ABOUT THIS BOOK

Artist Scholar: Reflections on Writing and Research is part history, introduction, and discussion for artists and designers entering, graduating, and employed by the contemporary art academy in the United States. The evolution of art education in the university continues to expand in the 21st century as the variables of craft, skill, technique, theory, history and criticism shift and expand as the perspective of arts-based research is introduced into this professionalized environment. Given this context: what can M.F.A. students do to improve their understanding of writing and research without sacrificing their commitment to their studio art process?

Through a series of essays, the text argues for better writing at the M.F.A. level with the purpose of becoming better artists. By contextualizing art practice in the university and providing a foundation for future artist scholarship, it serves as an invitation to artist scholars to push their work further and develop the confidence to situate their art in the university context.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

G. James Daichendt is associate professor and exhibitions director in the Department of Art at Azusa Pacific University in Southern California. He is the author of Artist-Teacher, also published by Intellect.

REVIEWS

“Daichendt begins with a challenging query that frames the entire structure of his subsequent arguments: ‘What does it mean to be a scholar in the visual arts?’ Universities typically confer the MFA degree on graduate students who produce exhibitions of art objects. Increasingly, though, academic pressure requires more, i.e. a piece of scholarship. This, this volume, in an attempt to address the demands of writing and object-making, offers seven chapters and two appendices on various aspects of these topics. . . . Recommended.”

— Choice

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1: Artists and Scholarship

Chapter 2: The Professionalization of the Visual Arts

Chapter 3: The Status of Art Scholarship

Chapter 4: Artists and Writing

Chapter 5: Reflections on Knowledge and Understanding

Chapter 6: Practicing Reflective Scholarship

Chapter 7: Revisiting Writing and Research

Appendix A: Putting Writing into Practice

Appendix B: Banksy Hearts NY