CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE

TEACHING JEWISH HISTORY THROUGH ART EDUCATION

A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction

of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts in

Art Education

by

Eileen Zena Salzman

May 1987 The Thesis of Eileen Zena Salzman is approved:

Dr. Paul W. Kravagna

Bl"oenore Sorenson, Advisor

California State University, Northridge

i i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A special thanks to my advisor, Dr. Lenore Sorenson and my committee members, Professor Ruth Schrier and Dr. Paul Kravagna for their help, encouragement, and guidance throughout this endeavor and for my education at California State University, Northridge: to Dr. Sorenson for her confidence in me, to Mrs. Schrier for being my mentor and to Dr.

Kravagna for his perfection.

To Linda Thal for her guidance and expertise during the two years of my research and employment at Leo Baeck Temple.

To Marsha Josephy for her contributions as a historian of Jewish Art and to Dalia Aronoff for supporting teaching Jewish History through Art

Education.

To Lynn Hickey, my master teacher and friend, for setting an excellent example of what a teacher should be and for helping me develop good working skills.

And most importantly a very special thanks to my family: to my husband Shlomo for his love, support and endurance. To my son Isaac for his independence and success and my daughter Aliza for her moral support and self-reliance. And to my mother, Anna Nathan and to my aunt, Ethel

Beiderman for their support throughout my life and through this endeavor.

In memory of my father, Alfred Nathan and my uncle, Frank

Beiderman.

i i i ABOUT JEWS

"If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one per cent of the human race.* It suggests a nebulous dim puff of star dust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. Properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of; but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk.

His contributions to the world's list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and obtruse learning are also very out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. He has made a marvelous fight in this world in all ages: and has done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself and be excused for it. The Egyptians, the Babylonians, and the Persians rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor; then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greeks and the Romans followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished.

The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?

Mark Twain Harper's September 1899

Note: ~With the holocaust, and the world-wide population explosion, the Jews today would constitute no more than 1/4% of the world population.

It is in response to Mark Twains' composition About Jews,

September 1899, that I address this thesis. The question and the secret of the Jew in my mind, is the preservation of heritage and traditions passed down from generation to generation. With each generation, it is the duty of the one before to instill the love, beauty and strength of Jewish traditions, religion and heritage. As an educator, I have taken it upon myself to contribute to this immortality.

iv ,, .

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii

QUOTE iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS v

ABSTRACT vii

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION 1

A. Purpose 1

B. Motivation: The Need, Justification 4

II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 6

1. JEWISH ART HISTORY 7

Jewish Ceremonial Art 7 The Jewish Home Beautiful 8 Jewish Woman and Her Home 9 The Jewish Book of Why 9 The Second Jewish Book of Why 9 From Land to Land 10 Compass Magazine 10 Jewish Art Treasures from the Prague 11 The Ceremonies of Judaism 11 Jewish Customs and Folklore 11 A History of Jewish Art 12 The Essence of Jewish Art 13 Jewish Art 14 The Jewish Art of the Printed Book 14 Jewish Holidays and Festivals 16 A Feast of History 16 Your Neighbor Celebrates 18 Arts and Crafts the Year Round 19 The Jewish Party Book 20 The Jewish Newspaper 21

v 2. ART EDUCATION 22

The Value of Art 22 Product and Process 23 Discipline Based Education 28 Aesthetic Awareness - Learning How to See 29 Art As Communication 32 Personal Development 33 Creativity 34 The Teachers Role 36 Motivation 40 Evaluating Art 41 Environment 43 Art and Experience 45 Objectives 46 lll. PHILOSOPHY OF ART EDUCATION TO SUPPORT THIS PROJECT 48

1. Objectives in Art Education: A Personel Theory of Art Education 48

IV. PROCEDURES - ACTUAL CURRICULUM AND HISTORY OF RITUAL OBJECTS 57

I. Wimpels 58 II. Synagogue Curtain 62 Ill. Creation 66 IV. Seder Table 70 v. Passover Reclining Pillow 74 VI. Wedding Canopy 77

V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 80

REFERENCES 83

APPENDIX 86

lllustrations-slide reproductions Exhibit Catalogue

vi ABSTRACT

TEACHING JEWISH HISTORY THROUGH ART EDUCATION

by

Eileen Zena Salzman

Master of Arts in Art Education

California State University, Northridge

The purpose of this thesis is to develop a curriculum to teach Jewish history, tradition, customs and culture through art education to school aged children.

vii TEACHING JEWISH HISTORY THROUGH ART EDUCATION

by

Eileen Zena Salzman

Master of Arts in Art Education

California State University, Northridge

I. INTRODUCTION

A. PURPOSE

The purpose of this project was to develop a curriculum to teach

Jewish history, tradition, customs and culture through art education to

school aged children.

The importance of art in our society has been vastly under rated.

Elliot Eisner in his article, "Why Art in Education and Why Art Education", presents several major arguments for art education: "the arts represent the highest human achievement" and "that work in the arts develops unique and important mental skills." Eisner places this responsibility at the doorstep of the schools (Getty, p. 64).

The lessons presented in this project were influenced by philosophies from two documents Visual and Performing Arts Framework · for

California Public Schools: Kindergarten through grade twelve and a report from the Getty Center for Education in the Arts; Beyond Creating: The

Place for Art in America's Schools by the J. Paul Getty Trust. Both documents suggest that art be taught as a subject or discipline.

Beyond Creating states... "that if art education is to move from the sidelines of instruction to a more central place in a balanced school curriculum, its content needs to be expanded to include attention to the disciplines that contribute to understanding art: art production, art history, art criticism and aesthetics. The inclusion of these four content areas in art instruction is important because each develops knowledge and techniques that contribute significantly not only to

1 2

children's artistic creations, but also to their ability to draw facts and inferences about the cultural and historical contexts for art and to analyze and interpret the powerful ideas that art communicates" (Getty Trust,Leilani Duke, page v).

The Visual and Performing Art Framework included content areas similar to those listed in Beyond Creating (Cal State Dept. of Education, pp. 93-94):

1. aesthetic perception 2. creative expression 3. visual arts heritage 4. aesthetic valuing

For this project I have adapted two of the concepts from the above documents to develop this beginning curriculum for integrating art and

Jewish History. These two concepts are (1) developing historical and cultural content while teaching (2) element and principles of art and design.

A sequential curriculum using all of the concepts above is needed to follow this study.

The study of the origin and background of when, where, why and how

Jewish ritual art objects were created and used is an important aspect of this curriculum. The curriculum, using Jewish ritual objects as a basis for art was initiated to help preserve Jewish heritage in a world that does not have the cloistered environment of the past generations.

To use art to create these objects from Jewish History also required the teaching of the elements and principals of art and design. The success of the finished projects and student learning in art necessitated building a good understanding of composition, form, space, color, line, and shape.

"Judaism as a way of life comprises practices based on belief and tradition. It needs certain instrumentalities: houses of worship, objects for ritual use... of which have to be designed and shaped. The creation of objects for these purposes entails 3 the application of the arts to Judaism and thus Jewish Art comes into existence.... an art which has a true cultural function in that it gives us objects which play an important role in Jewish life." (Kayser, Stephen S. Defining Jewish Art, "Functions Not Substance, p. 458). B. MOTIVATION; THE NEED, JUSTIFICATION

In the conclusion of his article, "Defining Jewish Art", Stephen S.

Kayser states ..•

"no other faith calls for the use of as many implements as Judaism does. A Jewish home of old reflected the essence of Judaism in every corner, since the implements of Judaism were always present. Today, many of the implements of past generations have lost part of their relevance, since they relate directly to Jewish tradition as it was interpreted in another age. We must call upon our own artists to participate in re­ designing these ritual objects for our homes, in forms that are immediately relevant to Jewish traditions as we understand and interpret them now" (Kayser ,p. 467).

The motivation for this project developed from my personal experiences in teaching art in the Jewish Day School system for the past fifteen years. During this timecould not find a curriculum guide to teach

Jewish art that would help me develop my art programs. I also found I had to prove that what I was doing would be a positive learning experience.

Using information from the Getty and LAUSD, I developed a program which

I had an opportunity to put to use at Leo Baeck Temple and at Valley

Torah High School. This program investigated the historical background of the various holidays, customs, traditions and ritual objects for everyday use as well as for special occasions. The projects I selected were ritual objects used by Jews from different cultures.

For these projects I investigated a number of books written about

Jewish art. Few had guidelines for developing classroom projects. The literature I did find with classroom projects were not sophisticated enough for teaching art. There was no bibliography, outline, time span information

4 5

and historical background included for any projects. If there was any historical background it was limited to one four line paragraph and with no resource references for that specific project.

To understand the functional aspects of Jewish art and how we can create this art requires the knowledge of Jewish history, traditions and the understanding of the elements and principles of art and design. Through this, Jewish art will be developed to take its place not only as an integral part of Jewish life, but also as a way of teaching the history and traditions of a people.

In this project it was my goal to begin to develop a curriculum guide for the Jewish Day Schools. Although, the possibilities were limitless, I confined my project to certain key objects and traditions from Jewish

History and to certain key concepts in art education. This will be only a beginning for the development of sequential: text and workshops for teachers. (.\ .

C. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Most literature on Jewish History through art education deals with crafts on a very simple level with no clear outline of Jewish History and art content the student will learn. There is also no information on basic learning in art. However, there is a body of literature on Jewish Art

History as well as a separate body of literature on art education.

Combining information from both of these areas was useful to develop this beginning curriculum project. The information that follows is a review of some of this literature.

6 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

I. JEWISH ART HISTORY:

Jewish Ceremonial Art by Stephen S. Kayser and Guido Schoenberger is a guide to the appreciation of the art objects used in synagogues and homes, principally from the collection of the Jewish Museum of the Jewish

Theological Seminary of America.

Kayser, in his introduction defines Jewish art:

"When we speak of Jewish Art we mean the arts as they are applied to Judaism. This application is made principally in those areas where art is essential as a means to an end. Such a concept of Jewish art may be called functional, since it does not recognize anything Jewish in art unless it serves a purpose connected with Judaism as a way of life. The definition excludes creations by Jewish artists which are detached from Jewish objectives, but includes works which serve a Jewish purpose even though their makers were not Jewish: a situation quite common in Western Europe before the Emancipation. Thus, while there is no Jewish style, there is a Jewish art, the Jews expressing themselves in the art-form of the surrounding world" (Kayser, pp. 9-10).

Kayser continues to review Jewish ritual art objects of different periods in history and the influences on the styles of these objects based on the region from which they originated. He confirms my belief that Jewish ritual art is being reshaped to fill the needs of the present. This is not to say that we should neglect the influences of the past. The visual language which has adorned the objects throughout history still plays a very strong role in the life of the modern Jew. It is through this handing down of traditions that Jewish ritual and tradition has survived. The powerful symbols of the past are now being reshaped to conform to a more modern life style. This life style and introduction of new materials are being utilized in the creation of Jewish ritual art:

7 8

"An attempt is being made to reshape the Jewish ceremonial objects in the artistic terms of our own time"(Kayser ,p.l8).

The reshaping of ceremonial objects relevant to our own times can

be evidenced through the creation of an Ark Curtain by the art class at

the girls section of Valley Torah High School in North Hollywood,

California. This Curtain (Parochet) was made of unprimed canvas and

painted using fabric paint, dye, acrylic paint, pastels and markers (the

fabrics traditionally used were silk and velvet). The symbols and colors

were developed by research of past traditions. The media was developed

from contemporary materials. The style of the visual symbols were

historical in meaning and modern and simple in style. The purpose of

creating the Curtain comes from the Jewish tradition and ethics of

community service, involvement and charity. When the Curtain was

completed it was donated to a small Temple, Aish HaTorah, in North

Hollywood.

Kayser's work on the historic background of Jewish ritual art was

used by students to gain information from the past to create art projects

for the present. His writings on historical information about customs and

styles from different regions included photographs and written descriptions.

His book is an excellent resource for teaching Jewish history through art

education.

The Jewish Home Beautiful by Betty D. Greenberg and Althea 0.

Silverman and The Jewish Woman and Her Home by Hyman E. Goldin

review the different Jewish holidays, customs and the traditions of the

Jewish home. These two books are excellent for clear and concise definitions of Jewish holidays and traditions. 9

Betty D. Greenberg and Althea 0. Silverman in The Jewish Home

Beautiful, for example, give an excellent two page explanation of Passover

(Greenberg & Silverman, pp. 28-29). The essence of this explanation deals with the rebirth of a nation, redemption from slavery, Independence Day of the Jewish people, the passing over of the angel of death, the removal of the leaven, the meaning of leaven and the celebration of this holiday through the two Seder nights and the symbols that are present on these two nights. This is just one of the holidays presented in this volume. I found the information helpful in preparing lessons and curriculum for creating ritual objects of the different holidays.

Hyman E. Goldin's book, The Jewish Woman and Her Home defines and discusses different ritual objects in the Jewish home that are used in everyday life and for holidays. This is done in a clear and concise manner.

The object or holiday that is focused on is printed in bold capital letters, making it easy to locate. The definition directly follows the title. The holidays are listed by specific traditions. Passover, for example, covers the

Seder nights, the Four Cups of Wine, the Cup of Elijah, the Seder Platter,

A Position of Freedom (the Pillow), and the Lighting of the Festival

Candles (Goldin, pp. 158-163). This book is excellent for explaining and covering the traditions and rituals of the Jewish home. This can be useful to the new bride in helping her preserve the traditions and customs of her

Jewish heritage. It is also an excellent source for getting clear definitions to use with projects in the a classroom setting.

Alfred J. Kolatch's two volumes, The Jewish Book of Why and The

Second Jewish Book of Why are excellent. Kolatch gives questions and answers that relate to every aspect of Jewish life: the use of ritual objects, the definition of the holidays, the symbolic use of certain food and 10 the customs of Jews from different countries. Each section is organized by holiday, ritual objects, prayer, food and mealtime ritual. This was helpful for developing Jewish historical and religious projects that required information explaining the origin, custom and use of a specific ritual object.

