Customer Reviews

The History of American Art Education: Learning About Art in American Schools (Contributions to the Study of Education)

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The book is very interesting and will be a help for teaching my class. I think the cost is too much for a soft cover small book.

Smith has written an extremely detailed history that delves into important events and players of american art education. I titled this review "Exhausting", however, because the book it quite simply a chore to read. Chapter headings and even sub chapter headings are of little help as Smith takes long detours to arrive at his points. For example he begins to examine the ideas of key figures such as Victor Lowenfeld, but then goes on a spree examining with unnecessary detail the background and culture of those whose ideas had influenced Lowenfeld's ideas. The reading stops being informative and instead becomes highly tedious.

There's a good history to be found in here...you've just got to swim through a lot of muck.