1965 Seminar

Penn State became the international center for art education with the arrival of Austrian-born Viktor Lowenfeld in 1946. The most influential art educator of the 20th century, he wrote the field’s dominant book, Creative and Mental Growth–based on pioneering work in psychology and the art of the visually impaired–and taught here until his death in 1960.

 – Penn State Alumni Association sign adjacent to the Visual Arts Building

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Download the “Big Red Book” (2nd edition) (~35MB)

Download a list of selected references on the 1965 seminar Biblio_1965PSS (compiled by Mary Ann Stankiewicz).

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The 1965 Art Education Seminar held at Penn State is a landmark in the field. Participants and attendees included leaders who shaped the field into the next century. Organized by art education faculty members Ed Mattil (Penn State), David Ecker and Jerome Hausman (Ohio State), and moderated by Harlan Hoffa (Penn State), the seminar was funded by the United States Office of Education and planned in conjunction with leading art educators such as Elliot Eisner (University of Chicago), Kenneth Beittel (Penn State), and Manuel Barkan (Ohio State). Bringing together artists, art historians, critics, art educators, curriculum experts, psychologists, and sociologists, the seminar helped transform the focus of art education from psychologically grounded, developmental approaches to teaching and research to a more self-conscious stance as part of the humanities and interdisciplinary scholarship. Participants at the 1965 Seminar argued that curriculum in visual arts education should draw on contemporary art practice, and introduce art history and criticism to school children. They carried these ideas back to their institutions, exploring them with succeeding generations of graduate students who then implemented new paradigms.

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For more information, contact pennstate50@psu.edu

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