Tadros Gellers, book, From Land to Land can be used as examples of woodcuts and lino-cut art for a class project in print making (junior and senior high school level) . This volume consists of black and white woodcuts from 1919-1937. The simplicity and elegance of the artwork touched my emotions. This book captured the basic tradition of everyday

Jewish life in a pure and simple manner. Although, Stephen S. Kayser stated in his definition that Jewish art was not art done by Jews, but that

Jewish art deals with creating objects used for Jewish ritual, I feel that

Geller's woodcuts, are Jewish art. The fact that Geller captured the emotion of the Jew involved in living the traditions of Jewish life leads me to believe that only with the love of these traditions can a Jew create works that evidence this love, therefore it becoming Jewish art.

The 1982 summer edition of Compass Magazine, New Directions In

Jewish Education, had an article titled the "Seder Table" written by Linda

Thai. The project presented in this article was an excellent example of integrating Jewish History and art education. Students invited prominent figures in Jewish History to attend their Seder on Passover. Students used dinner settings to represent these prominent guests at a dinner party. Each guest was represented with visual symbols of their achievements on a dinner plate. A place mat was created to enhance the table setting. The concepts presented in this article helped me create a similar project with my own variation. (.\ . 11

The catalogue from the State Jewish Museum in Prague, Jewish Art

Treasures from Prague is an excellent reference for -illustrations. The written information is simplified without much detail but is a good reference to use along with other materials. The section on synagogue textiles provides information on the origins of the textile but no reference is made as to the origin of the symbols used. This text generally catalogues the objects with descriptions that include size, color and visual and written embellishments. It does not give translations from Hebrew to

English or translate visual symbols into words that can be used to develop contemporary works based on antiquity. This required other texts. The Ceremonies of Judaism by Abraham z. ldelsohn, published by the National Federation of Temple Brotherhoods in Cincinnati in 1930 is an old but excellent text of written information illustrated with artist renderings of Jews involved in Jewish ritual. The renderings give a special touch to the text by giving the reader a glimpse of traditions from the past. This text is very helpful for background information on Jewish ceremonies. The illustrations are reminiscent of the warmth and love of the past.

Jewish Customs and Folklore by S.M. Lehrman states that the purpose of his book "is to interpret the colorful pageant of our observances and to show how fundamental they are to a proper fulfillment of our duties as Jews." (Lehrman, p. 29) Lehrman's love of Jewish customs is evident in the statement on page 28:

"The importance of ceremonies grows by a consideration of all their aspects, especially this: that they pictorially represent a religion which, given at Sinai, received its development at the hand of tradition: Observance is the oxygen of religion. Defy convention and ancestral associations, and you apply the ax to the roots of the Tree of Life" (Lehman, p. 28). 12

His descriptions are clear and complete, covering the Orthodox,

Conservative and Reform variations of Judaism. A good example of this

can be found in the section on Marriage Ceremonies and the reference to

the Huppah or Wedding Canopy (Lehman, pp. 162-163).

Franz Landsberger's, A History of Jewish Art reviews Jewish life,

history, tradition and ritual through Jewish ritual objects from the cradle to

the grave as well as art created by Jewish artists. This volume has

excellent illustrations of ritual objects that are useful as teaching aids.

As art reflects the social and economic conditions of the time,

Jewish art, as reviewed in this volume, mirror the atmosphere of conditions.

Although Kayser states that Jewish art consists of objects for Jewish ritual

(Kayser, p. 458), it is my belief that art that captures Jewish life is also

Jewish art. The art of Samuel Hirszenberg (1865-1908) and Josef Israels,

1889, captures the mood of the era and of the Jewish people.

Landsberger's summation of Israel's painting of 1889, A Son of the Ancient

People, I feel is accurate; "an old-clothes dealer scented amidst his scant merchandise." The artist could have made a cheerful scene, but he felt more strongly the melancholy side of the life of the poverty stricken Jews"

(Landsbgerger, pp. 335-336).

Samuel Hirszenbergs rendition of a group of men, women and children, old and young moving across the snow-covered Russian steppe, captures the unshakable faith of the Jewish people. This is symbolized by one of the marchers carrying a Torah Scroll, walking against the snow.

This, Landsberg states, is symbolic of their unshakable faith and attachment for their religion, which in spite of their tragic fate, is bound together through the ages (Landsberg, pp. 336-337). It would be difficult for an artist other than one affiliated with this emotion to paint the scene that 13

Landsberger describes. The symbolism and expression of Jewish life struggles and customs is definitely a form of Jewish art. This is not to say that all

Jewish artists portray Jewish life as depressed or a struggle. Jewish artists can be seen using bright colors and dancing lights to describe their feeling regarding their faith and the condition of the contemporary Jew:

"Chagall never never forgot his early life in an obscure Russian village. Themes from his childhood return as if in dreams and memories; some, gay and fanciful, suggest the simpler pleasures of folk life; others, somber and even tragic, recall the trials and persecutions of the Jewish people" (Gardner ,Art Through the Ages, p. 711).

Landsbergers book also gives examples of art done by artists who are

Jewish .•• This can lead to classroom discussions that all art done by Jewish artists may not be Jewish art. Modigliani and Chaim Soutin were artists who were Jewish and did not necessarily do "Jewish art."

The Essence of Jewish Art by Ernest Namenyi focuses on the Jewish philosophy towards visual images. "Philo, for instance, writes that Moses cast out of the city the elegant arts of painting and sculpture, because they corrupt the truth with lies and bring deceit and error into the souls of men through their eyes"(Namenyi, p. 20). The controversy over visual images has always existed and can be said to have originated with the Ten

Commandments: Thou Shall not make any graven images .. (Roth, p. 11).

"Maimonides, for instance, had acquired the habit of closing his eyes while· praying, in order that his attention should not be distracted by the tapestries of the synagogue, in which animals and birds were probably represented" (Namenyi, p. 22).

The references in this text to restrictions, limitations and to various visual adornments throughout Jewish history is an excellent resource for 14 background information when developing ritual objects for classroom projects.

Cecil Roth's , Jewish Art, An Illustrated History, begins with a religious attitude towards visual imagery: "Thou Shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of anything that is in the heaven above or that is in the water under the earth" (Roth, p.ll), originated from the Ten Commandments. Roth also refers to the prohibition of graven images in Deuteronomy N.17-8: "The likeness of male or female, the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the heaven, the likeness of anything that creepeth upon the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth." This he states, should be read in conjunction with "Thou shalt not bow down to them and shalt not serve them" (Roth, p.ll). Roth discusses the absolutes and variations of attitude, the place of art in Judaism and the changes that take place throughout the world as they affect the expression and emotion of the Jewish artist and the art and craft produced by and for Jews.

Roth's coverage of the various ritual artifacts appealed to me because of the diversity of designs. These designs were influenced by different periods in history. Roth's text becomes a record of Jewish life through the art expression of Jewish people from different parts of the world.

The Jewish Art of the Printed Book by Abraham Habermann includes a section by Cecil Roth which discusses the evolution of literature from handwritten manuscripts to multiple copies printing. The use of illuminations was common practice in the fifteenth century. Space was left on pages to illustrate illuminations. When printing became common there is speculation that "some printers in the early period were at first scribes 15 who, perceiving the sign of the times and the potentialities of the printed book, exchanged their craft for that of printing" (Roth, p. 163). In this chapter there are illustrated pages of samples from manuscripts. The variation of decorations and the style of script are indicative of the country of origin. These pages come from Song of Moses, Spain 1486 (Roth,

Illustration 199; Scroll of Esther, 19th century, Chinese Illustration 195; and a Scroll of Esther with cut-out borders illustrating the story of the Book, from Italy, illustration 193a). Here we can see the variety of styles of the script and the style of the clothing of seventeenth century, Italy. Roth reviews the different periods in art and the position of Jewish artists in the

Age of Emancipation. The artists of the time learned from such great artists as Rembrandt (Roth, p. 215). Roth states, " Josef Israel's identified himself entirely with his subject and expressed, without adding anything to it, 'the atmosphere of the life of plain people and of the underprivileged.'

In this, he was full of the kind of Jewish humanism that recognizes charity as a social duty which must serve justice" (Roth, p. 215). The lighting and shading techniques of Israel's works add to the drama and emotion that

Rembrandt evoked. The fact that Israels work is a visual document of

Jewish life during the 1840's, categorizes this as genre painting. This, to me, is Jewish art, as is Jacques Louis Davids, The Death of Marat (1793,oil on canvas)(Gardner, pp. 641- 643). This was a commentary of the political life in France as it affected the fate of his personal friend. Who but an individual who feels the total spirit of a movement or an event could better express and capture it than an artist.

It was necessary during the course of this research on art education in Judaism to define what is Jewish art and what place art education plays in Judaism. I found no concrete statement to the importance or non 16 importance of art education m Judaism, just references to Biblical interpretation regarding visual imagery in Judaism.(Roth, page 11 and

Deuteronomy, N.17-87)

Jewish Holidays and Festivals by Ben M. Edidin, Hebrew Publishing

Company, New York, has an excellent resource on Purim: Purim In the

Community, Purim Plays, Carnivals and Masquerades, Adloyada in Tel Aviv,

A Purim in America (Edidin, pp. 126-129). This section on Purim does not give art projects associated with this holiday. It does, however, provide reference about objects used as part of the celebration of the holidays.

From this information, art projects can be developed for the creation of these objects in a classroom setting.

Each of the holiday reference books have bits of information that are not common knowledge. The idea for carnival on Purim , for example, originated with French Jews. This information was interesting and could be used to create a research project to enhance the craft activity (Edidin, p.

126).

When the Passover season begins, the students of the Jewish day schools and those in afternoon Jewish religious schools start preparing for the holiday. They study the rituals and history of -Passover and the Seder nights. While working on this project, I began to search for holidays in order to get ideas for projects. I discovered various editions of Haggadahs

(books that are read at the Passover Seder that "tell the story" of the

Exodus of the Jewish people from their slavery in Egypt) which provided ideas, information and illustrations for developing art projects. A Feast of

History, Passover through the Ages as a Key to Jewish Experience by

Chaim Raphael provides a new translation of the Haggadah for use at the

Seder. It also provides background information on the origin of the 17

Passover rituals with illustrations from various Haggadah's through the ages.

"A Seder scene of the Rococo period from a Haggadah illustrated by Moses

Leib ben Wolf of Trebitsch, Moravia (1716-1717)", shows the celebration of the Passover Seder (Raphael, pp. 66-67).

"If one asks, when was the first Seder, one is almost ready to apply the name symbolically not merely to our current ceremonies but to the original evening more than three thousand years ago when the story began in Egypt. There they were, on that dramatic last night .•• Jewish families gathered round the table each in their own house, for a meal which was to symbolize their consciousness as a People and their faith in the future.' From that distant night, the same experience,it' almost seems, has been repeated year after year without break" (Raphael, p. 67).

Raphael also refers to the beginning of the Seder and how it took shape a century or so before the Christian era when Palestine was in the

Greco-Roman orbit. Raphael discusses the preliminaries of the Seder meal which relates to these influences (Raphael, pp. 68-69).

The artist, in this text, plays the role of photographer in capturing the Passover: "An echo of the first Passover, when Abraham received the

Angels", is represented in an etching by Rembrandt (1606-1669), and The

Song of Miriam by Lucia Giordano (1632-1705) (Raphael, pp. 117-118). The link between art and Jewish history and tradition can also be seen in

Johanne Leusden's Philologus Hebraco-Mixtus (Amsterdam, 1682). Raphael provides illustrations in this resource in the form of prints. These prints

(pictures or designs printed from a plate, block, etc., such as etchings or lithographs) capture Jewish life in seventeenth century Amsterdam. Two are: "Scouring the dishes before Passover" and "Baking the matzoh"

(Raphael, p. 152). 18 0 '

Our Neighbor Celebrates by Arthus Gilbert and Oscar Tarcov is written from a different perspective than the previous texts, that of Jewish observances to the non-Jew or secular Jewish audience. I found the explanations and photographs of the holidays and customs clear and concise.

The reading level is more elementary than the other references being reviewed. The illustrations are dated, but are excellent examples of rituals in progress. For example, "The Succah's fragile and temporary construction reminds Jews that they must place their trust, not in material things, but in G-D" (Tarcov, p. 187). "Playing the draydel game is one of the joys of

Hanukkah" (Tarcov, p. 20}, and the Passover table on page 42 are excellent samples of the illustrations found in Tarcov's book, of Jews practicing their ritual.

Another example of the clarity of Tarcov and Gilbert's book is the explanation of the Haggadah used for the Passover Ceremony:

"The appointed order for the Seder ceremonies is contained in the Haggadah, an ancient book, whose oldest portions date back at least twenty-five hundred years. The Haggadah itself is the Hebrew word for "telling, and the Passover service is based on the Biblical injunction: "Thou shalt tell thy son in that day saying, ,It is because of that which the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt,"'(Exodus 13:8} (Tarcov, p. 41).

Another excellent feature of this book (Your Neighbor Celebrates), is the Glossary of Hebrew Words in the back section of the text, pages 110-

118. This section defines holidays, ritual objects and Jewish symbols. Each word or phrase has a small illustration in the left margin. The words are sounded out with the division of syllables. For example "Mogen David

(rna- gen-da-veed), literally, "shield of David," refers to the six pointed star which has become a symbol of the Jewish religion" (Tarcov,p. 115).

This is an excellent companion text for developing projects with accompanying definitions and explanations for a more secular audience. ,, . 19

The last three volumes of texts to be reviewed fall into the category of hands-on arts and crafts. Arts and Crafts the Year Round, Volume I and Volume II by Ruth Sharon contains various art projects that relate to

Jewish rituals and holidays. The section on Passover plates in Volume I, pages 296-309 gives various types of Passover plate projects. She describes paste-on plate, painted plate, plastic glaze, decal plate, record plate, ceramic plate, plate with separate glass cups, plate with separate copper bowls(enamel on copper), etched plate, painted (overglaze) plate, frosted glass plate, paper mosaic plate and mosaic plate (Sharon, pp. 296-309). The plate section states age level and materials needed. Directions are given in a recipe format. The illustrations for the projects are black and white line drawings; simple and clear. There is no time span given or sequence of steps. There is also no statement of objectives. Chapter fifteen of Ruth

Sharon's second volume of Arts and Crafts the Year Round gives brief definitions and introductions to ritual objects associated with the temple:

Torah Ark (Aron Kodesh), Parochet (Ark Curtain), Torah Rollers (Etz

Hayim), Headpiece (Rimonim), Torah Breastplate (Hoshen), Torah Crown

(Keter), and Torah Wrapper (Ribbon) (Sharon, p. 130, Volume II). The projects associated with these objects did not fit materials that would incorporate the California Art Framework ideals, as they recommend inappropriate . materials, in my judgment. The text was useful for definitions associated with these projects as basic information from which to build more sophisticated projects using other materials. The Torah

Wrapper (Ribbon) chapter (Sharon, Chapter 15, Volume II, p. 130) gives information of when, where and how the Torah binder is and was used as well as what appears on a Torah binder. The child's name, date of birth, wishes for a happy marriage and a G-d fearing life as well as the 20 appropriate length for the binder (5 feet long) is included. From this information students can create a traditional Torah binder (Sharon, Volume

II, p. 130).

