The Emergence of Canadian Art

Education
Art education in Nova, Scotia,
Ontario and British Columbia 1900-
1905
C. L. Brown
 Background
• In 1900, Canada was
33 years old with
only seven provinces
and 2 territories.
• Concept of public
education was only a
little older than the
country

Blackboard by Winslow Homer

Retrieved from http://www.andrewgrahamdixon.com/archive/readArticle/168
 Issues
Resources (urban versus rural schools)
Approaches to teacher training
Curriculum priorities
New Technologies
Gender
How did the teaching of art in
Canada develop out of the teaching
of drawing?
 Nova Scotia
• Drawing present in education from 1850s
• Became an official subject in 1864 with the Free School Act
• In 1867, the Journal of Education advocated art instruction by
publishing lessons on drawing and colour use.
• Council of Public instruction also provided drawing materials
for use within schools
• In 1865, Nova Scotian schools had only 15 students taking
drawing
• In 1866, 5% of total student population (3734 students) took
drawing.
• In the following years, the percentage of students taking
drawing rose to 10% of the student population.
• Art education in Nova Scotia was influenced by the South
Kensington School
Nova Scotia and Alexander McKay
• Born and raised in Nova Scotia
• Began teaching at 15
• Graduated from Truro’s Normal
School at 18 in 1859
• 24 year career as teacher and
principal until his appointment in
1881, as supervisor for the board
of school commissioners for the
city of Halifax
• Retired from his role as
supervisor in 1916
• Co-founded Victoria School of Art
and Design and served as the
secretary on the board of directors.
Nova Scotia and Alexander McKay
• Advocate for drawing and art in
public education but felt the
drawing programs in Nova Scotia
were inadequate
• Aware of South Kensington
School and felt it had the potential
to provide students with
marketable skills
• Helped bring Walter Smith to
Halifax and Truro to lecture to
teachers on his system of drawing
in 1882
• By 1884, Smith’s texts were used
for all grade levels in all Nova
Scotian schools
Nova Scotia and Alexander McKay
• Art’s refining influence
would extend into the
homes via education
• Drawing was more than
freehand or industrial it
was also aesthetic
• Picture study and
discussion promoted
appreciation of beauty
and of morality
 Other Influences in Nova Scotia
The Practical and Manipulative Arts
• Sir William Macdonald equipped and paid
teacher salaries for manual training for three
years
• Funding broad enough to sometimes include
art and drawing

McFaul, Casselman and Augsburg

• McFaul and Casselman’s texts replaced Smith texts
• Still consisted of copying sequence, line and design motifs with
some perspective, figure and landscape
• Augsburg’s texts replaced these
• Still copying but varied media and encouraged students to
change perspective and composition
 Ontario
• Exemplar for art education was the South Kensington System
• Art and manual training developed simultaneously in Toronto
• Toronto School board employed Arthur Reading as
superintendent of drawing from 1880
• Reading authored and oversaw the introduction of a series of
drawing texts in the city of Toronto (The High School Drawing
Course)
• Texts by Lucius O’Brian, McFaul and Casselman were used later
• Ontario Department of Education concerned with standardizing
instruction, practical applications of drawing, developing
draftsmanship in grade school students and the ability of regular
teachers to teach drawing
• Chief Inspector of Schools James l. Hughes advocated
drawing in public education
 Ontario and Jessie P. Semple
• Prize winning student at
the Collegiate Institute
(Toronto) in the 1870s
• Teacher for 19 years in the
Toronto system
• Supported by James L.
Hughes
• Appointed Director of
Drawing in 1900 by the
Toronto Board of
Education
• Retired from role in 1925
 Ontario and Jessie P. Semple
• Signalled the end of copy-
books and the beginning of art
• Emphasis on free drawing,
drawing from nature, design,
decoration and colour work
• Influenced by the American
art education practices, the arts
and craft movement and by
William Morris and John
Ruskin
• Aware of developments in art
education and of Henry Turner
Bailey’s School Arts Book
 Ontario and Jessie P. Semple
• Purpose of art education was
to develop habits of
observation, foster good taste
and expression and cultivate
creativity
• Was invited to contribute to
the Ontario Teachers’ Manual
(1916)
• Suffragette and strong
supporter of female educators
• Founding member of the Lady
teachers’ Association in 1885
 British Columbia
• Drawing introduced as a branch of education in 1872 but drawing
was listed as a subject that may be taught
• 1885 recommended text was Walter Smith’s Freehand Drawing
• Influence from the South Kensington System
• The “science and art master” or drawing master at the Vancouver
Normal School was David Blair, and alumni of South Kensington
• Authored the Canadian Drawing Series texts with John Kyle and
focused on the South Kensington model of geometric and
freehand drawing
• In the 1907 edition of the Canadian Drawing Series colour and
design were added as a concession to the newer practices of art
education
• Blair’s successors, John Kyle and W.P. Weston were also trained
in Britain
British Columbia and Winifred Gabriel
• Passed the 1904 Victoria Centre
High School exams
• The exams include a 2.5 hour
freehand drawing assignment that
required students to enlarge an
image of a bottle
• Received a teaching certificate
(second class) at the age of 18
• Taught for 1 year in Schools on
Vancouver island- Crofton and
Sandwick
• Typical classroom teacher in a
rural, one room school and was
expected to teach all subjects
including drawing
British Columbia and Winifred Gabriel
• Temporarily licensed
teacher relegated to small,
rural schools unless she
attended the Normal
School in Vancouver
• Was poorly prepared and
adequate supports were
not available to help her
teach all subjects
(including art) in
multilevel, rural
classrooms
 Conclusions
The teaching of art in Canada developed primarily out of the
South Kensington model teaching of drawing in urban areas.
Drawing was generally considered optional and strongly
supported by a few. In both urban and rural areas, drawing
and art instruction was often considered optional for a variety
of reasons. The presence of drawing or art instruction in
schools was largely based on the supports for and preparation
of teachers, teacher aptitude and preferences. The exception
appears to be Toronto because of the innovation of Jessie P.
Semple. Semple’s influences came from Morris, Ruskin and
the arts-and-craft movement; all of which were in opposition
to the South Kensington model.
 Conclusions
The issues of resources (urban versus rural schools), teacher
training, curriculum priorities, new technologies and gender
were just as problematic for art educators in the past as today.
Generalists were expected to teach all subjects with
proficiency, but with inadequate training and support.
In our age of 21st century literacies, art education and
integration are touted as the cure all to students’ lack of
engagement. Once again, the push is to use art education to
provide students with useful and marketable skills. However,
just like in 1900, teacher training and the supports provided to
classroom teachers do not necessarily reflect the views
expressed by districts and government.
 Resources
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Efland, A. (1983). School art and its social origins. Studies in Art Education, 24(3), 149-157. Retrieved
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Stankiewicz, M. (2001). Roots of art education practice. Worcester, Massachusetts: Davis Publications.