rule the mount should repeat softly, echo, the dominant hue of the pic- ^ Good reproductions especially prepared for schools may be purchased, of course. In any case the children should have some part in securing them. 24 THE SCHOOLROOM A FACTOR ture as a whole or of some important color in it. But sometimes the mount should contrast with the picture. The right color can always be deter- mined by experiment. The picture is the song, the mount its accompaniment. The two should go together perfectly. {e) Having determined the color, the size of the mount is the next consideration. Some pic- tures demand a wide mount, some a narrow one. This, too, can be determined by experiment. The simplest implements are: two L's of gray card- board about 12 by 15 inches in size. With one of these in the normal position (L) and the other reversed (T) rectangles of any shape and size (up to 12 by 15 inches) may be produced at will by sHpping one over the other. The picture to be mounted should be laid on the selected card- board, the L's placed about it, and moved until the most flattering size and shape of mount is dis- covered. A vertical picture, a picture in which the height exceeds the width, demands a vertical mount: a horizontal picture, one in which the width exceeds the height, demands a horizontal mount; a square or a circular picture demands a 25 ART EDUCATION mount nearly square. Owing to a habit of the eye which demands satisfaction, the width of the mount at the top of the picture should always be less than the width of the mount at the bottom of the picture. (/) The mount should now be cut to the proper size, and the picture fastened to it, in the pre- determined position, by means of good paste of some sort. The paste should be applied along the top edge or upper corners only, or at the four corners, or all over the back of the print, as the print seems to require. The less paste the better, so long as the picture lies flat and is securely fastened. (g) The name of the picture, the name of the artist, the source of that particular print, and such other information as may seem desirable, including the date, should be written plainly upon the back of the moimt. The growth of such a collection will be gradual, but the pupils' joy therein will be perennial. Upon a simple easel of wood, so designed that when in use it is practically invisible (as it stands upon the teacher's desk or the exhibition shelf), 26 THE SCHOOLROOM A FACTOR one picture from the school gallery should be on exhibition every day. The picture for the day should be selected for some good reason. It may be associated with the season, with some school topic, with some local event; or it may be the one best loved by the children at that particular time (their tastes often change rapidly), or one that they do not quite understand as yet. In any case it should be the subject of ^^warm personal regard" when displayed; otherwise its cultural value is likely to be below par. (6) Exhibitions of handicraft. In every commun- ity are people of taste in whose homes are small objects of rare beauty — a box in cloisonne from Japan, a vase of bronze from China, a fan of carved wood from India, a Tanagra statuette from Greece, a bit of mosaic from Italy, a por- celain figurine from Germany, a hand-wrought jewel from France, a piece of lace from Belgium. A teacher of established reputation can always secure such objects for the children to see. The kind of people who care for such things are the kind of people who are always glad for an oppor- tunity to give others, especially the children, the 27 ART EDUCATION pleasure of seeing them. They will lend one object at a time, for a single day, if the teacher will call for it and return it safely. More fruitful subjects for genuine art education it would be difficult to find. The research work in geography and his- tory, the study of materials, and processes, pre- liminary to an intelligent look at such a thing as a statuette from Herculaneum, would fill many an hour with vital enthusiastic educative activity. Here again the wise teacher will not forget that "Heaven is not reached by a single bound, But we build the ladder by which we rise From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies, And climb to its summit round on round." For the younger children a quaint toy from Holland is better than a Greek vase; and a gro- tesque idol from Peru, a far more profitable object of study than an exquisite ivory from Japan. By means of such temporary exhibits of flowers, pictures, and examples of fine handicraft, daily opportunities may be presented for forming intel- 28 THE SCHOOLROOM A FACTOR ligent judgments concerning objects of beauty. Under such conditions taste will often develop with surprising rapidity, and aesthetic enjoyment increase like the light of a new day. IV SCHOOL HOUSEKEEPING A FACTOR The very heart of beauty is order. Order is pur- poseful arrangement. The school grounds, the schoolroom and its furnishings have been con- sidered as exemplifying a purposeful arrange- ment of elements with reference to beauty. Once established, such an order should be maintained by the cooperation of all who participate in the school life. Scratched desks, cut woodwork, lit- tered floors and lawns are incompatible with beauty. So also are disorderly desks and tables; drawers and cupboards. The teacher's desk should present an ideal of orderly arrangement, such as may be reflected in the desk of every pupil. The interior of a drawer or cabinet should present as fine an object lesson. In the school building, at least, there need not be a skeleton in every closet! The secret of satisfactory