| The purpose of this thesis is to identify the relationship between the liberal arts and the visual arts. The visual arts have in the past, been taught as a liberal discipline. Historical surveys of the liberal arts tradition and the major trends in advanced studies for the education of visual artists are presented. An attempt is made to show the relationship between art academies of the past and the aims and objectives of the liberal arts tradition.;Through a description of three currently operative systems for educating visual artists, implications for the curriculum models become apparent. Suggestions for curriculum design based on the premise that the visual arts can be taught, and ought to be considered, in context of the liberal arts ideal are made.;Attitudinal changes for art educators in both professional and liberal arts undergraduate programs leading to the Bachelor of Art and the Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees are recommended. Discipline rather than creativity and intellectual development, with an emphasis on ethical values, are set in priority, above self-expression. Instrumentation must take into account the constantly changing technological environment and the pluralistic nature of contemporary society. The student who desires to become a professional artist, like other professionals, should be encouraged to pursue, and helped to attain, a liberal arts foundation in the undergraduate program.;The purpose of this research is clarification of the contemporary confusion over aims and objectives in visual arts undergraduate programs which has led to a disintegration of values in the arts. The chief aim of this proposed curriculum is its demand for coherence, integration and intellectual discipline.;The sister arts of painting and poetry are examined in reference to ut pictura poesis; a classical doctrine which related the art of painting to the tradition of epic poetry. It served the function, in the Renaissance, of raising the status of artists from medieval workmen to honored scholars. The concept of the learned painter, the cult of genius and the first secular academies resulted. |
