Brent Wilson papers

Brent Wilson (1934 - ) is a professor emeritus of the School of Visual Arts at The Pennsylvania State University. He earned a bachelor of science degree in art and education at Utah State University in 1956. Two years later, he completed a master of fine arts in painting at the Cranbrook Academy. Wilson earned a Ph.D. in art education with minors in sculpture and educational research from The Ohio State University in 1966.

During his early career, Wilson taught elementary and junior and senior high school art. One year after serving as an Art Instructor in Jackson Junior High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, Wilson was the Supervisor for Art for the Salt Lake City Schools. He held this position from 1959 to 1962 and 1964 to 1966.

Wilson joined the faculty of the University of Iowa as associate professor of art and education in 1966, and was the head of the art education program from 1966 to 1971. In 1971-1972, as part of an exchange program, Wilson was a Visiting Principal Lecturer at the School of Art Education, Art and Design Center, Birmingham Poytechnic, Birmingham, England. He returned to the University of Iowa as professor of art and education and head of the art education program in 1972. In 1974, Wilson was appointed professor of art education at The Pennsylvania State University, a position he held until his retirement in 2002.

Among Wilson’s research interests were subjects related to the discipline-based approach to art education he advocates. These include the study of language used to describe and evaluate works of art, the assessment of art educational outcomes, the extrastructural dimensions of art teaching, and the nature of child art. A sensitivity to the role of culture and cultural differences is evident in studies of cultural influences on children’s artistic development and cross-cultural studies of children’s graphic narratives. In the latter, Wilson’s research shows how not only does children’s art reflect culturally distinct views of reality, but it also relies upon culturally determined styles and imagery.

Throughout his career, Wilson was appointed to and served on prestigious committees dealing with issues in art education. He was the principal art consultant to the National Assessment of Educational Progress in Art from 1967 to 1982. From 1982 to 1985, Wilson was one of seven researchers who conducted an extensive inquiry into the teaching of art history, art criticism, and studio art in selected school districts in the United States for the J. P. Getty Trust. In 1987, he served as consultant to the National Endowment for the Arts to conduct research and draft “Toward Civilization,” a report to the President and Congress on the status of arts education in the United States. In the 1980s and 1990s, Wilson’s evaluation of the professional development programs of the Getty Education Institute for the Arts culminated in the publication of The Quiet Evolution: Changing the Face of Arts Education. In 1988, Wilson became the head of the National Evaluation Team for the Getty Center Regional Professional Development Institutes for Discipline-based Art Education. In the 1990s, he served as a researcher for the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

Wilson has also been the recipient of a number of honors and awards including the Manuel Barkan Award in recognition of excellence, scholarly merit, and contribution to the professional literature of art education; the Distinguished Achievement Award given for excellence in education journalism by the Educational Press Association; the Edwin Ziegfeld Award for contributions to international art education and research; and the Lowenfeld Prize for his studies of children’s art. In 1988, Wilson was made a Distinguished Fellow of the National Art Education Association and in 1989 was names the organization’ Art Educator of the Year.

Wilson is both a prolific writer and artist. He authored four books, contributed chapters to books and conference proceedings, and wrote research monographs and research and evaluative reports. He has had eighteen solo exhibitions of his paintings and sculptures.