Sharon provides an illustration of a section from an 18th century

German Torah Wrapper and a list of materials that would be appropriate to use for this project (Sharon, p. 136). The age level given for this project is six years to adult. There is reference given in parenthesis to refer to chapter two, "the Decoration Techniques section". The fault of this text is that the information is too scattered and not clear; like a recipe for a cake that tells you to use flour, sugar, water, and eggs, but no amount is stated and no baking time given. Although these texts are not ideal, they can be used to develop more sophisticated projects. I recommend these two volumes.

The most valuable text I found in my research is The Jewish Party

Book by Mae Shafter Rockland, published by Schocken Books in New York.

This text is a contemporary guide to customs, crafts and books for and about Jewish people. This covers traditions that are both common knowledge and unique. A good example of the completeness of this reference is the section on Purim. Rockland provides information on the background of the holiday. The customs associated with the celebration and preparations of Purim. A list of necessary items and some cost allotments for a Purim party, sample illustrations of an invitation, information for a mask making workshop with various mask projects (Rockland, p. 164), and a cooking project •.• Hamantashen (Purim pastry) with recipe (Rockland, p. 174).

This section, pages 161-175, gives a complete Purim curriculum with projects in a diary like format, that cover all aspects of the celebration of this holiday. It does not give references at the end of each project for 21 historical or art background information. There is no statement of objectives or specific age group, only the diary account for the specific group that did these projects. No time span is given or statement of limitations. This text was more depthful and sophisticated than the usual reference. The format is close to my ideal and goal of what teaching

Jewish history through art education should be.

Marcia Reines Josephy, in her article in The Jewish Newspaper, 1985, titled "Pesach Art Available In Variety of Styles" writes about the power of art:

"Art has the power to do many things, to humanize and teach, to provide aesthetic pleasure and visual joy, and to celebrate creativity. Although we have not always been properly cognizant of this aspect, our Jewish heritage also has a great reverence for creativity. This reverence can be seen in the biblical references to Bezalel, the first Jewish artist "(Exodus 31) (Josephy, 1985).

The fact that there are not many texts that cover both history and art projects based on that history, puts "the challenge before us to create out of and for our tradition new heirlooms for the future."(Josephy, 1985)

This challenge before us also opens the need for the creation of a text to fill this need. The educator must act as a magician and transform information into projects that integrate Jewish studies with art. "The biblical texts are filled with images waiting to be transformed and transferred." (Marsha Reines Josephy's, 1985)

Although I did not find any one text on Teaching Jewish History

Through Art Education, 1 did find resource materials for developing such a text. I also have included a review of literature on art education to help facilitate the development of an integrated curriculum for teaching Jewish

History through art education. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

11. ART EDUCATION:

There are various theories and concepts in art education. The

following is a review of the literature on art education that 1 felt would be

helpful in developing an integrated curriculum of Jewish History and art

education.

There was no attempt made on my part to assign any of the texts to

specific theoretical positions. My review is a listing of arguments for why

I believe art education is important and valuable. 1 have reviewed

literature by authorities in the field of art education who put words to my

intense feelings that say: art education is necessary for all students, even those in Jewish Day Schools. 1 did this hoping the reader will become as excited as I was when I discovered that these authorities support my feelings.

THE VALUE OF ART

"No one can make clear to one who has never had a certain feeling, in what the worth or quality of it consists. One must have musical ears to know the value of a symphony; one must have been in love with one's self to understand the lover's frame of mind. Lacking the heart or the ear, we cannot interpret the musician or the lover justly, and we are even likely to consider them weak-minded or absurd. The mystic finds that most of us accord to his experiences an equally incompetent treatment" (Willliam James).

The general value of the arts in experience and education stems from a fundamental character is tic common to all human beings••• the need to find value in the things they do. Values determine the things we do and our actions, in turn, exert influence on our values (Barken, p. 71).

The phrase "value in the things we do" is very appropriate for me in describing why art education is important. Values fall into the realm of philosophy. In art there are many variables under the headings of " shoulds

22 23 and oughts." One "should'' teach art as a process, and one "ought" to teach art for a product. These variables are brought about through experience, investigation, discovery and research.

"The value of every artist, like the value of every individual, is in some degree unique, and there are no scales in which to weigh it. What the method does seek to do is to make experience and judgment relevant to the object ostensibly experienced and judged" (Barnes, Foundation V).

Product and Process

In my research, I have come across the words "product" and

"process". have tried to analyze how these words apply to my own education in art. In my own experiences, I have thought about what in my learning made me feel comfortable and what made me feel stressed. Ideas come easy to me in a classroom situation, but having full knowledge in how to execute my ideas with full confidence in my media sometimes fell short.

This "falling short", was due to a lack of training in fundamental instruction. What I did not learn in fundamentals I learned later on in my art education. From this background, I discovered that before a child can paint, he/she has to know what the paint can do, the variety of marks that can be made, and how to mix the colors. As well as knowing about the appropriate way to care for the supplies, and what aids can be used to get the most out of the paint. Teachers need to direct attention to the basic components of the creative process, the interaction of the individual with their material while engaged in the process (Barken, pp. 200-201).

Experimentation with media can help teach the student to become more fully aware of the rigidities and resiliencies of different materials (Barken, p. 201). This applies to any medium. Through all this instruction and discovery the student can not only become more confident with their 24

medium, they can develop a style, an iconography. This iconography, is

their inner essence; what is of value to the individual artist; it is a collection of his or her experiences. It is an identification, a signature

that clearly states that this work is "an Eileen Salzman, or a Rembrandt,

or a Jackson Pollock." It is a message, a spirit, unmistakably .••••

This ideology of learning the process to get to the product, in

accordance with his or her ability and capacities, does not work well for

everyone. There are those people (students) who need to experiment and

discover solutions on their own; these are in my opinion, process people.

To create a balance in art education it is important for the teacher to

gear his/her class according to the needs of the students. Some students are

more process oriented while others are product oriented, both concepts

being equal in value. To those students who are new to experiences in art,

concern for the end product may cause them to feel stressed and

restricted, cutting off the experimental phase of art. In dealing with art

for non-art people, the process should be stressed to be of primary

importance until they can learn to relax and not think about achieving

museum quality work as their goal. Lowenfeld states that the final product

should not be emphasized; but the stronger the experience is to the

student, the more meaningful the final product will be. "The final product

takes care of itself" (Lowenfeld, p. 50).

In the primary grades, from my experiences and observations, the

process is much more important then the product. The child finds

excitement in playing with the materials, seeing how they move and

sometimes accidentally discovering an exciting image or color. It is

important to be aware of the child's motor and cognitive development.

He/she must always be able to feel successful when dealing with art media. 25

This can be accomplished through an exploring period before a concrete project assignment it given. In some situations, the young child should be guided by the teacher, exploring areas that the child can use to better express his/her ideas. Discussion on color and what it means to each individual, discussion on size of the image and what it means to them as students. Information on how to use and care for a specific medium and its supplies is important for the child to feel successful, in that they have a responsibility of care for their tools so they can have better use of them.

The young child is haptic in approach, drawing or working from inside •. what they feel deep down. He/she has an innate style, and should not be hampered. It is important not to over praise, then nothing has real value.

The child is aware of the worth of what he/she has created, and knows if it is good or bad. "The child draws what he knows, not what he/she sees and what is important to him/her. The child and adult artist do not attempt to copy reality; their task is to invent structurally adequate forms which can stand for the complex objects" (Claire Galomb).

Lowenfeld emphasizes the chronological development of visual conceiving of children. Schaefer-Simmern places equal emphasis on maturity and experience levels (Barken, p. 58). In evaluating the needs of individual children for teaching, chronological development and maturity level are significant (Barken, p. 158). This knowledge of chronological development is necessary in art to know what to expect at a specific age, to see if the child is developing properly in areas of motor skills, visual conception, reading performance and development in social skills.

A foundation for art education needs to bring together knowledge about the process of artistic experiences and the attitudes of our culture towards the arts (Barken, p. 59). 26 9 '

When a teacher is able to differentiate between an art product alone and the art product as a component part of artistic experience, he/she can turn these toward positive teaching advantages. He/She can see the differences between art objects in our daily lives and cultural pressures on individuals to sense the value in artistic experiences (Barken, p. 59).

"Art as we observe it being practiced and "consumed" about us, seems to be a biologically useless activity. The practice of it is a pleasant hobby; and the beholding of its products an agreeable way of occupying one's leisure; but biologically considered all this seems to be only a by­ product of life. Art is a phenomenon to be found at virtually all stages of human development, even the most primitive. Art has contributed to survival in the competitive struggle for existence; for vast quantities of time and energy have almost always been expended upon it which could ill have been spared had the expenditure not in some way constituted a biological investment" (Darwin's Theory. Ducasse, p. 77). "Some people contend that the arts become a part of an individual's everyday living when he appears to be exhibiting "better taste" in the selection of utilitarian objects (Barken, p. 185).

One of the most important things I learned, through experience, is that free expression, if not properly guided is aimless. "Free expression is not aimless when encouraged through purpose; without criteria the choice of an idea for expression ultimately becomes unsatisfying and frustrating.

In a laissez- faire situation, activity is aimless and ideas do not come to mind. To gain the necessary personal security, children will often revert to

"tried and true" stereotypes, the opposite of productive free expression"

(Barken, p. 76). 27

Samuel Alexander states that "the essence of the work of art is that in the creative mind and the material are indissolubly fused. That this fusion is the meeting of two separate beings, the man who creates and the material which receives from him its form, is indeed vital to the artistic situation" (Alexander. Barken, p. 30). Dewey states that "man projects himself through a medium. The connection between a medium and the art of expression is intrinsic" (Dewey, p. 64). A work of art is "expressed" from a material (Barken, p. 133). This material can include anything in the world, and then that any practical or intellectual activity, "provided that it is integrated and moved by its own urge to fulfillment, will have esthetic quality" (Kostelanetz, p. 22). As a teacher, I need not doubt the positive aspiration of growing children, nor should I fear the adulteration of artistic quality. People derive a sense of achievement, a sense of forming, and a sense of satisfaction through wholesome participation in an activity (Barken, p. 146).

The concept of process is fundamental to problems in teaching. It embraces answers to questions as to both how and why we do certain things. In the visual arts, process encompasses the reciprocal actions of

~ seeing, feeling, and organizing (Barken, p. 147).

In art, means and end are indissolubly found together: "The end-in- view is a plan which is contemporaneously operative in selecting and arranging materials"; and the means "literally, ••• are the end in its present stage of realization" (Ducasse, pp. 84-85). I see art as a process rather than an artifact. It is something which can be recognized only in its entirety or unity, but which can be defined only by describing its main facets; the parts are inter-related so that each responds to change the others

(Watkin, 197 4). 28

Artistic production does not necessarily involve meaning: The unit­ art-creative act may be and often is adequate and finished at one stroke, and often is not a response to any situation. It does involve a critical judgment of its product, but that judgment often pronounces it adequate, in which case the product is not modified (Ducasse, p. 90). The view that art is expression of emotion does not imply the unimportance of subject matter

(Ducasse, p. 90). Karl Groos Theory of Play: In work the particular nature of the end to which the work is (or is believed to be) the means, is clearly known beforehand. In art, on the contrary, the particular nature of that which one is in process of creating is clearly known only after it is created (Ducasse, p. 107). The movement through successive approximations to a resolution •.• in which the pupil progresses from gross to refined control of the medium is respect of the original sensate problem he seeks to resolve (Barrett, p. 83); a sense of discovery, a peeling away at layers and a building of layers ••. a process of art.

Discipline Based Education

"Art is a specialization", "its data can be taught, as the data of any specialization can be taught."(Harold Rosenberg, Art Critic for The New

Yorker Battcock, p. 92). The most backward idea in art education today, is the idea of inspiration and the accompanying notion that the teacher need only provide the technical training needed to express that inspiration

(Harold Rosenberg,Battcock, p. 101).

Art is an inspiration, interwoven not only with the various media available; the designated problem to be solved, and knowledge of technical skills; but requires the knowledge of what came before ••• the base of art as a record of a time in history ••• the clarification of art as dealing with present concerns ••• this being evident in the history of art as it is 29 studied .•. art as a link in culture. Experience, and not product is the precious aim of art education (D'Amico, p. 3). This experience is achieved by including the study of what came before; the study of processes and media used by old masters, revived for modern use (D'Amico). The student can best express inner feelings with medium appropriate to the message he/she wants to convey to the viewer. For this the student must be able to master technical skills and learn about different media, and know and understand the development of the history of art: know about the masterpieces of music or painting, be able to recognize their stylistic characteristics, know about the artists development and history; this is valuable when accompanied by hands on experience (D'Amico, p. 64). This blending of discipline based art education, coupled with elements and principles of art, presented in a non judgmental manner, with emphasis on process should meld to create, in my mind, an ideal program.

Aesthetic Awareness - Learning How To See

According to Gyogy Kepes, an aesthetic form in the visual arts is a

"created image" brought into being by a person "through a process of organization." This created image "has an organic spatial unity, it is a whole behavior of which is not determined by that of its individual components, but where the parts are themselves determined by the intrinsic nature of the whole" (Gyorgy Kepes, Language of Vision. Barken, p. 54).

Aesthetic education is the education of those senses upon which consciousness, and ultimately the intelligence and judgment of the human individual, are based. It is only insofar as these senses are brought into harmonies and habitual relationships with the external world that an integrated personality is built up (Read,1944, p. 7). 30

"We have been much occupied with problems of perception, though this has perhaps tended to take the form of attempting to teach children to

"see what is there" as a find of datum of information on which to build; when possibly it would be of infinitely greater use to help children to realize that there are many ways of looking and many ways of seeing. We have too been concerned with the idea of awareness (Field, 1970. Barrett, p.

