Revitalizing History

Recognizing the Struggles, Lives, and Achievements of African American and Women Art Educators

With a focus on African American art educators and women art educators, Vernon Press is delighted to announce an upcoming text titled "Revitalizing History: Recognizing the Struggles, Lives, and Achievements of African American and Women Art Educators" to be published in Spring 2017. The text is a result of the papers presented at the recent Brushes with History Conference held in November 2015 at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York, NY and will be edited by Paul Bolin (University of Texas at Austin) and Ami Kantawala (Teachers College, Columbia University).

Historical inquiry forms the foundation for much research undertaken in art education. While traversing paths of historical investigation in this field we may discover undocumented moments and overlooked or hidden individuals, as well as encounter challenging ideas in need of exploration and critique. In doing so, history is approached from multiple and, at times, vitally diverse perspectives. Our hope is that the conversations generated through this text will continue to strengthen  and encourage more interest in histories of art education, but also more sophisticated and innovative approaches to historical research in this field. 

The overarching objective of the text is to recognize the historical role that many overlooked individuals—particularly African Americans and women—have played in  the field of art education, andacknowledge the importance of history and historical research in this digital age. This text opens up possibilities of faculty collaborations across programs interested in history and historical research on a local, national, and international level. By assembling the work of various scholars from across the United States, this text is intended to elicit rich conversations about history that would be otherwise beyond what is provided in general art education textbooks.