David Darts’s research while affiliated with New York University and other places

In this article we explore two urban interventions art projects in the public sphere designed by our Masters’ students at New York University as they set the stage for a discussion on how urban art interventions can function as a form of critical public pedagogy. We argue that these kinds of public art projects provided a space for dialogue with people on the streets about the increased corporatisation of the public sphere. This kind of urban interventionism, we believe, is needed in art education today, as the public sphere is increasingly being eroded by private interests and it is only by reclaiming the public sphere that we can develop a cultural politics that in turn renews our democracy.

This study examines visual dimensions and pedagogical repercussions of the war of terror. Iconographies of threat and prophylaxis are explored through a discussion of the actuarial gaze and the terr(or)itorialization of the visual field. Specific visual culture fallout from the war of terror is examined, including artistic responses and educational (ir)responsibilities and possibilities. Technologies of forgetting and artistic and pedagogical strategies of remembering are also considered. The essay concludes with an examination of implications and possible future directions for contemporary art education in a post-9/11 world.

This article examines the culture wars in the United States and considers their impact on the field of art education. Stretching across virtually ever facet of contemporary culture, these ideologically charged battles over opposing moral values and fundamental belief systems are an intrinsic part of the ongoing struggle to define and control U.S. society. In recent years, the culture wars within and around art education have manifest in two interrelated battles--the first, over the adoption of a visual culture paradigm for the field, and the second, over art teachers' moral responsibilities and academic and expressive freedoms. By examining each set of controversies through a discussion of key arguments and events, this article considers potential implications for the teaching and learning of art. It concludes with a discussion of possible future directions for the field. (Contains 5 footnotes.)

This article examines the culture wars in the United States and considers their impact on the field of art education. Stretching across virtually ever facet of contemporary culture, these ideologically charged battles over opposing moral values and fundamental belief systems are an intrinsic part of the ongoing struggle to define and control U.S. society. In recent years, the culture wars within and around art education have manifest in two interrelated battles—the first, over the adoption of a visual culture paradigm for the field, and the second, over art teachers’ moral responsibilities and academic and expressive freedoms. By examining each set of controversies through a discussion of key arguments and events, this article considers potential implications for the teaching and learning of art. It concludes with a discussion of possible future directions for the field.

Throughout the year, students of Contemporary Issues and the Visual Arts class, an interdisciplinary course for high school juniors and seniors at a large Canadian suburban high school, devised and created a number of individual and collective artistic investigations and creative cultural interventions, both within the classroom and the larger school community, which addressed and examined contemporary social issues. This article describes how art education was made more than just simply the production of artistic objects by developing social issue-themed projects and introducing students to socially engaged artists whose work is concerned with cultural examination and social transformation. Focusing the curriculum around the visual cultures of students' everyday lives, engaging them directly in the planning, teaching and evaluation processes, and connecting visual culture and artists to larger social and cultural issues are all critical components of producing a meaningful art education for students. (Contains 5 endnotes.)

In this article, the author argues that visual culture is an essential direction for contemporary art educators who are committed to examining social justice issues and fostering democratic principles through their teaching. The study explores how visual culture education can empower students to perceive and meaningfully engage in the ideological and cultural struggles embedded within the everyday visual experience. The author examines the work of resistance theorists and socially engaged artists, including culture jammers, in an effort to support and inform the teaching and learning of visual culture. The study concludes with an investigation of cultural production as a pedagogical strategy within the visual culture classroom for generating and facilitating student awareness, understanding, and active participation in the sociocultural realm.