51).

Learning how to see is one of the most important aspects of art educating. The value of achieving realistic drawing skills will help the student learn how to see deeply and profoundly. Second, the student will gain confidence in his/her creative ability, and will learn to shift to a new mode of thinking, a mode of vast potential for insightful creative problem solving (Edwards, pp. 7 -8). This to me, is not to take away from the process of doing art, but to enhance the students ability to carry his/her creativity and communication skills one step further; the ability to relate an image to the audience without feeling inadequate.

Betty Edward's book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, deals with the theory that the right side of the brain is not developed or used enough; in order to facilitate good artistic skills, this can be done with some exercises that utilize the right side of the brain and thus help improve drawing skills. Ms. Edward's exercises deal with learning how to see, being aware of shapes and line. The upside down, right side up drawings are part of her program which, if followed, will allow the student to copy, realistically, a drawing or photo by drawing it upside down and not concentrating on the image, but to concentrate on the shapes. Contour drawing, is another area that is emphasized in "learning how to see". In these exercises, the student does not look at the paper, but only 31

concentrates on the contours of the images, training the eye to see these

images as line and shapes as opposed to the preconceived image that most

people see.

When the method of the teacher leads the pupil to see in the object features and relations he/she had not seen before, both teacher and student come into intellectual and emotional control of the situation. Then the habit of objective seeing is formed and the habit operates in subsequent seeing. The information acquired, instead of being put into dead storage, becomes an active resource. Experience is immediately enriched and the capacity for growth, for continuing experience is expanded and directed

(Dewey. Barnes Foundation, p. 7).

To learn to see anything well is a difficult undertaking. It requires the activity of the whole personality. Learning to perceive demands the interaction of the whole personality with things about it (Dewey. Barnes, p.

7). What the student needs to know is how in the world his/her own eyes show him/her that he/she can discover more and more of what lends color and zest to what he does from day to day. The masterpieces have their function to guide and train the student's own perception, not of standing in remote isolation as objects of worship (Barnes, p. 9).

"One must see not only with the outer, but with the inner eye. Productions made from seeing with the outer eye only as sheer imitations. Seeing with the inner eye requires discrimination, putting down only those qualities that the artist feels are significant to the expression of a subject, mood, or idea. The inner eye sees with meaning and purpose, the outer eye sees only things as they are" (D'Amico, p. 9).

Learning how to see is one of the most important tools in teaching art. Learning how to properly use this tool can be achieved through a variety of outline exercises such as contour drawing; working from life.

"In aesthetic education the point is not to catalogue types of balance or to 32 memorize them, but rather to form the habit of becoming sensitive to them" (Broudy, p. 71).

Art As Communication

"Education is growth, the development of the faculties with which every normal human being is born. Growth is gradual, fostered only by means of communication between the individual and his/her world. Education provides an orderly progression of the means by which the avenues of communication are gradually widened in scope" (John Dewey).

As art is a form of communication it is the duty of every art educator to do their best in clarifying the means by which students can best use this form of communication. This should be taught as a related grammar of line, form, and color with a reference to their function in the expression of an individual's unique ideas (Barken, p. 51).

The artist aims not at beauty, but at objective self expression

(Ducasse, p. 18). Art is the language of feeling, and is essentially expression

(Ducasse, p. 36).

In order to help children build aesthetic organizations of their ideas and feelings through the manipulation of art media, it is necessary for the teacher to be concerned with what individual children are trying to say, why they feel that it is important to say it, as well as how they can say it

(Barken, p. 184). It is therefore, the teachers responsibility to enlist all possibilities to aid the student in communicating his/her message as creatively and clearly as possible. "Expression is the clarification of turbid emotion; our appetites know themselves when they are reflected in the mirror of art, and as they know themselves they are transfigured"

(Dewey,l934, p. 77). Visual form grows out of self awareness, maturity, sensitivity, and understanding (Lowenfeld,l952, pp. 8-19) (Schaefer- 33 9 '

Simmern, 1948, pp. 8-29) (Bar ken, p. 13) and is generally a way in which to communicate concerns relevant to the individual and to society in general.

Personal Development

The fact that new ideas, inventions, and social relationships create new problems obliges us to recognize wherein these new problems impinge on human goals and aspirations. It is important to see the creative process as it functions in the lives of children so that we can educate towards the growth that is needed for further insight into the development of the personality and the self (Barken, p. 147).

The "role" and "self" of a child, like those of all individuals, are dynamic because they interact with each other in all situations. One of the functions of any educational process is to help children in creating a role for themselves which at once satisfy their own needs and reflect the needs of others. Success in reaching such an achievement enables people to feel secure in themselves and confident in their relationships with others

(Barken, p. 155), leading the individual to become a self- sufficient and contributing member of their society; with good judgment, values and interests; working towards improvements for the life of humankind.

Children communicate to other people through their expressive arts.

They forms their value judgments; they internalize their experiences through their action; and they reconstruct their value judgments as they reflect on the communications from others, ae; when an individual acts (through art), they re-create a part of themselves (Barken, p. 158, a la' Mead).

Positive experiences in the arts can provide self-worth for many students, where as, in other areas they may find difficulty in succeeding. It is important for the teacher to always be aware of the importance of positive experiences and responses to help aid in the child's development in a 34 positive way. Do not give tasks that are not possible for success, always provide alternatives if the student can not cope with the present experience.

Creativity

The real value of creativity in education is that it helps a student to be definite in their attitudes and enlarges their general capacity for perceiving, thinking (problem solving), and feeling. With a bit of serious work of his/her own staring him/her in the face, he/she usually learns something about himself/herself (Bassett, p. 22).

"The creative process has been described as imitation, imagination and intuition, interaction, and as intuitive- intellectual interaction. From these descriptions are derived the components which are both harmonious with other available information about human behavior in general and activity in the arts in particular" (Barken, p. 148). Involved in the art process are the students mental images derived from personal feelings towards past experiences related to the subject choice and subconscious attitudes as well as conscious attitudes; these plus choice and experience with media are relative to the creative processes success.(Barken)

"To help children to develop their creative potentialities, teachers need to lead them into the reciprocal process of dealing with their feelings, ideas, and materials. Children need . help in selecting media that are appropriate for their ideas and · their manipulative capacities. Above all, they need the encouragement, security, and responsible freedom to grow aware of themselves in relation to things outside themselves" (Barken, p. 148).

Most people are not creative because they have never been given an opportunity to exercise their talents. There are any number of situations today in which we lose excellence of all sorts simply because we have not 35 provided ample opportunity for it to express itself in the company of its peers (Battcock,p.9).

Up to the age of six, the child is an intuitive creator. They are prolific and spontaneous in their expression; and requires little encouragement and almost no instruction. The child works with abandonment and ease, turning out quantities of fresh, exciting pictures

(D'Amico, p. 3). It is important to take care not to impose your physical influences on a child's creativity, lest he/she will lose interest and abandon the project. This I have learned through personal experience and observation.

The creations done by primary grade students are very valued by them and held with much pride. It should be remembered that the learning the student receives against his/her will is sure to be superficial and ineffective. When taking advantage of the child's interest, we take advantage of his/her readiness to assimilate what he/she learns and experiences, which in turn makes teaching more indelible (D'Amico, p. 19).

If we do impose our information on the student and he/she is not ready or does not want our assistance, she/she will cross it out, or start over, or worse yet, totally abandon the project. We must not interfere with personal creativity. (ie; Keep Your Hands Off The Students Work)

"The child is the potential creator. He/she is a free natural being. His/her creativeness is born of real enthusiasm and joy of expression. He/she has no competition to fight, no market to please, no price to set. He/she belongs to no cult and knows no "isms." He/she expends his/her energy on drawing and painting as he/she does in play. Art with him/her is a form of play, the spirit and imagination at play, revealing the true, innocent, child-like self" (D'Amico, p. 241). 36

The Teachers Role

The best teaching has developed through ·understanding the relationships between the teaching and learning processes involved in experiences in the arts. Insight into these relationships is the most effective tool for the development of sound teaching methods (Barken, p.

21).

The teacher needs to study the relationships between creative experiences in the visual arts and creative experiences in verbal language, drama, music, and dance; the nature of the process and the character of the artistic media. It is equally important for teachers to have the ability to interpret and infer from the child's overt behavior what his/her inner feelings are and help him/her achieve the end result that he/she is looking for, that being the successful expression of his/her ideas (Barken). Children need the security of knowing that their ideas will be respected; they need the help that will challenge their creative capacities. Information about the relationships between expressive experiences in the arts and social­ personal development can help define the nature of the challenge (Barken, p. 51).

When a learning situation has been well designed by a teacher, it is unified, coherent, and has aesthetic wholeness (Barken, p. 209). Students should be encouraged to generate their own ideas and develop them in terms of the visual media of the arts so they have meaning to the students concerns.

Teachers can educate for aesthetic sensitivity by encouraging the continuous awareness of relationships. To guard against impairing aesthetic unity, a teaching method should not separate color from form, drawing from design, design from function, of the manipulation of an art medium from an 37 individual's idea, or a principle from its operation in human experience.

"Aesthetic means unified, organized structure" (Barken, p. 55).

Three streams of thought - the introduction of French painting (the

Armory Show in 1913), the influence of John Dewey, and the knowledge of

Cizek's work with children - reinforced and accelerated each other's influence on the teaching practices in art education. Teachers began to encourage their children to use the arts as media of expression. They discovered that the teacher's role is to help children create aesthetic forms in order to convey their ideas and feelings. Teachers began to see that the quality of an art form as intimately related to the way children learn to use the arts to express their ideas aesthetically. Visual form became an instrument through which children could lift their ideas above the commonplace level to express them meaningfully. Children learned to control the elements of visual form in the process of painting their ideas.

Teachers began to focus attention on helping children to express their ideas uniquely and imaginatively (Barken, p. 48).

Art teachers have felt that it was their duty to select problems for children not only through choice of subject, but through choice of medium.

There are times when the teacher must intervene; but it would seem that more could be done in a more systematic way, to help children to organize out of the chaos a sense of impressions, some order, some priorities of interest, and to relate these themselves to expressive or exploratory procedures. Education in this area of experiences would appear to be fundamental to individual creative activity (Field,l970. Barrett, p. 51).

"Children's art is in the child. It is the teachers job to help it come out. To remove doubt and inhibition self- consciousness and fear"(Natalie Cole). This philosophy that Natalie Cole has developed reaches il ' 38 deep down within the child and pulls out, through a group of narrative type lessons, an individuality and style unique to each child. Constantly reassuring and guiding, always talking the child through the experience, always reassuring her interest and constant involvement; being aware of where the child is and emotionally and physically and guiding him/her to greater advancements within the security of the group and classroom situation; pointing out areas that may have been overlooked, always in a claiming and reassuring way. "Close your eyes and wait for the quiet feeling." This gives the child a respect for that source of creative power that lies within them and a respect for what will happen; fine things will happen. "Different as we are ourselves different"(Cole, p. 26). Here she stresses individuality and helps develop awareness of function and form (ie:

"Heavy legs because of the weight they carry.")

Natalie Cole's methods, I feel, has strong motivational impetus in allowing the child to express his/her ideas in a free- flowing and non­ judgmental manner. "Pictures grow inside us." "Where?" "While we sleep and eat." This method of teaching art has the potential, I feel, to develop self-confidence in children, giving confidence to those children who feel a little insecure with art; learning how to see and encouraging awareness of their surroundings, and helping to improve cognitive skills.

"Teaching students to draw with satisfactory pictorial organization," says Hoyt L. Sherman, "is to a major degree a process of teaching them to see with perceptual unity "(Sherman, p. 2). "The instructors problem is to teach them as much as they need and interests demand, and not to confuse them with too much teaching, else the original purpose of the problem will be lost. The child or adolescent will assimilate only what they can consciously understand and use" (D'Amico, p. 18). Every child has innate 39 talent or talents, the teacher becomes the catalyst in bringing out this talent. Teachers who help children to expand their own capacities and make sound judgments are putting together their knowledge about behavior and the arts (Barken, p. 181).

The improvement of teaching in the secondary schools can come about through the departure from rigid predetermined sequences of academic problems. When ideas are alive and meaningful, adolescent children see the necessary discipline to control their materials for effective expression.(Barken, p. 220)

To improve teaching skills in secondary schools, art teachers need to find the means to provide varieties of two and three dimensional materials.

There is a need to find a way to manage the classroom so that the student can select the materials and set the pace for his/her own work. If the primary purpose of art education is the creative involvement of children in the arts, it is far more important for the child to become truly involved than for him/her to complete a given number of projects (Barken, p. 20).

It is important for the teacher to build a creative type of education so that personal freedom and spontaneity can be nourished and developed in organic relationship with disciplined control and social responsibility. The relationship between spontaneity, creative insight, and disciplined control produces intensified awareness (Barken, p. 221). This makes it necessary for the teacher to interact with administrators, fellow teachers, professional organizations, and educational agencies to cultivate the most effective means for verifying the solutions of teaching problems. The solutions of teaching problems can be solved through the application of available knowledge by: 1+0

Developing a system for testing, evaluating, and modifying teaching techniques and skills that are taught;

Teaching the student to be inquisitive, resourceful and independent as well as to be able to work in a group situation;

Teaching students to have respect for one another;

Teaching students to have respect for other cultural groups by giving information about other cultures;

Teaching students to be a good member of his/her own society;

Teaching students not to lose his/her own identity;

Experimenting with the physical arrangement of the furniture in the room to create an environment that is conducive to good communication and learning;

Studying ways to expand the interests of the students and help them set new goals for themselves;

Generating an environment that would encourage both group and individual work situations, depending on the nature of the ideas being explored.

Helping students clarify their ideas and providing art materials that they can control sufficiently to communicate their ideas effectively.

Helping students satisfy their individual interests and curiosities and how to develop their unique capacities by manipulating time, equipment, and materials to best suit the activities in which they are engaged in.

Being aware of the health status of his/her individual students.

