The Art in America Radio Programs, 1934-1935

Introduction Radio burst on the American scene in the 1920s and the 1930s, and virtually every cultural and commercial interest sought to promote themselves through the airwaves. Not the least of them was the art community, which produced several series of radio programs on art. The radio series Art in America aired on Station WJZ, New York, in 1934, and it was heard also on the West Coast in 1935. These programs constituted a complete audio correspondence course that was used in homes, schools, and colleges. Seventeen broadcasts featured American art history, including modern art, along with programs in the arts of theatre set design, filmmaking, architecture, and city planning. The Art in America broadcasts were programmed in two parts. Part one focused on various artrelated topics during the years from 1650 to the Civil War. Part two, the series discussed here, covered the years from the Civil War to the 1930s. The history of the rapid expansion of the radio industry bears an uncanny resemblance to the all-consuming expansion of computing, telecommunications, and art education in the late 20th century. To understand the parallels between these two eras in history is to understand better the relation of art education to mass media. This article examines the first nationally broadcast art program and its cultural and social impacts. Since this article is also about the rapid development of radio as set within the context of all mass media and art education, the discussion includes the collaboration of museums, broadcasting, and philanthropic organizations that made the Art in America programs possible. All the influences of these educational agents are brought to focus by what Harris (1990) termed "public taste," defined as "the aesthetic knowledgability, experiences and preferences of the entire population" (p. 57). Unfortunately, little has been written about the Art in America project, which is surprising considering the advancements the programs signify for education, art, and broadcasting. The history of the project drew upon histories of diverse educational institutions, with the history of radio as only one component (Covert, 1984). Cremin's (1988) history of education also included histories of informal education from the press, radio and television, libraries, and museums, along with the formal education in schools. These histories of mass media and of education depict a broad scope of sources for formal and informal learning, and the Art in America programs show this overlap of effort in broadcasting and philanthropy as popular education. Likewise, this article reaches beyond the histories of art education with their emphasis on formal schooling. The examination of learning outside schools from informal educational institutions reveals not only a wealth of education extending beyond schools, but also shows the conditions that influenced what people learned in many institutions, including schools. It would seem a mistake, then, to pronounce the educational effects of, perhaps only radio, or only schools, without including their partnerships with other cultural institutions (Cremin, 1988). Several histories provide valuable context for the Art in America programs. Bolin's (1989) history of art education on radio discusses several programs on art education broadcast between 1929 and 1951 in Ohio and Buffalo, New York to such national broadcasts as Art for Your Sake, which aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System. Bolin concludes that the broadcasts show a continuance of art education's picture study movement well into the 20th century, which includes the Art in America programs and illustrated supplements. He states that the Art in America programs were the first national broadcasts on art, and probably the most elaborate art educational effort on radio. Other histories of art education bear no mention of the Art in America programs (Logan, 1955; Wygant, 1983; Efland, 1990). Neither are Art in America programs mentioned in histories of mass media by Barnouw (1966-70), Covert and Stevens (1984), MacDonald (1979), or Smith (1983). …