National Art Education Association

Locale 1: Urban Co-Sponsors: The University Center for Adult Education and the DetroitInstitute of ArtsAuthor(s): Robert HolmesSource: Art Education, Vol. 18, No. 9, Continuing Art Education for Adults (Dec., 1965), p. 15Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3190652 .

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LOCALE 1: URBAN

Co-sponsors: The University Center for Adult Education and the Detroit Institute of Arts

ROBERT HOLMES Our burgeoning society has placed un- precedented demands on adults to con- tinue their education. Greater leisure, longer retirement, acceleration in educa- tion of youth, need for further education against obsolescence of yesterday's knowl- edge; these are factors which confront us. To satisfy the great hunger for knowl- edge, educators attempt to develop a learning pattern that is lifelong. As prod- ucts of urbanization, mature adults look to the city to help them cope with the problems which it creates and so vividly symbolizes ... for, if the city is to be the capital of contemporary man, it must also be his campus.

In 1957 the University Center for Adult Education was formed toward making the ideal of urban lifelong learn- ing a reality. The UCAE is a joint func- tion of Wayne State University, The Uni- versity of Michigan and Eastern Michi- gan University. A few years ago, the Education Department of the Detroit Institute of Arts contacted us for help in development of its art courses. We embarked upon co-sponsorship of adult art education courses. Since that time, the program has grown steadily and our enrollment in art courses last year was 1,377, the highest in any single discipline area. Although I do not wish to add to the cliches regarding our cultural renais- sance, in our Detroit program art has taken over the number one post which

was formerly occupied by courses in busi- ness, insurance, and other professionally oriented fields.

Courses and events offered under the co-sponsorship of the University Center for Adult Education and the Detroit In- stitute of Arts are in many instances sequences of studio and appreciation courses for beginning, intermediate, and advanced students which most commonly make up programs in adult art educa- tion. Several unusual offerings can be mentioned profitably, however. "Adven- tures in the Arts for Children" examines means which may be employed by the adult in broadening his skills toward more meaningful participation with the child or adolescent as he is introduced to the various expressions of the arts. "Ex- periences in the Arts" is designed to combine attendance at six artistic per- formances with guided discussions and analyses of them. Events cover symphony concerts, music recitals, ballet, art ex- hibits, plays, art lectures and poetry readings selected from the Detroit calen- dar of events. Discussions are led by experts in the performance fields. "Color as a Design Tool," "Art for the Travel- ler," "Italic Handwriting," "Psychology and the Arts," and "American Culture: The Roots and Flowers" are among the classes offered. A new weekly lecture- discussion series, "Man, the Arts, and the Contemporary World," is directed to an examination and an evaluation of what has happened in the arts of the con- temporary world. One may attend in- dividual lectures or the complete series.

The success of this co-sponsorship seems to demonstrate that universities and art museums, particularly in an ur- ban setting, might well get together.

Robert Holmes is Director of the Uni- versity Center for Adult Education.

LOCALE 2: MUSEUMS The Detroit Institute of Arts, the Walker Art Center and the Milwaukee Art Center

MARY JANE WARD GENENE SINDORF One of the busiest places today is the art museum. Many people come to look at the exhibits; but the activity at these centers is much more than viewing the art objects on display. The education departments of these institutions extend the walls of the galleries in many di- rections. Any building may hold a loan or travelling exhibit. The calendar of daily events include lectures, classes, tours, film showings, concerts, readings, and special events.

The programs of art museums have direct reference to the concerns of their active membership. The exhibition "To- ward a New City" presented during Sep- tember and October 1965 at the Walker Art Center is an example of this type of active participation in community affairs. It is based on a recent Minneapolis urban design study, a joint project developed by the City Planning Commission and the Minneapolis chapter of the American Institute of Architects, with the assistance of the Walker Art Center, the Minne- apolis School of Art, and the University of Minnesota. Models, drawings and plans compare the existing situation with proposed changes. The exhibition has been supplemented by a series of lecture

PHOTOS: Left: Special exhibition tour, De- troit Institute of the Arts. (Locale 2: Museums) Right: Evening sculpture workshop, Detroit Institute of the Arts. (Locale 1: Urban) Both photos by Bernice Clark.

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