Motivation

"The motivation of the experience must be boosted and not the

drawing activity"(Lowenfeld,Creative and Mental Growth, p. 11). Lowenfeld

uses the word "identify" to communicate the totality of seeing-feeling-

acting (Barken, p. 57). You cannot emphasis the action alone because it hinders the creative effort. For the art activity to be fully successful it is

important to work with the student in training him/her in learning how to

see. If the purpose of education through art is to encourage the creative experience, it must facilitate the organic process of seeing-feeling-acting. 41

Barken and Herbert Read believes that the experience in the arts is organic

and thereby integrating because the process ideas, feeling; and sensation are

merged into a totality (Barken, p. 57).

The selection of the problem and the students response to it starts

the whole creative process moving. The procedures operate through the

perception of, and sensitivity to, the three interrelated elements of art, as

described in the conceptual framework; (1) idea, impulse, feeling. (2)

material, media, technique. (3) perception of visual form. It may be

necessary on certain occasions to emphasize one aspect, but its development

should not be possible without reference to the other two (Barrett, p. 52).

Evaluating Art

The problem with criteria in the arts is that they are not based on

. norms or standards. If art is a way of knowing, thinking and understanding

it can only be known, thought and understood within the range of concepts,

procedures and criteria which are art. Elliot Eisner comments: "One does

not have to have an objective in order to evaluate or appraise the quality

of experience or of art" (Barrett, p. 55).

If there are no standards for works of art and hence none ·for

criticism (in the sense in which there are standards of measurement), there

are nevertheless criteria in judgment, so that criticism does not fall in the

field of mere impressionism (Dewey, 19 58, p. 309).

Evaluation can be made in terms of assessment throughout the

process or as an assessment of the final product (Barrett, p. 39). Again,

this depends on the assignment and the objective of the assignment; some

can be process oriented, some can be product oriented. Either, for me is

correct, depending on the situation and the skill level of the class and the 42

learning capability of the students. Techniques and materials must be

related to the whole art experience for them to play a significant function in the art education and the art evaluation (Barrett, p. 47).

The initial sensory experience creates an impulse to probe and explore. Media are used as a means of responding to ideas, impulses and feelings which have originated from the media or have arisen out of a disturbance of the world by other means. In either case the art of extending the experience through the media evokes further responses, which feed back to evoke further media and evoke further experience of it.

Interaction stops when impulse from the media and response to it become one and the same (Barrett, p. 49).

The art teacher will be primarily concerned with stimulating ideas, impulses and feelings within the pupil through his contact with sensory experiences as well as dealing with discipline based education in the arts.

These experiences in art lie primarily in the affective domain, and hence observations indicate that these interests, attitudes, and other personality characteristics develop slowly, sometimes over a period of several months or years. An affective goal at the valuing level, for example, may be stated as "The learner possesses a love of good art." In the cognitive domain, it can be said that the student learns to use the media well, learns about color, line, negative and positive space and shading; the students ability is relative to the individual. If the criteria for evaluation is that the students understands and can use these cognitive skills regardless of his/her abilities, then you as the teacher are basically teaching an understanding and hence can evaluate these skills as you would math or science; the only difference in the arts is the manner in which the student chooses to solve the problem. The problems is solved, the evaluation is 43 completed on that basis. "Progress is measured in terms of the complexity of the sensate problem the student can handle. The elaboration of the world of the sensate experience for the pupil constitutes his/her personal development in the most intimate sense possible" (Within, 1974, p. 49).

Evidence for evaluation can be found by the teacher through contact with the work in progress and processes of the work. The two aspects are totally interrelated. The processes adopted by the pupil when searching for expressive form are as important as the resulting form or artifact. The artifact should not be viewed in isolation by the teacher. For the student the end and the means are inseparable and any evaluation should take account of this (Barrett, p. 57).

Environment

Sensations become meaningful to us through intellectual awareness.

We accept the stimuli from our surroundings, and we reconstruct them to suit our purpose. Our cultural background affects this concept - we are a product of our environment - as we become more aware and educated our perception becomes more meaningful. According to Dewey, sensory intelligence enables an individual to transcend his/her simple sense reactions so that he/she may participate with conscious meaning and expression.

Dewey emphasizes that perception is more than mere recognition

(Dewey, 1934, p. 22. Barken, p. 132).

"Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psycho-physical systems that determine their unique adjustments to their environment" (Allport, p. 48. Barken, p. 152). Personality is the individuals characteristic pattern of interpreting events for the purpose of acting in terms of them (Barken, p. 152). 44

Media, materials, and technique are the aspects of art concerned with the physical nature of the world and the ways of using it as a means of developing and understanding it. It is through the manipulation of the environment that we are able to control it for our personal or social ends.

The materials are everything that we use. They become the media through which we express and communicate our ideas, impulses, feelings. The effective use of these materials is achieved through the development of the appropriate techniques and skills so that our results match our concepts

(Barrett, p. 5).

Our education should create an environment where an individual can discover something of themself, their attitudes, the relevance of their ideas and of other people's ideas, that is of collective experience devoid of mystique and mythology. He/she must use whatever tools and processes are necessary to himself/herself as an individual and to society. To experiment, analyze and develop, of necessity, in an inquiry and personal way and not by merely reproducing past forms and successes (Hudson, 1968. Barrett, p.

64).

The material is part of the stuff upon which an individual acts coupled with prior experiences and influenced by the environment (Barken, p. 209).

It is the development of each individual's reality within their natural and social environment that seems common and fundamental to all art teaching (Barrett, p. 10).

" ••• Art has become the study and practice of culture in its active day-to-day life" (Battcock, p. 92). This idea of art being an expression of cultural relevance is an important statement to use when relating to students the importance of making the art work relevant to them as (l • 45 individuals; we use all of the sum total of our experience and our cultural backgrounds which work to influence the way we perceive events. This perception should be and is evident in an individuals work. The knowledge of this should work to free the student from conformity in their work and act as an impetus to get deep down into their being to discover and create work from their experiences and environment.

"We have lost the power to see, and must learn to rediscover the sources within our reach, which will inspire and unblind us. We must look at them with seeing eyes, in the hope of reawakening the dormant native artist within each of us. These sources, the city, the neighborhood, the home, and the school, the things one does or thinks about, what one reads, studies, or imagines, are crowded with possibilities" (D'Amico, P· 5).

Art and Experience

Education through art is more than learning about art in a narrow aesthetic sense. Activity in the arts and the development of aesthetic sensibility are intimately tied to human experience. Artistic activity is one of the avenues by which human experience takes on richness and meaning

(Barken, p. 37).

Most contemporary psychologists believe that our personal values and attitudes operate to determine the way we respond to things we see

(Barken, p. 113). Some of these values and attitudes have a cultural base.

In order to make good use of these cultural based influences in the students lives, it is important to expose the art environment to some of these influences by offering cross cultural experiences. These experiences can work to help towards better understandings between students.

The meanings of the symbols in art form are, therefore, relative to someone's interpretation of a human experience (Barken, p. 84). Children will make the object of most importance to them largest. Art forms 46 0 • become infused with meaning by the artist and have the potentiality for being understood and shared by other people (Barken, p. 85). The duty of the artist is to remain true to standards which he/she can discover only within himself/herself (Spendler, p. 5). There is a demand by members of society to have reality interpreted by the artist (Spender, p. 6). There is a deep connection between the condition of art and the condition of the world (Spender, p. 7). This can be related to children as well, when looking at their art work. You can see how content and well adjusted a child is by looking at his/her art work. If a child is having a bad day, you can see it in his/her art work; if he/she is abused or neglected, you can see it in the art work; if his/or her parents are getting a divorce or fighting at home, you will see this in the child's art work. Art then becomes a mirror of the child's emotions and conditions.

If education through art is to grow out of the intrinsic value of creative experience to meet the needs of children in our culture, it should stem from the sense of discovery in the lives of children. Past experiences are retained so that they may be evoked and arranged when there is need to use them in attaining the new end set by the needs of our affective nature (Barnes, p. 97). These past experiences and developmental age level both serve as important bases for choosing ideas, materials, and activities in the arts (Bark en, p. 211 ).

Objectives

The rationale developed in art education begins with identifying four fundamental questions which must be answered in developing any curriculum and plan of instruction. These are: (l)What educational purpose should the school seek to attain? (2)What educational experiences can we provide that are likely to attain these purposes? (3)How can these educational 47 experiences be effectively organized? (4) How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained (Tyler, 1944, p. 1)?

Art needs to be seen as the synthesis of visual and tactile experience culminating in the integration of personal perception, thinking,doing and feeling (Barrett, p. 39). Ill. PHILOSOPHY OF ART EDUCATION TO SUPPORT THIS STUDY

The following is my philosophy of art education. l have included this

in my study to support my thesis and to qualify why a good art program is

important. Although, this is not specific to teaching Jewish History through

art education, it does give the reader information of what, I feel, a good art program is and some insight into my approach to teaching art. This

can be used to develop an integrated curriculum on teaching Jewish History

through art education.

48 49

Objectives in Art Education: A PERSONAL THEORY OF ART EDUCATION

As a result of my research and review, I have come to the following conclusions:

The major emphasis of art education is to help students develop concern for and concepts of the contributions of art to everyday living.

When developing an integrated educational program it is important to consider the values of art in the student's life and work towards these objectives.

One of the primary concerns in education is to induct the student into their environment and help them understand and appreciate that environment, and to help work towards improving it.

In order to improve the environment through artistic awareness the student should be able to make judgments about the aesthetic quality of the community environment; recognize how the quality of design affects the function and the environment; perceive and describe visual forms in terms of both expression and structure (ie; post and lintel architecture, shape, structure, and "form follows function"); know how major artistic styles emerged from specific periods and cultures; identify strengths and weaknesses in the visual environment; know something of the art heritage of the society in which he/she lives; demonstrate awareness of aesthetic qualities in the human- made and natural environment; develop tolerance towards visual experimentation; demonstrate awareness of other world cultures and their art , picking out parallels and contrasts, and areas we can use as a base for future development; recognize the function of art in our society; and recognize art as a medium of communication. Through the understanding of our environment and of the arts we can work towards achieving a safer and healthier environment. 50

Good citizenship and good human relations, self-worth and a good value system are some of the ingredients for developing a cohesive society, as I perceive them. These objectives can be aided through art by; understanding creative efforts for self- expression and visual communications as a reflection of the period in which the artist lives; develop a meaningful concept of art as a way of human expression through exploration of art media; and exhibit self awareness by asserting original ideas.

Morality, science, art, all alike; are forms of communication, possible only through the sharing of experiences which constitutes civilized living.

Art, is a universal language through which these experiences can be shared the world over.

The fact that new ideas, inventions, and social relationship create new problems obliges us to recognize wherein these new problems impinge on human goals and aspirations. It is important to see the creative process as it functions in the lives of children so that we can educate towards the growth that is needed for further insight into the development of the personality and the self (Barken, p. 147).

To help children to develop their creative potentialities, teachers need to lead them into the process of dealing with their feelings, ideas and materials (these are inter-related). Teachers require insight into the nature of the process and the character of artistic media. It is of equal importance for the teacher to have the ability and awareness to interpret from the child's overt behavior what his/her inner feelings are.

I feel, that in order to successfully achieve Alexander's theory, which is, that the essence of the work of art is in the mind and that both the essence and the material are fused, then there should be a marriage 51 between subject and material, the student must be exposed to a variety of media in order to express his/her ideas effectively.

The process of organization, relative to my teaching methods necessitates an investigatory period where the student learns to use the materials and the media, the student learns how to "look at things, learning how to see"; the student is encouraged through a metamorphic process, to create and alter and organize an image creating an iconography relative to who he or she is. This procedure, this iconography search and find is the secret to successful art, because it comes from deep within his/her being.

The teacher should be able to encourage good feelings in the student about their own work and help them develop skills in accordance with his/her own capacities.

I feel, that Betty Edward's exercises for visual awareness are very beneficial for the students; it improves their drawing skill, enables them to feel successful with in their drawing, and takes away part of the stigma of preconceived images; training the eye too see what it is looking at. This takes time and patience to get into the right mode. Like most theories, it is successful for some and not for others, again limited to the ability and capacity of the student.

In developing a successful art program, the teacher can encourage the student to become interested in a good leisure time activity, to learn to think effectively , develop intellectually, and develop vocational interest and competence. These objectives can be achieved through helping the student develop; awareness of good design through creative application of art elements and principles; plan and execute art projects with sensitivity to the relationship of materials to function; exhibit an awareness of good (l • 52 craftsmanship; be able to make aesthetic judgments and justify choices; identify periods of major art forms and know styles and general social context in which they were produced; value the achievements of all artists from various backgrounds; teach the student to be aware of and visit galleries and museums in the community; be aware of national and international collections and exhibitions; and to be familiar with the philosophy of such major movements in art as Baroque, Cubism,

Impressionism and Surrealism.

The responsibilities of the teacher are great. Society depends on educators and education to create a complete human being, capable of taking his/ her place as a contributing member of society. My effectiveness in teaching and accomplishing these goals will depend on how well I like my job and how much effort I am willing to put into developing a curriculum that will accomplish the goals that are required of me as an educator. To achieve this goal of helping build a complete human being, I must help the student understand his/her environment; help build good character; develop good citizenship; help prepare him/her to develop vocational competence; help develop a good value system; learn basic skills so he/she can succeed in life and be able to communicate well; develop some interests so he/she can make good use of leisure time; and help the student develop intellectually.

To achieve these goals I as a teacher will have to decide on what type of leadership I will establish and what motivational pattern I will use.

Ideally, my leadership will be democratic, combining the discussive and the supportive type of role. The discussive role being, where the teacher pools his/her ideas with the students and where each idea is considered regardless of its source; creating new ideas and new avenues of thought. The 53 supportive role is where the student sets the direction, mapping out areas of concern and then proceeds with the support and guidance of the teacher.

These two type of roles, I feel, will lead the student to be able to develop creative thinking, individuality and good feelings about him/her self as a person.

In order to help the students develop these abilities the teacher must interrelate these objectives with hands on exercises and basic skill building in accordance with their individual capabilities.

These basic skills should be: Elements and principles of art and design; synchronize use of eyes, hands, and mind through various art exercises (learning how to see); awareness of geometric shapes; verbal and non-verbal symbols; language skills related to identifying and spelling art vocabulary; math skills related to metric measure; geometry skills related to parallel and perpendicular lines; be exposed to and learn how to use various media and be aware of it possibilities and limitations; and demonstrate aesthetic judgment skills by being able to discuss such questions as "what is art?" and "why is one work of art considered better than another?"

