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Bringing Cultures Together: Elma Pratt, Her International School of Art, and Her Collection of International Folk Art at the Miami University Art Museum

CARDASSILARIS, NICOLE RUTH
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1204738152

Abstract Details

2008, MA, University of Cincinnati, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Art History.
Cora Elma Pratt (1888-1977) educator, collector, artist, and philanthropist spent much of her life building her innovative International School of Art (ISA) in Europe, Mexico, South America, and the United States. Pratt first established her ISA in 1928 in Zakopane, Poland and later organized locations throughout Europe and Mexico. From her travels with the ISA, she acquired a notable 2,500-piece collection of international folk art, which she gave to the Miami University Art Museum in Oxford, Ohio in 1970. This study includes a mini-biography, recounting incidents and experiences that molded Pratt into a devoted art educator and promoter of international folk art in the United States and abroad. As a promoter of folk art, she aligned herself with the Brooklyn Museum, a premier institution that was setting the pace for folk art and children's art exhibitions, acquiring artwork to sell in their gift shop and organizing folk art exhibitions from the 1930s through the 1960s. During Pratt's years of involvement with the Brooklyn Museums, she and the ISA organized the first exhibition of Polish folk art in the United States, Polish Exhibition, 1933-34. This study analyzes Pratt's ISA and looks at a couple of the most prominent artists who taught with her and the workshops they conducted. This thesis also examines some of the popular pedagogical theories promoted by Franz Cizek (1865-1947) and John Dewey (1859-1952) that heavily influenced Pratt's ISA, her educational mission, and eventually, how she believed the collection needed to be interpreted in a traditional art museum environment. While today Pratt's collection remains in storage at the Miami University Art Museum, the implication of this study could allow for Pratt's collection to be interpreted as material culture instead of folk art.
Theresa Leininger-Miller, PhD (Committee Chair)
Mikiko Hirayama, PhD (Committee Member)
Anne Timpano, MA (Committee Member)
118 p.
Adult Education; Art Education; Art History; Fine Arts; Womens Studies
Elma Pratt; International School of Art; Zakopane, Poland; Miami University Art Museum; folk art; material culture; art education; museum collections; Polish folk art; women in art education; Brooklyn Museum; Franz Cizek

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • CARDASSILARIS, N. R. (2008). Bringing Cultures Together: Elma Pratt, Her International School of Art, and Her Collection of International Folk Art at the Miami University Art Museum [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1204738152

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • CARDASSILARIS, NICOLE. Bringing Cultures Together: Elma Pratt, Her International School of Art, and Her Collection of International Folk Art at the Miami University Art Museum. 2008. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1204738152.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • CARDASSILARIS, NICOLE. "Bringing Cultures Together: Elma Pratt, Her International School of Art, and Her Collection of International Folk Art at the Miami University Art Museum." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1204738152

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1204738152
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© 2008, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.