The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-09-02
scHooLRooM DECORATION.


year or so in regard to the aesthetic edu-
cation of children, and have urged the
Importance of surrounding them with
beautiful objects In the schoolroom. The
subject. in fact. has become popular one
with the people who endeavor to instruct
the public through lectures and literature,
and club talks and essays dealing with the
theme are to be encountered on every
hand The idea that to have proper
understanding of art training must be be-
gun in youth and the child made to absorb
knowledge by unconscious cerebration. hav-
ing once been accepted by the educators
and theorists. it is worked over and over
and presented in every possible form, all
arguments, however, eliminating with the
urgent advice to decorate the schoolroom.
walls" they say; procure plaster casts of
classic models and put them where they
will educate the childish eye; put fine
plants in the windows So that the little
ones may become familiar with grace and
color" A writer in one of the Septem-
about the tinting of the walls against
which the aforesaid pictures and casts are
to be hung. 1t is important to have these
tints just right, she says, and then Of
fers a chapter of instructions on the SUBJ
ject of harmonious color which should
enable any one not totally color blind to
secure an artistic background for what
ever decorations are desired, the matter
being made the easier, according to her
own showing, by the circumstance that
serve admirably for the purpose.
The Journal has no wish to discuss the
decorative theory as SUCH 1t is no doubt
based on correct principles. and though
great deal of nonsense has been written
on the subject it is in the main true, of
course, that the surroundings of a child
have more or less influence on his mind
and should therefore be as agreeable as
possible. Whether he is greatly benefited
on the whole by daily contemplation of
the inane faces and overly fat infants
which were the usual conception by the
old masters of the Madonna and Child"
or whether he gains for instance, an in
telligent idea of art through observation Of
Guido's "Aurora"-a picture which needs a
background of education for its apprecia-
tion-may be question.
The point upon which the Journal wishes
to touch is not the possible advantage of
schoolroom decoration, but the fact that
all the advice and instruction on the SUBJ
ject are aimed at the heads of teachers.
1t is they who are expected to act upon
the suggestions of the theorists; it is they
who are to procure pictures, and casts. and
plants. and window draperies, and other
objects supposed to be necessary to make
the classroom attractive to the child. 1t
is assumed at the outset that school boards
will not undertake such decoration, and
though it is recommended that local art
clubs supervise the work, the main burden
of it is laid upon the teachers. How they
are to get the decorations is a matter into
which the advisers do not enter Presum-
ably, if they can persuade their friends or
public-minded citizens to contribute art
objects to their schools and to pay for
painting the walls of the rooms in aesthetic
tints. such action will be approved. but it is
urged upon them as bounden duty TO
have the decoration done. AS a matter of
fact, it is commonly done by each teacher
at her own expense. In Indianapolis
schools, at least. she buys copies of classic
| pictures, bits of statuary, flowers, etc.,
and pays for them out of her own pocket.
| This ought not to be the case. No teacher
ought to spend dollar OF her none too
mot even she who is enthusiastic and does
| so with free and willing hand feeling
| that she can afford it. She sets a pace
| that others who can i'll afford the outlay,
or who could use the money to better adj
vantage elsewhere, feel forced to follow.
| 1t will not do to say that there is no COM
f! pulsion; there is compulsion of kind that
is none the less strong because unofficial.
| When one room in a building is hand
| somely decorated the others suffer by con-
/ trast. The decorated room becomes show
| place, the teacher is praised by visitors,
i ana as an inevitable consequence taxes a
higher stand in the estimation of her su-
| periors. The other teachers feel this. and
also feel that they are in manner criti-
| cised if they continue with unadorned
walls. Therefore it is that they take the
course that seems forced upon them and go
| into the decorating business themselves.
1t is true that pictures of a certain class
| are inexpensive, but even enough of the
| cheapest pictures to cover the bare walls
| of schoolroom forms no small item of
expense. Moreover, it is not the mex
| pensive zones that are recommended or
| thought most desirable. If the School
| Board or the art clubs see fit to turn the
ciassrooms into picture galleries, that is
| another matter and may be all very well,
but teachers should not be expected to dc
IL and should refuse to do IL. A school
regulation very properly forbids asking
| contributions of the pupils for any purpose;
the teachers should be equally free.
l
The attacks of the Boxers, backed by the
Chinese government, have reused the in
| dignation of the civilized world as they
should They desired to kill all whites
and the civilized world decided that Ii must