order lies in the word "purposeful." The order should not be artificial and arbitrary, an order incompatible 30 SCHOOL HOUSEKEEPING A FACTOR with daily use, — like the arrangement of books in piles across the four corners of a table. It should be an evidently reasonable order, an order which facilitates use and at the same time satis- fies a refined taste. If reference books for the children are kept upon the teacher's desk, for example, they should be placed along the most easily accessible side, in a row, back uppermost, and held by the rack in such a position that the titles may be easily read by the children. The book-rack should be of such a character that it not only holds the books properly but harmonizes with the desk. A cast upon a pedestal is not orderly in relation to the rest of the room if it is in the way. The paths across the school groimds are not in orderly relation unless they are where the children need them. An order determined by convenience and taste is the only aesthetic order. The thought of such an order should be- come habitual in the mind of every pupil. V SCHOOL COSTUME A FACTOR In every schoolroom the teacher is the supreme center of interest. Not a peculiarity of manner, trick of speech, or habit of thought escapes the keen compound eye of the school. Hence her standard of taste is sure to be discovered and to become a potent influence. In the matter of personal appearance the teacher should be impeccable. Cleanliness, neatness, a becoming coiffure, a simple costume appropriate to her profession and in right relation to her figure and complexion, are absolutely essential. No princi- ple of composition of line, no theory of harmoni- ous coloring should be violated in herself. To live one's aesthetic reUgion is a duty no less binding than the duty to live one's ethical religion. And the fulfillment of this duty is much easier! It requires a clear perception of one's own excel- lencies or defects of figure, and of one's natural scheme of color; a conviction that for the sake of 32 SCHOOL COSTUME A FACTOR the neighbors one should look as well as possible; and a determination to learn what is personally becoming in cut and color, and to adhere to that always. The teacher who does not possess a knowledge of what is personally becoming could hardly hope to find it in this monograph. The knowledge should be acquired, however, and applied, not only to her own costume but indirectly to that of her pupils. Schools have existed, and will be common one of these days, without the presence of a single inharmoniously dressed pupil. Any teacher of taste and tact can compass such a result by leading her pupils to apply to them- selves, from first year to last, their increasing knowledge of color harmony. A hair-ribbon or a necktie, a frock or a coat can be right in color, regardless of cost. To secure harmonious rela- tions in proportion and line in the dress of pupils is now more difficult. But the teacher can at least be an example in this respect, and gradually lead her children to see that anything in a cos- tume which tends to call attention to a defect of person or to exaggerate that defect, anything 33 ART EDUCATION which tends to center interest where the interest should not be centered, is to be avoided. A good rule is this: Dress so that those who notice your costume will think, "How becoming!" and no one will think, *'How expensive!" VI SCHOOL WORK A FACTOR The teacher who has had but little training in drawing can do much to promote taste and skill through the ordinary work of the schoolroom. She can lead her pupils to think of appropriate means of expression. A lead pencil and inexpen- sive, unglazed paper are best for certain exer- cises; a pen and smooth paper for others; and a brush with ink or water-color for still others. Sometimes a colored crayon will express the truth about some particular object more directly than any other medium. A wise choice of mate-] rials with reference to a given end is always £^ step in the direction of artistic expression. J The teacher can insist on cleanliness and neat- ness of appearance in all school papers. Children often take an interest in such matters when they see that thumb-marks, dog^s-ears, blots, and wrinkles are undesirable simply because they mar the beauty of the sheet. The orderly arrange- 35 ART EDUCATION ment of every sheet should be required. Proper margins at left and right, top and bottom, and a balanced page, with the emphasis where it belongs, are of elementary importance, not only in drawing, but in language and number papers, letters, and essays. What is worth doing at all is worth doing well. This can be enforced by example, through the use of the blackboards by the teacher herself. Blackboards exist for use daily in teaching. They are not supposed to contain elaborate drawings and designs, made more elaborate and hideous by means of colored chalk, preserved from term to term. One small board, or a small portion of a large board, if not needed for other purposes, may contain the school calendar, fresh every month, designed and drawn by one of the children. The honor of placing this calendar on the board should have been secured by winning in a monthly com- petition. But other designs, such as a portrait surroimded by American flags, and crowned with a spread eagle, a landscape, a bouquet of flowers in color, etc., should not be allowed. The black- board should not seem to compete with the works 36 SCHOOL WORK A FACTOR y-AAyr^UL y^j-OV^l yVU't^ .'/l>Ce,.<:i-d~^.^:^-tAy7>tA, ^tAl^o^yV . /t/u! ..^vcrn-cd' AAJ^Auu y-vt-^^iy^vixi^ o/ yy^ jL.^.iS-yt.'g^ ^Ta<2/ ^•'T'T^u^ ^^d-^^e-^/^tAjLOj 0->-iX