Unit 2: Power, Erika Rodriguez

When one thinks of power, they think of physical agility, social status, etc. However, the

definition of power takes on a whole new meaning as the big idea for Unit 2, with its 21st century

art education approach being visual culture. Visual culture has different definitions depending on

the interpreter, but in Al Hurwitz and Michael Days Visual Culture in Art Education (2007),

one scholar describes it as the study of all the social practices of visuality (p. 76). Visual

culture is such a broad topic in the 21st century mainly because one can find images just about

anywhere, such as books, magazines, propaganda posters, and significantly on social media.

Before, art education in visual culture was more about analyzing paintings and drawings, but

with todays technology, the idea of what visual culture is has expanded far beyond its creators

expectations. It is also meant for artists to connect with their images; that is where the idea of

power comes in. Power in art depends on the artist because it is their art, so they view the

significance in their artwork differently, almost like meaning-making. When talking about

modernist texts, Olivia Gude (2004) says that each author presents his own vision of

contemporary art teaching and the visual examples accompanying these texts are quite beautiful

and unique (p. 54). By saying this, Gude demonstrates that each author has their own intake on

their art, and that it should be like that for the students of art educators.

I would definitely use Olivia Gudes three criterias from her Spiral Workshop. I am a true

believer that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, which is why I would use her criterias for my

future elementary school students. Her criterias are curriculum based on generative themes that

relate to the lives of students and their communities, studio art projects based on diverse

practices of contemporary artmaking and related traditional arts, and art as investigation-

understanding the art of others (p. 55). A 21st century approach of this idea would be assigning

a task to students, then making sure I tell them that nobodys art is perfect, because everyone will
Unit 2: Power, Erika Rodriguez

have a different interpretation of the topic. These criterias would be beneficial for them in the

future, because it will help boost students confidence in knowing that different is okay.
Unit 2: Power, Erika Rodriguez

References

Gude, O. (2004). Postmodern principles: In search of a 21st century art education. Art Education,

57(1), 6-14.

Hurwitz, A., & Day, M. (2007). Children and their art: Methods for the elementary school, (8th

ed.). Thompson Wadsworth.