Thirteenth International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

Modern art was a response to the inadequacy of traditional and academic art education in reflecting modern times. Many artists claimed they had to unlearn what they had been taught through traditional ways of teaching. In doing so, they had to find their own self-teaching strategies and some became teachers of their own methods. In the context of New York in the twentieth century, this study presents landscapes in which this unlearning revolution led by artists took place. Created by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) these places include: the Children’s Art Carnival in Harlem, the Art Barge, the Veterans’ Art Center, the People’s Art Center and Young People’s Gallery. With the aim of art for all for the purpose of fuller living that emerged from modern art tenets, this research maps those places that facilitated that turn in pedagogy. This study speculates with the need for the remaining places to be designated as local historic landmarks for their value in remembering radical acts of collective learning.