Personality is the individuals characteristic pattern of interpreting events for the purpose of acting on them. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the teacher to develop a complete program in their discipline and try to encompass the cognitive, affective and psycho-motor areas of learning.

The selection of the problem is only one of the factors in motivating students in the education of art. These problems should be relevant to the age and concerns of the student so as to keep them interested and involved. Media should be explained so as not to make the student feel 54

inadequate in carrying out the assignment. The environment should be

responsive to the student and respectful to their ideas and feelings. All

factors of the students limitations and abilities should be taken into

consideration so as not to give an assignment or create a situation where

the problems are too difficult to be solved. Try to create a situation

where intrinsic reward is the goal for the student. I, as the teacher should

show enthusiasm about what I am teaching and about the problem or

assignment I am presenting. My attitude will set the mood for how

successful and how motivated my students will be to perform. Try to

display all of the students work; this will make them feel that what they

have created is of worth. Do not give praise that is not genuine; if there

is a problem and you feel there can be improvement, help and make

suggestions. Do not make marks on the students work, especially without

permission or without the students request. Spend as much individual time

with each student that you can to make them feel that you are there to

help them; they can tell if you are genuine.

To recognize is not the mere objective, but to organize and to

utilize. It is not just the environment that the student is individually

exposed to that has an affect on how he/she relates to the art experience.

Part of this environment is the responsibility of the teacher to create.

This can be done by: creating a cheerful atmosphere; a clean and colorful

environment, relaxed and yet disciplined; create excitement within the

scope of lessons for the student by the teacher; and seating arrangements that are conducive to a good artistic experience.

To produce the total individual requires a continued sequential art program, To provide a creative "success" experience for each child's; to

provide a structured exploration into creative experiences and media for all 55 students and to provide an intellectual, intuitive, and emotional understanding of thought "concepts" and creativity. The realization that art is an irresistibly growing language of creative metaphors which constantly changes and opens new meaning to both the individual and society at large.

In conclusion to researching and writing my philosophy of art education, I have reflected as to my purpose and reasons for being in the field of art and art education in particular. The first question that came to mind was "why do I like art?" If this question were asked me several years ago, I might have answered, "because it is fun." Today, when the question was asked of me, I instantly answered, "I like art because of what art does for the people who do art."

The art experience, to me, is very much linked to psychology. It is a means to express feelings and emotions that for some people is almost impossible to do verbally or to even write down on paper. Art, aside from being a part of almost every aspect of our daily lives, and beautifying the environment, is also for some people an area of achievement that involves aspects of the personality; art reflects the individuals inner feelings. For some, art is an inborn skill that they can use like a scholar in academia.

Some of us are right brain people, some of us are left brain people.

It is the responsibility of education to try to develop both these areas; the right brain, being the creative and the left brain being the logical or academic side. It has been in the past, that most educators looked upon art education with distaste,sometimes losing the opportunity for some students who can not function in the logical world, the opportunity to be successful and become a contributing and emotionally healthy member of society. It is now our chance, through the changing attitudes of society 56 and education, to take note of this change in attitude and work towards giving these "right brain" students a opportunity for success.

Through a good educational program, which I feel, involves both the discipline centered art education and the humanistic approach to art and to education, this can be achieved. It is the educators responsibility to educate all the students capabilities, both the right and the left brain skills in a manner which is more adaptable for the individual to enable him/her to take their place in society; enabling them to work towards improving the environment and developing good crea~ive and critical thinking skills.

Art works towards the development of both freedom and discipline with the realization that you cannot have one without the other. IV. PROCEDURES - ACTUAL CURRICULUM

The following curriculum was developed from my experiences accumulated over a period of fifteen years while working as an art specialist at Jewish schools in the Los Angeles area: Emek Hebrew

Academy, Herzl Day School, New Jewish High (Golda Meir High School),

Adat Ariel Day School, Valley Torah High School and Leo Baeck Temple

Sunday School.

The lesson plans presented here represent the body of work Shown in my exhibit at California State University, Northridge: "Teaching Jewish

History Through Art Education". This was produced over a period of two years at Leo Baeck Temple Sunday School (Reform Judaism) and Valley

Torah High School (Orthodox Judaism). The grade level ranged from first through twelfth grade

57 58

Wimpel (Torah Binder)

The Wimpel or Torah Binder is a ritual object that originated among

German Jews in the sixteenth century and spread to parts of France,

Austria and Italy. The wimpel was made from the swaddling cloth used at a baby boy's circumcision (brit). This cloth was cut into four sections which were stitched together to form a long band. The wimpel was then embroidered or, in later examples, painted with the child's name, date of birth, zodiac sign, biblical quotations and symbols referring to the child's name. The decorations were inherent to the cultural vicinity where they were created and included wishes for a future of "Torah,Chupah ( wedding canopy and marriage), and Good Deeds." The wimpel is used to wrap the

Torah Scroll. This cloth wraps once around the Torah and clasps in front, or can be wound around the Torah and self-ties, keeping the heavy parchment of the Torah scroll (Five Books of Moses written on a parchment scroll)from unwinding and possibly breaking.

The personalized wimpel (wimpel is German for banner) would be used to wrap the --Torah on the first day the child was brought to the synagogue, usually a year after his birth. The wimpels were stored in the synagogue and became a form of birth record and was used again on the occasion of the child's Bar Mitzvah (thirteenth birthday which is the rite of passage to manhood) when he reads from the Torah (the Five Books of

Moses) in the synagogue and on the Sabbath before his wedding when he is called up to read from the Torah. These traditions linked each life-cycle passage as it symbolically linked the individual to the Torah (Landsberger, pp. 73-74) (Rockland, pp. 15-16) (Zlotowitz).

Although, the wimpel was traditionally created for the male child, today the wimpel is a tradition that has been adapted for both boys and 59 (l ' girls: For girls, it it is used at their naming ceremony and for boys at their circumcision ceremony. This tradition has been rediscovered as another means to enrich Jewish identity and strengthen family bonds.

As part of the study of the Life Cycle, the first grade students at

Leo Baeck Sunday School created their own individual wimpels with some of the traditional designs. They also added their own creative ideas: hobbies, names of family members, pets, choice of colors, hobbies and/or special sayings. As a culmination to their project, parents were invited to participate, working with their child to add to their child's creation.

As the wimpel project proved successful for the Reform religious environment of Leo Baeck Temple, I felt that the Valley Torah High School, which is an Orthodox, more traditional junior high and high school, might also enjoy this project. In this environment and age group (fifteen to sixteen), the result was be closer to the traditional wimpels that were created in Europe, with Hebrew writing and biblical symbols.

The wimpels in the exhibition were created by students from Leo

Baeck Temple Sunday School and Valley Torah High School+ using canvas fabric, cut into two strips approximately forty-five inches long and eight inches wide and sewn together for a ninety inch wimpel. Students used fabric paint, acrylic paint, permanent markers, fabric pastels, etc. 60

I. Wimpels

PROJECT:

The Wimpel or Torah Binder is used to wrap the Torah Scrolls.

DESCRIPTION:

Students will create a contemporary Wimpel (Torah Binder) on a strip of 15" x 120" unprimed canvas, based on information collected from various resources. Students will include autobiographical information on their

Wimpel: Hebrew name, English name, birth date, birth sign, grandparents name (mother and father's side), parents name, hobbies and/or interests, place of birth, goals (possible option), wishes for Torah (study the Bible and follow the Jewish way of life) , Chuppah (marriage and family) , and good deeds (charity).

GRADE LEVEL:

First grade through adults.

TIME REQUIRED:

Three to six 1 hour sessions.

One session for introduction of project: slides, discussion of procedure and of personal choices of project; what goes on Wimpel, student list making time. One session for applying background color on canvas strips. One session for making sketch of images that go on Wimpel. One session to draw image on Wimpel. One session to use paint and/or markers on Wimpel. One session to add extra embellishments.

MATERIAL NEEDED:

-----Canvas - unprimed, 1/2 yard per person ------Safety pins ------Sketch paper ------Pencils ------Permanent markers, assorted colors ------Permanent barrel tipped black markers ------Acrylic paint ------Crayons ------Brushes (one each per person) 116 pointed, 118 flat 61

------Water containers (tin cans) ------Palette paper pad or tin to mix paints ------Scissors ------Newspapers

OBJECTIVES: STUDENTS WILL. •.•

------Learn about origin of the Wimpel: who, what, when, where,why and how (historical &. cultural background). ------Develop creative expression. ------Learn use and care of materials. ------Learn about symbols dealing with concepts for developing the Wimpel. ------Develop a visual autobiography using primarily symbols (visual images as opposed to words). ------Develop aesthetic judgment. ------Develop critical thinking.

PROCEDURE:

------Teacher and students define what a Wimpel is. Its use in Jewish history, tradition and culture. ------Class discusses use of wimpel in modern time. ------Class views illustrations, photos, books, catalogues, slides and samples of Wimpels. ------Students and teacher discuss symbols that are to appear on Wimpels. ------Students make list of what "they" will put on their Wimpels. ------Teacher goes over list of these symbols with class. ------Students speak to parents about family history: family names, birth date, birth place, birth sign, goals, etc. ------Students put two 15" x 60" strips together, using safety pins, to create a 15" x 120" strip for the Wimpel. ------Students use pencil to transfer designs on to fabric. ------Students apply background color on Wimpel (use fabric paint, diluted with water and applied with wide flat brush) leave till next session for paint to dry. ------Students embellish pencil design with paint, markers, fabric, cray- P.as, puffy paint, glitter, etc. ------Teacher or parent can sew double edged seam binder around edges. ------Students purchase or create beads to go on the strings on the ------corners of the Wimpel. ------Teachers or students iron final project to heat-set dye. ------Evaluation - aesthetic valuing and review of information learned. 62

The Curtain(Parochet) for the Ark(The Aron-hakodesh)

The Torah Curtain(Parochet) for the Ark is used to cover the opening of the Aron-hakodesh (The Ark). This was created by the girls of Valley

Torah High School. The students used canvas, fabric paint, acrylics, permanent markers and other media to create a contemporary version of a

Torah Curtain. This curtain was entirely designed, executed and researched by the students.

Traditionally curtains covering the Holiest place in the Temple were created from blue wool, purple wool, red wool and rolled or spun linen

(Exodus). These were considered royal colors. In more contemporary times curtains were created from silk, velvet and gold thread.

The Aron-hakodesh (the Ark of the Holiness) is placed at the eastern wall either as a niche built into the wall or as a chest fastened onto or protruding from it. It has always been customary for the

Synagogue(Temple) to be so constructed that the worshipers, when turning toward the Ark, face the direction of Jerusalem (in Europe and America, the front wall of the synagogue will be on the east). The Ark is set on an elevated platform against the eastern wall, and is approached by steps. The

Torah (Five Books of Moses) are kept in the Aron-hakodesh(The Ark). The

Ark is usually lined with silk or velvet. There are specially formed stands in it to support the scrolls. The designing and ornamenting of the Ark has developed into a fine art expression.

Despite the prohibition of figures, pictures or paintings in the

Synagogue, exception has always been made in the case of the Ark. The symbols of two lions(symbolic of strength) , the Ten Commandments

(symbolic of the Law), and a crown (symbolic of authority) can be found in most Arks. In some synagogues,deers (symbolic of swiftness) are added, 63 symbolizing the saying of the sages: "Be fleet as a hart and strong as a lion to do the will of thy Father who is in heaven" (Aboth V:23). Before the open face of the Ark, there is suspended a silk or velvet curtain called

Parochet. This is a reminder of the Tabernacle and the Temple. The

Parochet was the Temple curtain separating the holy space from the Holy of Hollies (Ex. 26:31-34, Babli Kethuboth 106a). The curtains are usually donations to the Temple by women, who frequently embroider them with such designs as the Ten Commandments, Hebrew letters, two lions holding a crown, and with their own names in Hebrew characters. The Ark is considered the holiest part of the Synagogue (Idelsohn, Pp. 83- 84).

The Curtain which was on exhibit at California State University,

Northridge, was created by the girls of Valley Torah High School and was be donated to Aish Hatorah, a synagogue in North Hollywood, California, for use in their Sanctuary. 64

II. Synagogue Curtain(Parochet)

PROJECT:

Curtain for Holy Ark of synagogue using ancient base and contemporary materials, designed and executed by students.

DESCRIPTION:

Students will work as a group to create a Curtain for the Holy Ark of a synagogue using unprimed canvas. This will be donated for use in a synagogue (Jewish house of worship).

The alternative to one group project could be individual Curtains requiring 18" x 24" pieces of material plus strip of 6" x 18" piece for valance: each student could develop Curtain design based on individual research to develop personal symbolism based on antiquity and religious guidelines. These can be used in dioramas. An exhibition can be implemented with prizes for the best Curtain design that fulfills the guidelines set-up by the instructor.

GRADE LEVEL:

7th grade through 12th grade.

TIME REQUIRED:

For large Curtain that is to be donated for use in synagogue: Six weeks - 2 times a week, 2 hour sessions each. For large Curtain teacher or parent sews backing to Curtain. For individual project, time span is approximately one week of 45 minute sessions.

MATERIALS REQUIRED:

------Canvas (unprimed) - 1/2 yard per person for individual Curtain. For large Curtain, measure size of Ark. Add extra yardage for seam allowance. ------Acrylic paint: red, blue, yellow, black (one tube of each). ------Fabric cray-pas ------Paint brushes: II 8 flat, II 6 pointed & 2" flat ------Water containers - tin cans ------Paper towels ------Disposable palette pad or tin for mixing paint ------Sketch paper 65

------Pencils (1 per person) ------Newspaper for covering work areas.

OBJECTIVES : STUDENTS WILL. •••

------Students learn about origin and types of symbols used on Ark Curtain. ------Students research when and how Ark Curtains were first used (historic and religious background). ------Students learn resource and research skills. ------Students learn that region, cultural, social, economic and political conditions determine and effect artistic execution of ritual and religious objects and artistic accomplishments. ------Students will learn color mixing. ------Students will research different types of Ark Curtains from different countries. ------Students will work on community project for a specific Shul or house of worship. ------Students will work together on planning Curtain design: learn to work in group situation. ------Students will learn about community service. ------Students will learn use and care of materials: fabric paint, acrylic paint, fabric markers, cray-pas, brushes, markers, scissors, etc. ------Students will develop creative expression. ------Students will develop aesthetic perception.

