Research
Dissertation Abstract
INFLUENCE OF DOMINANT GEOGRAPHIC ENVIRONMENT ON VISUAL ART PREFERENCE:
IMPLICATIONS FOR ADULT EDUCATION Adults make important decisions influenced by visual information alone. And yet, a method for the analysis of visual information is lacking in educational practice. The arts are the natural source for a methodology of image analysis in our information laden environment. Regional identities are gaining visibility as evidenced in both the media projections and in reports of pluralism in art production.
The importance of the context of learning in adult education supports the notion of image analysis based on locale. Factors constructing the 'dominant environment' of adult populations in three different settings are explored in relation to the formation of cognitive structures which might predict visual preference.
Participants from tree-plains and mountainous environments preferred paintings on the basis of their region-specific spacial relations constructed for this study. A new direction for the development of a regional critique of visual imagery is forecasted.
Participants dislike of urban paintings could indicate the inappropriateness of urban paintings in initial art experiences. The geographic influences in a dominant environment as a general determinant of participants' esthetic preference is a major feature of this research.
A coding system for paintings was developed based on the relationship of frontal to background space for three geographic regions, mountainous, urban and tree-plains. Respondents from California, Michigan and Alaska were surveyed to determine their Dominant Environment (DE) and its effect on their painting preference. The majority of respondents from all but the urban sample, prefered paintings from their DE. The use of regional art in adult education is strongly recommended to strengthen art programs and provide models for emerging practices in public school art education, i.e., discipline-based art education.
Local empowerment through adult education networks is discussed as a means to use community resources in the formation of regional bases for art learning and the development of critical methodologies.
Access to identification of a methodology for image analysis lies in the perspectives inherent in the geographic regions themselves. Understanding art in locale as a prelude to general art appreciation is suggested. Decentralized control over art history, criticism and esthetics is viewed in connection to the general trend toward emerging regional identities and to connectivity between local perception and cognition. The meaning of art in context has implications for the millennial transition.