Stevie Poole

ART 133- 07/08

Unit Paper 2
2/16/17
Unit Paper 2

Visual culture is a newer concept brought about due to the increase of electronic and print

media over the years (Hurwitz, Day, 2007). Visual culture can be found in television, billboards, music

videos, photographs, video games, and the internet. Hurwitz and Day (2007) state in their article that

they believe that we need to be teaching visual culture to our students so that they are aware of the

messages being projected at them through denotations and connotations. Hurwitz and Day (2007)

suggest that the best approach to teach visual culture is through comprehensive art education, this is

because Visual culture is included as an important component within a comprehensive art curriculum

which focuses on fine art, applied art, and contemporary art (Hurwitz, Day, 2007, pg. 287) . In the

reading from Barrett, (2003) we get more information on the importance of interpreting visual culture.

Her reasoning for this is that without realizing what is being fed to us as consumers through denotations

and connotations, we may end up leaning towards positions we dont agree with.

Visual culture is indeed an important aspect of art that should be examined thoroughly by

students and individuals alike. Ideally, I think the study of visual culture would be best represented if it

were its own course, like a subcategory to an art education class. My reasoning for this approach is that

visual culture has a lot of underlying meanings and messages that may distract from art education as a

whole. As a teacher I would also use great discretion when working with curriculum about visual culture.

Teaching young children about visual culture would be a totally different experience than teaching visual

culture to 5th graders.

References
Barret, T. (2003). Interpreting visual culture. Art Education, 56(2), 6-12
Hurwitz, A., & Day, M. (2007). Children and their art: Methods for the elementary school, (8Th ed.).
Thompson Wadsworth