PROCEDURE:

------If group project, students choose site for Curtain. If individual project proceed accordingly. ------Students go to future site of Curtain to measure and evaluate need. ------Students investigate historical and cultural background of Curtains: different countries, types of materials used, symbols that appear on different Curtains, individual symbols that relate to site chosen for group or individual Curtain, colors to be used. ------Students decide on what symbols should appear on their Curtain. ------Students do sketches of various designs for Curtain. ------Students each submit four final designs ------Students decide on one design: can be combination of parts from different sketches. Use blackboard to finalize ideas. ------Copy final design on to sketch paper to use as pattern. ------Students collectively select colors to be used for large project. ------If Curtain is to be executed in two halfs, tape edges of unprimed canvas using 3/4" or 1" masking tape for seam allowance. This is to facilitate evenness when adhering backing or lining to Curtain. ------Students chose individual task for group project. ------Student will draw design on Curtain. ------Students paint Curtain. ------Students add final embellishments. ------Teacher takes photos of work in progress. ------Teacher or parent sews backing to Curtain if group project is chosen. For individual project, each student sews backing on individually, using needle and thread or iron on adhesive. ------Evaluation - aesthetic valuing and review of information learned. 66 ° .

Creation

The first grade students of Leo Baeck Temple Sunday School learned about the Seven days of Creation from the First Book of the Five Books of

Moses. The students discussed the events that occurred during the Seven days:

First Day - Creation of Light. Second Day - The Firmament (Heaven and Earth). Third Day - Sea, Land and Vegetation. Fourth Day - Creation of Heavenly Bodies (Sun, Moon and Stars). Fifth Day - Fish and Birds. Sixth Day Land Animals and Man (all domestic animals, reptiles,wild animals and mankind (male and female). Seventh Day - The Sabbath, a day of rest.

The information about the Seven Days of Creation is found in the

First Book of Moses, or "Book of Creation". This information was transformed, by students, into visual symbols through painting and collage to reinforce the learning experience and to integrate art and the curriculum.

Several names have been given to this portion of the Bible. "The

Greek name given is Genesis, meaning "origin" because it gives an account of the creation of the world and the beginning of life and society. The

Jewish name for this chapter is Bereshith (in the beginning), which is the first Hebrew word in the opening sentence of this chapter(Hertz. p. b)."

Dr. Hertz, who edited the Pentateuch and Haftorahs (the Bible) states in the introduction •.

"this beginning or Bereshith describes the origin of Jewish people; trace its kinship to other portions of the human family ••• all being one blood and offspring of one common stock; and goes back to the csreation of the world, which it declares to be the work of One Almighty and Beneficent G-D" (Hertz, P• b).

The "Creation" project was done by the students on one long strip of white butcher paper set up on long tables. Students used water-color paint, markers, crayons, scissors, construction paper, glue, glitter, fabric, string, 67 yarn and other bits of found materials. When the project was complete, numbers were affixed to each of the Seven Days of Creation. The long strip was than laminated and displayed at Leo Baeck Temple. For the exhibition, the strip was cut into individual sections and vacu-mounted. 68

Ill. Creation

PROJECT:

Mural of the seven days of "Creation" executed on white butcher

paper using watercolors and tempra paint with collage.

DESCRIPTION:

Students will study "Creation", from the first book of the Five Books

of Moses; the Bible. Students will participate in discussions of how they

will translate what they learned into visual symbols. The mural will be

created from a 26" wide strip of butcher paper placed on connecting tables

to facilitate better working conditions. Each student will work either alone

or with another student on one of the Seven days of Creation. The length

of each section for the days will be approximately 32" long. Numbers are

cut from black construction paper and glued to corresponding day. Finished

project will be laminated in one continuous strip. (For show, project was

cut into individual days and dry mounted)

GRADE LEVEL:

First through twelfth grades (project displayed for show was executed by first grade students).

TIME REQUIRED:

For first grade, three to four 1 hour sessions. First session slated for discussion of Creation. Second, third and fourth for working on project.

MATERIALS REQUIRED:

------Butcher paper - 26" wide, length determined by number of students in class. ------T empra paint ------Brushes ------Water containers - tin can ------Glue ------Markers - assorted colors ------Pencils ------Glitter ------Crayons 69

------Newsprint (for pre-sketches for older students) ------Laminating film ------Laminating machine ------Scissors ------Fabric scraps ------String ------Yarn ------Foil (aluminum - colored and regular) ------Colored acetate ------Cellophane

OBJECTIVES: STUDENTS WILL ••••

------Reinforce the study of the seven days of Creation. ------Students will learn to translate concepts into visual imagery. ------Students will develop creative expression. ------Students will learn to work together in group situation. ------Students will learn use and care of materials: paint, collage, crayons, markers, glue, and found materials. ------Students will develop critical thinking skills. ------Students will enrich comprehension skills. ------Students will develop aesthetic perception.

PROCEDURE:

------Class discussion of "Creation" (students will read and study this portion of the Bible). ------Students discuss visual imagery that might relate to portions of "Creation. ------Students and teacher list visual images that might be used for portions of this project. ------Each student get assignment of one of the days of Creation. ------Students do preliminary sketches on newsprint. ------Teacher draws division line on butcher paper for each of the seven days of Creation. ------Teacher demonstratesandexplains how to use and care for materials. ------Students use sponge to apply background color for their project. Each day should have a different background color. ------Everyone waits for paint to dry before proceeding. -----Students add visual imagery over background color. ------Number is added to each day of Creation in dark contrasting color. ------Project is laminated in one single strip. ------Evaluation - aesthetic valuing and review of information learned. 70

The Seder Table

Each year at the Seder table Jews retell the story of the Exodus as if each had experienced personally the bondage and liberation of their

People.

If it is possible for the Jewish imagination to carry us backward in time, so also it should be possible to bring our ancestors forward into our own day.

On Pasach (Passover) we traditionally invite Elijah into our homes and welcome him with a cup set aside especially for him. The 4th, 5th and

6th graders of Leo Baeck Temple Sunday school have expanded upon that practice and have invited many of the major figures of Jewish history to their seder table. Each has been honored with a place setting designed to reflect theguest's life story and achievements.

The materials used to create these place settings are paper plates, gesso, black markers, acrylic paint, lacquer,and poster board that has been laminated.

"It is because of what G-d did for me when I went forth from Egypt." 7 1

IV. Passover Plates - The Seder Table

PROJECT:

Table setting of individual plates and place mats. Each student creates an individual place setting using different events or characters in

Jewish history or religion. Each plate is executed on thick 12" paper plates which are gessoed and/or coated with papier mache'. A matching place mat is created using colored poster board with symbols that echo characteristics of their hero.

DESCRIPTION:

Students choose an important person or event in Jewish history and investigate the achievements or contributions that relate to their choice. A place setting is designed by each student to reflect the individual guests' life story and achievements. Students transform events and ideas into visual images. Students write one or two paragraphs describing their character or event. To culminate this project, an exhibition displaying all the plates and place settings is catalogued by students using coordinating numbers with written descriptions. The school secretary can type this information. The pages are Xeroxed to create a catalogue for the exhibit.

GRADE LEVEL:

Fourth grade to twelfth grade.

TIME REQUIRED:

Approximately nine one hour sessions.

One session - discussion of project, objectives and list of choices of characters and/or events. One session for studying character or event. One session - have students trace shape of plate on large piece of newsprint (8 times) and do various sketches. One sessions - students work on preparing plate. One session - cover back of plate with solid color paint. One session - put light wash on front of plate. ,, . 72

One session - pencil in images - can start to paint. One session - paint images. One session-outline images with black fine or medium permanent marker.

MATERIALS REQUIRED:

-----Heavy duty paper plates - 12" (2 per person) ------Large sheets of sketch paper (1 per person) ------Pencils ( 1 per person) ------Acrylic paint - assorted colors ------White glue (1 gallon) ------Brushes (1 per person) large flat approximately 1/2" - 1" ------Brushes - 1 for every two students , II 6 pointed ------Water container - tin cans ------Permanent markers - round tip - medium and/or thin. ------Paper towels ------Newspaper ------Clear-lacquer (white glue may be substituted)

OBJECTIVES: STUDENTS WILL. •••

------Students will learn about characters and events in Jewish history and religion. ------Students will develop research skills. ------Students will learn how to transform concepts into visual images. ------Students will learn how to work in groups and individually. ------Students learn use and care of materials. ------Students learn new mode of artistic expression. ------Students will develop abstract thinking skills. ------Students will develop critical thinking. ------Students will develop writing skills • ------Students will develop reading comprehension skills. ------Students will develop aesthetic valuing. ------Students will develop creative expression.

PROCEDURE:

------Teacher discusses project with students. ------Teacher shows examples of project. ------Teacher gives list of possible characters and/or events in Jewish : history. ------Students choose character for their plate. ------Students receive printed hand-out about their character. ------Teacher gives examples of how to transform concepts into visual images. ------Students meet in small groups (four each) to brainstorm ideas for their plate designs. ------Students individually make sketches (approximately 4 - 8) from which final design will be chosen. ------Teacher collects papers with multiple designs and checks best choice. ------Students prepare plates (gesso and/or papier mache). ------Students paint back of plate with solid color acrylic paint. ------Students paint light wash of color on front of plate. 73

------Students transfer images (in pencil) onto plate. ------Students paint their images on front of plate. ------Students add outlines with markers and/or other embellishments to their plates. -----Students make pre-sketches for placema t. ------Students execute placemat. ------Students write a one paragraph summary about their character or event to coordinate with their plate. ------Secretary types student descriptions for catalogue for exhibition. ------Student or teacher /parent or teachers assistant may lacquer plates. -----Teacher laminates placemats. -----Students have table settingdisplay and show of their projects. ------Evaluation - aesthetic valuing and review of information learned. 74

Passover Pillow and Cover

The Passover pillow covers that were exhibited were created by the fourth through sixth grade students of Leo Baeck Sunday School during a weekend retreat which focused on the Ethiopian Jews and the fulfillment of their 2000-year-old dream of returning to Zion. The intent of this retreat,

"Operation Moses", was to help students understand this modern, miraculous exodus and to allow them to participate in the mitzvah (good deed) of pidyon shevuim, redeeming captives.

Art was used to help reinforce some of the learning experiences during this special weekend. The pillow cover project was created to help students transform what they had learned into visual symbols relating to the meaning of the Passover and the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt in the time of Moses and of the present day Jews from Ethiopia. Pillow covers were created using traditional and contemporary symbols that related to what the student learned and to their own lives.

For this project students used fabric paint, permanent markers and fabric crayons on white ready-made pillow cases.

The use of the pillow at the Passover Seder table comes from the tradition that the host of the Seder is to be comfortable and in a reclining position, symbolizing freedom, while leading the Seder. 75

V. Passover Reclining Pillow Cover

PROJECT:

Students will create pillow covers to be used on a "reclining pillow" at the

Passover Seder. This cover will be created with a white or solid colored ready-made pillow case and fabric paint.

DESCRIPTION:

The pillow cover that students create will reinforce the study of the

Passover unit; the customs and traditions of this holiday. The pillow is used at the Seder table as a symbol of freedom. This project also serves as a vehicle for teaching good artistic judgment: to develop a sense of artistic balance, form, color, composition, and use of shape and line.

In order for students to create the Passover pillow, it will be necessary to research the origin of the reclining pillow and to choose symbols that are both historically founded and contemporary to the individuals interests and family traditions.

GRADE LEVEL:

Fourth grade through twelfth grade.

TIME REQUIRED:

Two to three one hour sessions. This project should be part of the Passover study unit. The portion covering the reclining pillow will probably take one-half hour during the Passover study unit. The other half hour will be used to design the pillow and the second hour or session will be focused on setting up the materials and painting the pillow cover. The third and/or final hour might be required to add embellishments (Before this can be done the fabric paint should be dry).

MATERIALS REQUIRED:

------One white pillow case per person ------Fabric paint/markers - assorted colors ------Fabric cray-pas (one box per two persons) ------Sketch paper ------Pencils - one per person ------Paint brushes 76

------Margarine containers or plastic containers with lids for paint storage and mixing. ------Water containers - tin cans. ------Paper towels ------Scrap fabric - assorted ------Scissors ------Needles and thread ( 1 needle per person) ------Newspaper ------"Puffy paint" (purchased from craft store)

OBJECTIVES: STUDENTS WILL. •••

------Students will learn about the customs and origins of Passover (historical & cultural background). ------Students will learn how to transform concepts into visual symbols. ------Students will develop critical thinking. ------Students will learn how to organize tasks and work in sequential order. ------Students will learn the use and care of new media. ------Students will develop good communicative skills. ------Students will learn how to work in a group setting. ------Students will learn aesthetic valuing and judgment. ------Students will develop creative expression.

PROCEDURE:

------Discussion of Passover and the various customs and rituals of the holiday. ------Discussion of individual objects used at Passover: the reclining pillow, its uses, origin and its symbol in historic and modern time. ------Class discussion of types of symbols that might be appropriate for this project: historic and contemporary. ------Students create about four to eight sketches of proposed designs for pillow. ------Teacher and student select final design. ------Student receives pillow case. ------Newspaper is placed between front and back of pillow case to keep paint or markers from penetrating to back of pillow cover. ------Student draws design on pillow case. ------Students paint pillow case designs and leave flat with paper inside while drying. ------Students add final embellishments. ------Remove newspaper. ------Pillow cases are to be ironed to heat set the fabric paint for permanence. 77

The Wedding Canopy (Chuppah)

"I unto my beloved and my beloved unto me."

The exhibition of the Wedding Canopies were created by first grade students at Leo Baeck Sunday school. Each students received a square of fabric and translated what they had learned about "the life cycle" into visual symbols on to their piece of cloth. The cloths were then sewn together by one of the parents from the class. As a culmination of the study of this portion of the "life cycle", a mock ceremony was performed for the class by the parents, under the Canopy that was created by the students.

The Wedding Canopy is a reminder of the ancient tent-life of Israel.

