Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-04-21
ART TEACHERS ADVISED
TO INTRODUCE MODERN
METHODS IN COLLEGE
Students Should Understand
Difference Between Real and
Faddish Systems, Says Co.
lumbia University Pro-
fessor
URGE HIGHER STANDARDS

Art for higher education and higher
education for art was the slogan sounded
by John Pickard, president of the Col
lege Arts Association, in opening the an
nual convention Mr.. Pickard, who comes
from Columbia, Mo-, also declared that
1.-THE field of art is as wide as life and no
little coterle has a monopoly In wisdom y
Anything commercial. vicious or ugly, he
added, is our common enemy. a.
Provost Smith, on the part of the Uni
versity, welcomed the delegates, who will
hold sessions today and tomorrow. He
urged continuance of art education in
the colleges along broad lines. Not only
should the students be instructed In art,
he held, but they should be grounded in
literature and allied subjects.
"The horizon of the art student" said
the Provost, "can be broadened by
chemistry in which are many facts useful
to the student in art or architecture.
While there are some members OF our
faculties and student bodies who would
drop chemistry in the art course, 1 be-
lieve the art student should learn many
things which in themselves are not direct
ly art. We should mix In order to obtain
a broader point of view and I look for
ward to the day when our architectural
schools will develop into schools of art.
'I ask you IL you do not believe that
our training should be a broad one.
would hate to see our department of archl-
lecture separated from our University.
Boys in the making ought not to be sep
arated from students in other lines. There
is tendency to specialize. This may he
all right after foundation has been laid,
but ask II 1t would not be better first to
lay a basis in literature, science and other
affiliated subjects before We graduate our
students as artists" %
Report of the Committee on In~estiga-
tion OF Art Education in American Col
leges and Universities was presented by
Holmes Smith, chairman.
John Frederick Lewis, as president of
the Academy of the Fine Arts, welcomed
the delegates to Philadelphia as the rep
resentative of that institution. About
800 men and women are participating in
the convention.
Establishment by the Federal Govern
ment of a department to care for the arts
and culture of the nation was advocated
by Frederick Dielman, of the College of
the City of New York. Mr.. Dielman spoke
during a symposium this afternoon on the
question: What does instruction in art
as found in the college A. b. course offer
10 the future artistT'
The speaker held that the college at
present was not doing what 1t should in
the matter OF art The tendency, he said.
was toward a diminution In the amount of
cultural subjects and an increasing ten
dency in what are regarded as practical
subjects.
'Art," he declared has a definite place
in the college curriculum and should be
recognized as one of the greatest educa-
tional functions. Recognition OF the beau
tlful brings fuller and fuller life to man.
The college has a function in teaching
the significance of art to the layman.
Both faculty and student should be ac-
quainted with the meaning and significance
of art. 1t is not the function of college
TO make an artist the best 1t can do is to
lay the groundwork and foundation"
The speaker admitted that whether or
not the artist requires a college education
remained an open question. He cited sew
eral instances OF admittedly great artists
who were not college graduates.
Miss Cecilia Beaux, artist, opposed some
of the views advanced. She asserted that
many young persons devoted themselves
TO art not because OF anyparticular aptl-
tude. but because they were fascinated by
ii. If all art students were put into the
college courses, she held, they would be
diverted by the manifold influences of
their other studies. Beside this, she
argued. the process OF acquiring many
studies was bad for any persons. and espe-
cially so for art students, many of whom,
by constitution and temperament, are not
equal to the demands OF a full college
course