New Genres in the Art Classroom: Shifting Ideas and Identities

• Main Author: Ridge, Alyssa Grant
• Format: Others
• Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 2015
• Subjects: new genre; contemporary art; secondary; curriculum; case study; Art Practice
• Online Access: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6052; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7051&context=etd

Secondary art education programs primarily offer courses in traditional mediums like drawing, painting, sculpture, and ceramics. In addition to valuing these traditional art forms, art education research supports integrating new technologies and media in the classroom. However, the possibilities of creating an exclusively contemporary, new genres curriculum have yet to be explored. This study examines the affordances and limitations of a high school-level new genre curriculum and describes how students reacted to these new genres and how their perceptions of art, student-peer relationships, and artist identities changed over time. By introducing students to new genres, the author found students expanded their definitions of art, became excited about art, and created personally relevant and meaningful artwork. The results of this case study may be valuable to art educators desiring to integrate more contemporary art into their curriculum.