Bedouin tribes to the present day erect a special tent for the young couple, in which the bridal bed is set. In the course of cultural development, when the Jewish people came to live in substantial buildings, the Chuppah was still retained, and a mystic significance read into it. It was believed to symbolize the canopy made of the skin of the Leviathan (a mythical fish) in which the people expected to live in Paradise (ldelsohn, pp. 127-128).

The Chuppah (the wedding canopy), was usually erected in the open air in the court of the Synagogue. This was done because the Synagogue might not accommodate the numerous guests. S.M. Lehrman in his book

Jewish Customs and Folklore, believes that another reason for having the wedding ceremony outside was the medieval love of symbolism which preferred the presence of the stars---symbolic of the offspring of marriage,

"numerous as the stars of heaven" (Lehrman, p. 162). 78

VI. Wedding Canopy

PROJECT:

Wedding canopy used in Jewish wedding ceremony, constructed of squares of fabric created by students.

DESCRIPTION:

As part of the study of the Life Cycle, students create a wedding canopy to enhance their learning experience. Students illustrate fabric squares with images that relate to the wedding ceremony and to marriage.

Size of square is determined by the number of students in the class.

Squares are sewn together to conform to the traditional size and requirements of the wedding canopy. Age level determines the sophistication of materials used to illustrate squares.

GRADE LEVEL:

First grade through twelfth grade.

TIME REQUIRED:

Approximately three one hour sessions: one hour for presentation of project, one hour for pre-sketch and transfer to square, and one hour for painting embellishing square. For upper division studentsmore time may be required for a more elaborate project: embroidery, applique, beading and/or mixed media.

SUPPLIES:

------Newsprint for sketches ------Pencils (1 per student) ------Cray-pas for fabric ------Liquid embroidery (1 tube per three students) ------Fabric paint ------Permanent markers (assorted colors) ------Water containers (tin cans) ------Paint brushes - 1" flat, II 6 pointed (one for every 2 students) ------Newspaper (to cover desks) ------Parent, volunteer or teacher with sewing machine. ------Needles ------Thread ------Yarn il . 79

------Rope ------Beads ------Sequins ------Scraps of fabric

OBJECTIVES: STUDENTS WILL. ••.

------Students will learn about customs and ritual of Jewish marriage (historical and cultural). ------Students will develop critical thinking. ------Students will develop abstract thinking. ------Students will transform concepts into visual images. ------Students will learn use and care of materials. ------Students will learn good communicative skills. ------Students learn to work independently and in group setting. ------Student will develop creative expression. ------Students will develop aesthetic valuing and perception.

PROCEDURE:

------Teacher discuss laws and customs of Jewish marriage as part of the Life Cycle study. ------Class discussion of symbols that might be found on wedding canopy. ------Students and teacher make a list ofsymbols and images that are possible (on blackboard). ------Students receive sketch paper (18 x 24) fold in fours and make a series of sketches ••. choose one for final square. ------Students transfer their designs to the fabric squares. ------Use masking tape .•• l/2" and adhere to chipboard (this masks off edges for seam allowance when sewing together squares to form complete canopy (for 1st through 5th grades, teacher adheres square to board •.. for upper grades, student adheres square). ------Put supplies on large table•. students choose materials. ------Let project dry on table. ------Parent/volunteer or teacher sews canopy together. Canopy can be lined or embellished with added solid color fabric in a quilt like formation •• some canopies have ribbon added to corners. ------Evaluation - aesthetic valuing and review of information learned. ------Final part of project is a mock wedding ceremony prepared by parents using wedding canopy made by students. IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:

Elliot Eisner in his article from Beyond Creating: The Place for Art in America's Schools, "Why Art in Education and Why Art Education", presents three major arguments for art education: "First, that the arts represent the highest of human achievements to which students should have access. Second, that the school is the primary public institution that can make such access possible for the vast majority of students in our nation."

The third case that Eisner presents for art education is "that work in the arts develops unique and important mental skills" (Getty, p. 64).

The motivation behind my development of this thesis is due in part to Mark Twain's composition "About Jews" that is found at the beginning of this text, and to the three arguments that Elliot Eisner presented in his article, "Why Art in Education and Why Art Education."

Furthermore, personal experience has convinced me that art does represent one of the highest human achievements. This can be related to the feeling of power an artist attains when creating.

As an educator in the Jewish Day Schools, I have a responsibility to present my students with as much information on Jewish History, tradition and art, as I can. Experiences in art stimulates interest in these topics and helps reinforce the learning experience.

This curriculum project was a beginning attempt to teach Jewish

History through art education. A search of the literature revealed little or no material that combined both Jewish History and art education. In order to develop this curriculum I had to review literature in art education and in Jewish History. To achieve my goal of an integrated curriculum I utilized concepts from both of these areas.

80 81

Combining several concepts from the philosophies of the Getty's report "Beyond Creating: The Place for Art in America's Schools and

California State Department of Education's Framework For the Visual and

Performing Arts with information from literature on Jewish Art History, I have developed this beginning curriculum. From this I have created, with my students, the exhibition projects of my visual presentation.

As a result of my teaching methods and this thesis on curriculum development I believe interest has increased in the field of Jewish education through art. I have been asked by the Bureau of Jewish

Education of Los Angeles, California, the Principals Council and the Torah

Education and Culture Department of the World Zionist Organization to present educational workshops for teachers. Yom Iyun (Day of Learning) was an all day conference which featured a series of enrichment workshops for Jewish Day School teachers. This took place in Spring of 1987 at Hillel

Hebrew Academy in Beverly Hills, California. "Visual Expression and Its

Classroom Application", or "Teaching Jewish History Through Art

Education", was a series of seven workshops which were held Tuesday evenings from 7 p.m. to 8:45 p.m., February 26 through Aril 7, 1987. The workshops took two perspectives: historical background and integration of art to reinforce the curriculum. Two other facilitators participated: Marcia

Reines-Josephy and Dalia Aronoff. Ms. Josephy presented the historical background for the seminars and Ms. Aronoff presented information on the history of Israel. The focus of my portion of the work shops was art philosophy, use and care of art materials, hands on art projects to reinforce concepts studied and how to integrate the art into the curriculum. Teachers received printed material with lesson plans, resource references of bibliography and historical background for each project presented. 82

Participants created sample projects to take back to the classroom to use as visual aids. Slides of student work was shown to reinforce the learning experience.

It is my intent to use my thesis as a base to create a text for teaching Jewish history through art education which combines the philosophies of both the Getty Trust and the California Art Framework. REFERENCE LIST

Barkan, Manuel. A Foundation For Art Education. New York: Ronald Press Company. 1955.

Barrett, Maurice. Art Education. London: Heinemann Educational Books, Cox and Wyman Ltd. 1979.

Bassett, Riachard. The Open Eye. The Role of Art in General Education. Cambridge, Massachusetts: TheMassachusetts Institute of Technology. 1969.

Battcock, Gregory. New Ideas in Art Education. New York: E.P. Dutton and Co.,lnc. 1973.

Broudy, Harry S. Englightened Cherishing, An Essay On Aesthetic Education. Chicago, Illinois: University Press. 1972.

California State Department of Education. Visual and Performing Arts Framework. Sacramento, California: California Department of Education. 1982.

Cole, Natalie Robinson. The Arts in the Classroom. New York: The John Day Company. 1940.

D'Amico, Victor. Creative Teaching in Art. Scranton, Pennsylvania: International Textbook Company. 1953. l)<>w,.v, John. Art As Experience. New York: Minton, Balch & Company. 1934.

Dewey, John, Barnes, Albert C., Buermeyer, Laurence, Mullen, Mary, Marzia, Violette de. Art and Education. Merion, Penna: The Barnes Foundation Press. 1954.

Dewey, John. Art As Experience. London: Putnam. 1958.

Dodwell, C.R. Jewish Art Treasures from Prague, The State Jewish Museum in Prague and its Collections. Bradford and London: Lund Humphries Publishers, Ltd. 1980.

Ducasse, Curt John. The Philosophy of Art. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1966.

Edidin, Ben M. Jewish Holidays and Festivals. New York: Hebrew Publishing Co. 1940.

Edwards, Betty. Drawing On the Right Side of the Brain. Los Angeles: J.P. Torcher, Inc., Houghton Mifflin Co. 1979.

Fields, Dick. Changes In Art Education. London: Routledge & Kegan. 1970. Gardner, Howard. The Arts and Human Development. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 197 3.

83 84

Gardner, Louise. Art Through The Ages. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc. 1970.

Geller, Todros. From Land to Land. Chicago: L.M.Stein Publisher. 1937.

Getty, J. Paul Trust, Center for Education in the Arts. Beyond Creating: The Place for Art in American's Schools. California: Rand Corporation. 1985.

Gilbert, Arthur and Tarcov. Your Neighbor Celebrates. New York: Friendly House Publishers. 19 57.

Goldin, Hayman E. The Jewish Woman and Her Home. New York: Hebrew Publishing Co. 1941.

Greenbesrg, Betty D., Silverman, Althea. The Jewish Home Beautiful. New York: Women's League of the United Synagogue of America. 1941.

Hertz, J. H. Dr. The Pentateuch and Haftorahs. London: Soncino Press, 1958.

Hoover, Kenneth. The Professional Teachers Handbook. Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon, Inc. 1982. ldelsohn, Abraham. The Ceremonies of Judaism. Cincinnati, Ohio: National Federation of Temple Brotherhoods. 1930. lsmar, David. Gates of the Seasons from The B'nai B'rith Messenger. Los Angeles, California: October 3, 1986, Section 1, Front page.

Josephy, Marcia. The Jewish Newspaper, "Pesach Art Available In Variety of Styles." Los Angeles, California: May 1985.

Kayser, Stephen S. Defining Jewish Art, "Functions Not Substance". New York: Mordechai M. Kaplan Jubilee Vol. 1953.

Kayser, Stephen S., Schoenberager, Guido. _Je_w..:.;,-is_h_ _,C,-:e,...,r'""'e,.....m_o_n_i_a_l_A_rt. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America. 1955.

Kolatch, Alfred J. The Jewish Book of Why. Middle Village, New York: Jonathan David Publishers. 1981.

Kolatch, Alfred J. The Second Jewish Book of Why. Middle Village, New York: Jonathan David Publishers. 1985.

Kostelanetz, Richard. Esthetics Contemporary. Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books. 1978.

Landsberger, Franz. A History of Jewish Art. Cincinnati: The Union of American Hebrew Cong. 1946. 85

Landsberg, Franz, Phd. Jewish Life and Art: From the Cradle to the Grave, A History of Jewish Art. Cincinnati, Ohio: Union of American Hebrew Cong. 1946.

Lehrman, S. M. Jewish Customs and Folklore. London: The Narod Press. 1964.

Lowenfeld, Viktor. Creative and Mental Growth. New York: The Macmillian Co. 1952.

Nameny, Ernest. The Essence of Jewish Art. New York. London: Thomas Yoseloff Co. 1960.

Raphael, Chaim. A Feast of History, Passover through the Ages as a Key to Jewish Experience. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1972.

Read, Herbert. Education Through Art. London: Farber & Farber. 1944.

Rockland, Mae Shafler. The Jewish Party Book. New York: Schocken Books.

Roth, Cecil. Jewish Art An Illustrated History. Greenwich, Connecticut: New York Graphic Society, Ltd.

Schaefer-Simmern, Henry. The Unfolding of Artistic Activity. Berkeley, California: University Press. 1948.

Sharon, Ruth. Arts and Crafts The Year Round. New York: United Synagogue Commission on Jewish Education. Vol. I. 1965.

Sharon, Ruth. Arts and Crafts The Year Round. New York: United Synagogue Commission on Jewish Education. Vol. II. 1965.

Spender, Stephen. The New Realism, A Discussion. Folcroft, Pa.: The Folocroft Press. 1969.

Thal, Linda. Compass Magazine, New Directions In Jewish Education, "The Seder Table". New York: Union of American Hebrew Congregations. Summer, 1982.

Tyler, Ralph. Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction. Los Angeles: University Press. 1971.

Witkin, Robert. The Intelligence of Feeling. London: Heinemann Educational Books. 197 4.

Zlotowitz, Rabbi Bernard M., Buys, Rayleen. The Wimple, NFTS Art Calendar, 5747, 1986-1987. Los Angeles and New York: 1986. (l •

APPENDIX

86 @ • 87

CREATION - SECOND AND THIRD DAY

by

Leo Baeck Temple Sunday School, First Grade

white paper, water-color, collage, crayon, marker

88

CREATION - SEVENTH DAY by

Leo Baeck Temple Sunday School, First Grade

white paper, water-color, collage, crayon, marker

89 ,, '

WEDDING CANOPY (Chuppah)

by

Leo Baeck Temple Sunday School, First Grade

fabric, fabric markers, fabric era-pas

90

WIMPEL

by

Deborah and Yedudis

Valley Torah High School,Eleventh Grade

canvas, fabric paint, fabric cray-pas, permanent markers

91

WIMPEL

by

Leo Baeck Temple Sunday School

First Grade

canvas, fabric paint, fabric markers, fabric cray-pas p • 92 (l '

ARK CURTAIN (PAROCHET)

by

Valley Torah High School, Girls Division Ninth through Eleventh Grade

canvas, fabric paint, fabric cray-pas, acrylic paint permanent markers, puffy paint ------93

SEDER TABLE - NOAH

by

Caron, fourth grade

Leo Baeck Temple Sunday School

paper plate with acrylic paint and permanent marker

94-

SEDER TABLE - JOSEPH

by

Alena, fourth grade

Leo Baeck Temple Sunday School

paper plate with acrylic paint and permanent marker

95

The Seder Table - GOLDA MEIR

by

Rachael, fourth grade

Leo Baeck Temple Sunday School

paper plate, acrylic paint, and permanent marker Q • 96

THE SEDER TABLE - ESTHER

by

Rachel, fourth grade

Leo Baeck Temple Sunday School

paper plate, acrylic paint and permanent marker

97

THE SEDER TABLE - JONAH

by

Cathy, fourth grade

Leo Baeck Temple Sunday School

paper plate, acrylic paint and permanent marker

98

THE SEDER TABLE - ALBERT EINSTEIN

by

Robert, fifth grade

Leo Baeck Temple Sunday School

paper plate, acrylic paint, and permanent marker p ' 99

THE SEDER TABLE - LEO BAECK

by

Lori, fifth grade

Leo Baeck Temple Sunday School

paper plate, acrylic paint, and permanent marker