Reconsidering the History of Art Education: Making the Influence of Jane Addams and Hull-House Visible

• In Event: 52.083 - Roundtable Session 19
  In Roundtable Session: 52.083-7 - Social Justice in Arts Education

Abstract

In this paper, the authors explore the work of Jane Addams who, with Ellen Gates Starr, founded Hull-House, the first social settlement in Chicago in 1889. Through their work, they initiated art and educational opportunities, engaged in community-based reforms, and reconceptualized research through an inclusive form of action. All of this work had the overtly political goal of ameliorating poverty. By considering the impact of Addams’ work through a feminist lens, the authors reveal longstanding and pressing concerns related to gender and sexuality in education and social research. In the process, they question the systems of oppression, specifically related to gender and queer identity, which kept and continue to keep Addams’ work from being more recognized in art education.

Authors

• Melanie L. Buffington, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Courtnie N. Wolfgang, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Pamela G. Taylor, Virginia Commonwealth University