The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-03-16
ART IN THE SCHOOLS
ITS RELATION TO PRACTICAL EDU-
CATION UNDER DISCUSSION
Interesting Meeting of the St. Paul
School Union Held Last Night
George l.. Wilson, Rev. DR.. F. j.
Smith, Miss Gertrude StOcker and
Others Deliver Addresses.

| Lie ISldllOI VI art eQuCdllOu To prdc-
tlcal education was topic generally
discussed last evening before the st.
Paul Central School union, which met
| In the Central high school.
Ut was one of the unions quarterly
meetings, and the assembly room was
well filled with teachers and parents
| interested in it's work.
President j. W. l.. Corning presided
and introduced as the first speaker AS
sistant City Engineer George L. Will
/ son.
Science" said Mr.. Wilson, lis know
ing; art is doing. In Europe we find
the material condition of artisans de-
ponds upon their skill. The condition
| of the skilled workman in France is
better than in other countries, because
the art instinct Of that nation demands
it. In no other country is the artisan
so much an artist as in France
THE children there are taught draw
| ing and designing, and the art schools
are subsidized by the government. We
| pay tribute to the excellence of these
schools by buying their products. There
| is a system of evening schools for the
| teaching of art of which nearly all
| persons engaged. in manufacturing in
dustries avail themselves.
| THE higher institutions-the univer-
! sites and art schoOls-are well known.
Germany has recognized the impor-
| lance of her art schools, and In the
middle of February that government
| forbade the attendance of foreigners,
| and soon all the great art schools of
that country will be closed against
| aliens. 1t will then be no longer pos
sible for Americans to go to that coun-
! try to finish their art education
industrial art education began in
England as a result of the great expo
sition of 1851, when English products
! were placed in contrast with those Of
| other nations. 1t was then settled that
art training should be given, and the
| Immediate result was the Kensington
| art museum. A revolution has been ac-
complished since.
| Nearly every great center of indus
try in Great Britain has an industrial
school under municipal control DR..
Shaw has said that what England
| learned from Europe the United States
must learn from England. The struggle
| that is coming here must be fought
out in the factories rather than on bat
| tie fields.
at is a remarkable fact that all the
| art schools in this country are erdow-
ed by private persons. There is Cooper
Union, the Cincinnati Art academy and
others. There is not a technical art
school in America under municipal con-
troll. 1 know four young men who for
merly lived in this city who studied
drawing in an evening school, and to-
| day they are filing positions they
never could have had but for their
knowledge of drawing. The absence
| Of art education makes us dependent
upon foreign designers for our pattel ms.
THE growth of our manufacturing
industries is desired by all and for that
reason we are standing behind a pro-
| tective tariff, but some time we must
| stand on the same footing as other
| countries in the matter of art.
art education must begin with the
children. The practical value of art
is in the development of the powers of
| observation. 1t cultivates the hand
and eye. Drawing is universal Ian
| guage. Children who study drawing
| may never become artists, but they
| cultivate a habit of accurate observa-
| ton
Harmony and Beauty.
Industrial art education is the foun-
dation of the industrial prosperity Of
this country" said the Rev. DR.. f. ].
Smith.
Aristotle said man had two moral
| senses-sight and hearing. And he pro-
posed that they should be made incap-
able of bringing evil to the soul by
educating the ear to music and the eye
| to art. We must agree with him, and
| that the eye and ear can be developed
and sustained for high conduct and
| thinking. Harmony and beauty are es-
| sential mlniStrants to the human spirit.
| cart has always had religion for Its
mother. The history of religion in all
times is inseparably associated with
| art. So art is not something external
| that people may or may not possess.
| The question isa whether art shall be
| good or bad? In Egypt you find the
| Sphynx with ar human head Oh the
body of a crouching animal. The effect
of Egyptian civilization Is indicative Of
| the spirit to risevabove the animal.
| But Greek art finds its highest eX-
| preston in a statue sof Venus-beauty
incarnate. Human imagination could
| go no deeper. But humanity needed
something more, and when Christ was
born, then wasI born that essentially
| Christian art, painting. There was no
| longer an appeal to the senses, but the
| tender-eyed Madonna became the HUI
| man ideal
80 art is social expression When
| the people shallspartake of their natu-
raj inheritance depends on themselves.
| I plead for beauty for the poor; for
art education in then schools; I plead
| that the teacher shall have it in her
| heart, and see that the world is beau
| tiful. Let the teacher look up and down
| the shores of the glorious Mississippi;
| let him see the opal and the fine shades
| of gray and deeper blue, and come
back feeling as though he had been
! listening to the music Of angels. No
boy on the flats could fail to appreciate
the beauty of the picture. We talk of
art galleries-we have them all around
| U.S.
ut should be taught to girls that
| there are other sins besides those men