On a surface level, multiculturalism in art education seems simple. “Teach about different cultural interpretations of art so we can all join hands and unite as one.” However, there are many conundrums that arise. The reality is that art in culture is so large and complex that we are only able to teach a small fraction of it. Even in the art history courses I took at Stout, despite being primarily of the western world, we only just scratched the surface of it. It’s hypocritical when teachers argue that all cultures are equal when they in turn pick and choose a few select topics. How do we as art educators decide what is worth teaching and what isn’t?
In Harold Best’s article, Lemonade or Merlot? Authentic Multiculturalism and High Culture he argues against the guilt-driven rhetoric that aims to shrug off Western achievements in music. He explains that it’s okay to have certain preferences to certain things by saying, “Differences in kind make room for the allowance of differences in quality among kinds.” Best uses an analogy of lemonade; just because all kinds of people make lemonade differently, doesn’t mean that all lemonade is of the same quality. It’s okay to critique people’s cultural differences, as long as you don’t become an elitist. He argues that you can compartmentalize both the “good” and “bad” aspects of a certain culture; you can like Wagner’s music but be against his anti-semetic beliefs. The author isn’t trying to affirm prejudice and believing that we are in the center of it all. He explains that at the same time however, we can’t pretend that biases don’t exist or that there isn’t a “center” from which a person’s perception of the world radiates.
As a future art educator, rather than trying to start with a singular culture, I want to teach certain qualities of art that are universal. All cultures can be linked back to something physical in the natural world. That’s why I want to start with teaching drawing techniques from life first, then branch off and slowly intersperse multicultural perceptions. This goes in line with Harold’s first proposition to help with arts education.
The article Multicultural Art Education and Social Reconstructionism by Patricia Stuhr has an underlying narrative that as a society, it is our job to promote social justice and fight for human rights and equality. The problem is when this becomes more like indoctrination and trying to mold students to be future social justice warriors, rather than explorers. Stuhr talks about the importance of promoting “democracy,” which by definition is the control of the majority. The irony here is that she is against the promotion of the dominant culture in society. In addition, why is teaching something that exists in the dominant culture a “bad thing?” While I agree it’s great to have perspectives on cultures other than your own, the goal shouldn’t be to try to dismantle all western values.
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