CHANGE THE WORLD ONE SEQUIN AT A TIME: A CONTEMPORARY FASHION DESIGN ART EDUCATION CURRICULUM By DEBRA TROYANOS A CAPSTONE PROJECT PRESENTED TO THE COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2013 CHANGE THE WORLD FASHION CURRICULUM 2 ©2013 Debra Troyanos CHANGE THE WORLD FASHION CURRICULUM 3 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my tremendous family for their support through these two years of graduate school. They missed out on a lot of time with me, and I am looking forward to making it up to them soon. I hope that I will be a good example to my daughter Ana to strive to always do her best, and to have a life-long love of learning. I have had some amazing professors while in the University of Florida Online Art Master’s Degree Program, who have opened my eyes up to a whole new world of art education that is much richer and complex than I ever knew possible. They have inspired me to change my own approach to teaching art. By sharing these new ideas in this curriculum I have created, I hope to inspire other art educators. I would also like to thank my committee, members Craig Roland and Jodi Kushins, for their positive encouragement and excellent contributions for this capstone project. CHANGE THE WORLD FASHION CURRICULUM 4 ABSTRACT OF CAPSTONE PROJECT PRESENTED TO THE COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS CHANGE THE WORLD ONE SEQUIN AT A TIME: A CONTEMPORARY FASHION DESIGN ART EDUCATION CURRICULUM By Debra Troyanos May 2013 Chair: Craig Roland Committee Member: Jodi Kushins Major: Art Education Abstract Celebrity pop star Lady Gaga once said “Now I’m just trying to change the world, one sequin at a time.” How could the art of fashion make political and social statements about our culture strong enough to change the world? This capstone project involves curriculum research, development, and implementation of a new type of high school art course in fashion design. Historically, fashion design has typically been taught in high schools as a home economics or sewing course. However, I see it as a rich subject for high school art students to study. Fashion is currently of high interest to adolescent students, due to television shows such as Project Runway and America’s Next Top Model. Contemporary art educators and their students can explore the topic of fashion artistically, aesthetically, multi-culturally, historically, globally, and through visual and popular culture. The fashion design curriculum I have created contains five CHANGE THE WORLD FASHION CURRICULUM 5 comprehensive units, which I have posted on my website www.MrsTsArtEducation.weebly.com, that explore themes such as identity, self-discovery, ethics, social justice, and socio-political culture that are at the heart of art-making. This approach to secondary art education can create an avenue for self-discovery and self-actualization in high school students. This curriculum includes traditional techniques of fashion sketching and illustration, as well as a variety of ways to use new technology to design fashions and artwork with a computer. In addition, feminist themes are examined in this new curriculum raising questions about fashion and power, the influence of advertising, sexualization of teens, and societal ideals of beauty. Teaching fashion design to today’s 21st century student with this curriculum will provide an opportunity to “change the world, one sequin at a time.” CHANGE THE WORLD FASHION CURRICULUM 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page .......................................................................................................................................1 UF Summary Page .........................................................................................................................2 Abstract ..........................................................................................................................................3 Table of Contents Page ..................................................................................................................4 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 5 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................................. 5 Purpose of the Study .....................................................................................................................5 Assumptions of the Study .............................................................................................................8 Definition of Terms.......................................................................................................................9 Study Limitations ........................................................................................................................13 Literature Review.........................................................................................................................13 Methodology ...............................................................................................................................18 Research Methodology ...............................................................................................................18 Subject Selection, Site, and Description .....................................................................................19 Data Collection Procedures .........................................................................................................21 Data Analysis ..............................................................................................................................23 Summary/Reflections ..................................................................................................................23 References ...................................................................................................................................23 Author Biography .......................................................................................................................26 Timeline ......................................................................................................................................27 CHANGE THE WORLD FASHION CURRICULUM 7 List of Figures/Tables Figure 1: Massachusetts College of Art Student Display……………………….…..…………..13 Figure 2: Components of this Fashion Design Curriculum………………………..…………...24 Figure 3: Students learn to draw figures in proportion………………………………...………..27 Figure 4: Homepage of my art education website……………………………………...……….29 Figure 5: Fashion Curriculum Pinterest Board……………………………………...…………..32 Figure 6: Student drawing prom gowns on croquis………………………...…………………...33 Figure 7: Students creating collages in their journals……………………...…………………...33 Figure 8: Mixed Media Fashion Collage…………………………………...…………………...34 Figure 9: Student Drawing of Flats (Apparel)………………………………...………………..34 Figure 10: Student Drawing of Shoes……………………………………………...……………35 Figure 11: Sample of Croquis on Design Board…………………………………...…………....35 Figure 12: Fashion Croquis created for Figure Type…………………………………...……….35 Figure 13: Fashion Croquis for Theme………………………………………………...………..36 Figure 14: Fashion Board Sample with Various Themes………………………………...……..36 Figure 15: Handbag Designs……………………………………………………………...…….36 Figure 16: Fashion Show at School of Fashion, Boston………………………...……………...43 Figure 17: Student with Portfolio Display………………………………… ………………….43 Figure 18: Student and I at Fashion show……………………………………………………….43 Figure 19: Example of Anime/Fashion Combo……………………………………………...….45 Figure 20: An Anime Fan’s Fashion Croquis…………………………………………………...46 Figure 21: Student creating fashion design in Photoshop……………………………………….47 Figure 22 Student Clothing Designs Created in Photoshop……………………………………..47 Table 1: Change The World Fashion Design Curriculum Map……………………………........30 CHANGE THE WORLD FASHION CURRICULUM 8 Introduction As a high school art teacher who has been learning about exciting new ideas in the field of art education in graduate school, I asked myself “What kind of course could I create that students would find meaningful and relevant to their lives?” From this key question, other questions arose. What about a course that would teach students the drawing and painting skills of human proportion, fabric rendering of light and shadow, and the realistic skills they crave to know? What about a course that could also help students look thoughtfully at personal and cultural values and ethics, at history, and at other cultures’ aesthetics as well? Could there be a way to include global citizenship and the local and world community in such a course? I have created such a course for my high school art students. This new fashion design class is designed to be an art course that does not require sewing. It focuses on designing, drawing, and painting fashion illustrations, as well as creating other projects such as videos, PowerPoint presentations, posters, persuasive essays on hot-button fashion topics, and recycled fashions and accessories. In addition, the course will include class discussions and evaluations of historical, social, cultural and religious meaning of fashions such as Muslim burkas, Japanese kimonos, or Amish attire. The topic of fashion is replete in ways the art educator can capture and hold the