ADDITIONAL UNITS IN ART RELATED SPECIFICALLY TO HOUSE FURNISHING AND
CLOTHING SELECTION
Though we travel the whole world over to find the beautiful,
we must carry it with us or we find it not.--Emerson.
In the earlier sections of this bulletin it has been suggested that the
first course or unit in art be chiefly concerned with the fundamental
principles of art and that applications of them be made in a great many
fields. It is anticipated that a detailed or complete study of art as
related to home furnishing or to clothing selection is to be given at
a later time as separate units or courses. It is, however, hoped that
the foundation course in art related to the home will give pupils such
training that they will be better able to solve their most common daily
problems in which art is an important factor, should they fail to have
opportunity to take units in home furnishing or clothing selection
later.
In schools having two semesters that can be devoted to related art,
it is recommended that the fundamental art course in which general
applications are to be made be given in the first semester and the
work of the second be composed of these more advanced units. When but
one semester is provided for related art work, additional units in
home furnishing and clothing selection should become a part of the
regular homemaking program, with several consecutive weeks planned
for each unit. These additional units offer fine opportunity for further
applications of the principles of art in judgment and creative problems
pertaining to home furnishing and clothing. Since the pupils will have
gained an art consciousness through the more general course in art
related to the home, and should have developed to a fair degree an
ability to recognize and use certain fundamental art principles, it may
be expected that the home furnishing and clothing selection units will
be built around the larger and more difficult judgment and creative
problems of selection, combination, arrangement, and rearrangement as
they are met in life.
In planning for a unit in home furnishing as an additional unit in
related art, the present and future needs of girls should again be
considered. In the study of house plans, the question arises as to
whether or not to require pupils either to draw original plans or
to copy plans for houses. To do so has been justified as a means of
developing interest of pupils in well-planned houses. However, since
comparatively few pupils will ever make use of house plans they have
made and because many of them will have occasion for making changes in
a house that is already planned or assisting in the selection of a plan
for a house, it would seem more worth while and less time consuming for
them to judge house plans from the standpoint of convenience and the
placing of furniture than to draw them. Since the amount and kind of
wall space is a determining factor in successful arrangements of home
furnishings, opportunity for the individual pupil and class to judge
house plans should be provided. Many interesting plans are to be found
in nearly all household magazines. Care in the selection of such plans
is important in order to avoid discussion of types of houses that are
not in keeping with the standards of the community.
If the home furnishing unit is to provide worth-while training and
experience it should give to the pupils not only an ability to
recognize good design and pleasing proportion in various pieces of
furniture but ability to determine pleasing combinations of color,
design, and texture in upholstery, drapery materials, and floor
coverings, and to arrange and rearrange furniture and home accessories
so that the rooms are comfortable and inviting.
In all consideration of home furnishing and accessories, emphasis is
given to the selection of the vase, the lamp, the chair, or the curtain
which is most pleasing in shape and suited in color and texture for a
particular grouping or arrangement. In the earlier and more general art
unit, attention is confined to such selection for some parts of the
home, but in the later study of home furnishing, they are made for the
entire home, with more specific reference to the relationship of one
room to another and to larger arrangements.
It is assumed that in classes for the average girl 14 years of age and
above, little if any reference will be made to period furniture. If
any is made, it should be from the point of view of determining the
suitability of adaptations of it to the average home and not purely as
a means of identifying one style from another.
To the extent that a better appreciation of good design and proportion
in furniture may be gained by studying why some period furniture, as
early American, is always beautiful and continues to be reproduced, it
may be desirable to make some allusion to it. When a teacher determines
that for the majority in a particular class there is no need for
devoting any time to a consideration of period styles in furniture,
she may satisfy the few who ask questions concerning those styles by
directing them to specific reference readings and allowing them to make
individual studies of those in which they have greatest interest.
The type of furniture to be found within the community is always a
guide in determining how much, if any, study of period furniture is to
be made. An attempt to justify such a study is sometimes made from the
standpoint of the pupil's personal need in assisting in the selection
of new pieces of furniture for the parental home and of the future need
in selecting furniture for her own home. But, after all, success in
providing an attractive and convenient home depends more upon the
harmonious combination of colors and materials and the satisfying daily
arrangement of furniture and accessories than upon whether or not the
furniture is of a definite period or style. It is upon the former that
emphasis should be placed in planning and directing a unit in home
furnishing if it is to be of the most service in the everyday
experiences of the pupils.
The unit in clothing selection provides further opportunity for
valuable art training. The main purpose in this unit is to develop in
the pupils an ideal of being becomingly dressed at all times and an
ability to choose and combine articles of clothing into attractive
daily ensembles. It is evident that if such a training is to be of real
service to the pupils in meeting their daily clothing problems they
must work as much as possible with actual garments, clothing materials,
and clothing accessories. The pupils may be expected to bring some of
the needed garments and accessories from home, the teacher may borrow
some from the stores, and whenever possible the pupils may be taken
to the stores. Such an experience as the last named is most true to
life and is described elsewhere under the topic "Field trips." (See
pp. 53-55.)
Many teachers question whether or not to include some study of historic
costume. Since the unit in clothing selection is designed to give the
pupils an ability to solve their daily clothing problems, the practice
of having the pupils make sketches, tracings, and mountings of costumes
of different periods is undoubtedly of little value. It is not only
time consuming but can contribute very little to the development of
judgment in selecting and combining articles of modern clothing into
suitable and becoming ensembles. There is even a danger that such a
procedure may stifle rather than stimulate interest in beautiful and
harmonious clothing combinations for everyday use. However, certain
features of those costumes which have withstood the test of time and
have been revived and adapted again and again in modern dress designs
may justly claim some consideration. A few well selected and mounted
illustrations of these historic costumes in color may stimulate an
interest in art and a desire to know more about the influence of dress
in the early periods upon the designs of to-day as well as contribute
to better appreciation of color.