Bachelor of Science of Communication Studies (BSC), Ohio University, 2024, Media Arts and Studies

The Full Picture is an audiovisual gallery exhibition involving 5 pieces of physical multimedia artwork, which correspond with 5 songs on an EP produced by Cora Fitch, titled "coralilly." These pieces are informed by each other, and reference each other, while existing as complete bodies of work on their own. This essay describes these relationships, their theoretical background, and the process of creating the work displayed in the exhibition in technical detail. Utilizing scholarship on audiovisual relationships in media, an argument is made that The Full Picture utilizes multiple ways of perceiving media to create a new form of work, that exists in reciprocity with itself, the artist, and the viewer.

Committee: Charles Linscott (Advisor) Subjects: Fine Arts; Mass Media; Music; Performing Arts

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Ohio University, 2024, Dance

The postpartum period is a tumultuous time that often brings about changes to the psychological, social, and interpersonal aspects of a new mother's identity. Additionally, existing literature has revealed the potential for the creative arts—namely visual art and creative movement—to provide a space for individuals to explore their identities. This study aimed to examine 1) how mothers describe their postpartum identities and 2) how creative arts workshops can support an exploration into a mother's postpartum experience. Participants were postpartum women, without mental or physical health concerns. They participated in four, 90-minute creative arts workshops. Each workshop consisted of a visual art prompt and creative movement prompt for participants to explore, as well time for discussion about the art-making processes. Data included researcher observations, participant artwork, and participant reflective responses. Four distinct themes emerged through data analysis: Mother/Baby as a Unit, Routine, Body Size, and Reflections on Motherhood. The emergence of these themes reflected significant aspects of the participants' postpartum identities, including feelings that their babies were an extension of themselves, the presence (or lack) of a daily routine in the postpartum period, and feelings related to body size. The data revealed that creative arts workshops provided participants with time and space to reflect on—and bring new meaning to—their postpartum experience. Future research might build upon these findings to see how creative arts might be expanded to support women in the postpartum period.

Committee: Dr. Christi Camper Moore (Advisor) Subjects: Dance

Master of Arts, Wittenberg University, 2022, Education

The following study examined how using different Social Emotional Learning strategies in art impacts middle school students' ability to express their emotions. The participants in the study consisted of 10 seventh grade students from a large public district in Central Ohio during the 2021-2022 school year. Students completed three art projects that focused on expressing emotions using color, facial expressions, and design. My findings showed that based on the rubrics students understood how to express their emotions on their art projects because they scored highly on each rubric. When looking at the data from student reflections and surveys, it did not show a significant change over time. When looking at individual students, the results showed that the intervention positively impacted some students but did not have a significant impact on others. Due to the small number of students participating in the study and the short amount of time the study took place, further research is required to explore the effects of SEL intervention in the middle school art classroom.

Committee: Hillary Libnoch (Advisor); Jessica Tynan (Committee Member); Erin Hill (Committee Member) Subjects: Art Education; Education; Educational Psychology; Middle School Education

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2022, Interdisciplinary Arts (Fine Arts)

This dissertation investigates the works, thoughts, and practices of everyday life of a diverse range of emerging contemporary Syrian artists and filmmakers who created art during the Syrian crisis since 2011. Some stayed in Syria. Others fled the country. Some engaged in armed resistance or political activism. Others lost their lives. This dissertation is primarily concerned with how these individuals created art that reflected the everyday life of Syrians throughout the crisis. The focus on everyday life is crucial because it shifts scholarly attention on the Syrian crisis away from the war itself and onto the overlooked Syrians who are creatively trying to survive it. Drawing on interviews, aesthetic analysis, and participant-observation, I argue that Syrian artists try to reclaim the Syrian identity and homeland concepts back to their cultural heritages and away from political or war realities. In addition, I discuss a new model of the Syrian body of survival and its representations based on its transformations between different modes of survival practices. This dissertation seeks to enrich art history, Performance Studies, and scholarly approaches to the Syrian crisis by positioning Syrian art as a global and contemporary art phenomenon and by documenting, preserving, analyzing, and presenting its artists to the international public. It pays particular attention to Syrian art's local, regional, and global specificity while also considering how the artworks and films are produced, distributed, and presented across international art arenas. The ultimate goal of this dissertation is to clarify what it means to be Syrian today, a concept that has been mostly unrepresented, misrepresented, or distorted by stereotyping.

Committee: Charles Buchanan (Advisor); Garrett Field (Committee Member); Erin Schlumpf (Committee Member); Jennie Klein (Committee Member) Subjects: Art Criticism; Art History; Film Studies; Fine Arts; Middle Eastern Studies; Performing Arts

BA/MA, Walsh University, 2021, Education

Professionally, female artists are underrepresented in museums. This disproportionate representation stems from the lack of historical female artists presented in visual arts classrooms. Since adolescents are directly impacted by same-gender role models, it is essential for young women to be exposed to works by professional female artists while their brains are still developing. If female students are presented with successful role models who share their identity, they are more likely to choose careers in professional art. Thus, my research focuses specifically on the inclusion of three historical female artists within visual arts classrooms in Ohio public schools. I selected three diverse artists to represent sequential periods of time: Sofonisba Anguissola of the 16th-17th century, Mary Cassatt of the 19th century, and Frida Kahlo of the 20th century. My research seeks to answer the following questions: Who are these significant female artists? What are their major contributions? How did they develop their skills? Why have female artists traditionally used the genre of self-portraiture to assert their place in society? Why is it important to study these female artists? I will then propose why the inclusion of female artists should be mandated at the state level for Visual Arts classrooms in grades 9-12.

Committee: Katherine Brown (Advisor); Jennifer Green (Other) Subjects: Art Criticism; Art Education; Art History

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2021, Music

Piano instruction is often conducted as an isolated practice. Most pre-college pianists attend regular private lessons, practice their repertoire at home, and occasionally partake in competitions and recitals. On rare occasions, piano students have access to collaborative environments, such as studio classes, chamber music, or other ensembles. Due to the segregated nature of private music instruction, pianists are often deprived of collaborative or interdisciplinary creative opportunities, which can lead to limited self-expression and perspectives on how music relates to other art forms and to society. Unless pianists are presented with practical instruction and examples of how different art forms intersect with each other, many immersive opportunities can go undiscovered. This thesis explores the applications of the arts in comprehensive, pre-college piano instruction. An experiential program was implemented for young pianists to interact and collaborate with four different art forms: dance, literature, theatre, and visual art. This project observed how interdisciplinary experiential learning affects piano students' interpretations of music as well as how it encourages confidence and liberty in musical improvisation, collaboration, and performance.

Committee: Florence Mak DMA (Advisor) Subjects: Art Criticism; Art Education; Art History; Education; Fine Arts; Music; Music Education; Pedagogy; Performing Arts; Teaching; Theater; Theater History; Theater Studies

DNP, Kent State University, 2019, College of Nursing

Abstract Background and Review of literature: Arts-based interventions have been studied in the cancer care setting and shown to have positive effects on pain, anxiety, depression, and various quality of life indicators. Participants of group art-based experiences often experience a deep sense of connectedness to one another, and self-awareness. Purpose: This project was designed to elicit the perceptions of the adult cancer survivor who engaged in a multi-modal expressive arts intervention in a community cancer support group setting. Methods: This project used quantitative and qualitative approach, purposive sampling from existing adult cancer survivor community support groups. Theoretical concepts from Natalie Roger's Creative Connection® informed the overall design, implementation and evaluation of the project. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using the Expressive Arts for Cancer Survivor data collection tool consisting of a post-intervention 12-item Likert Scale survey and 7 open-ended questions developed for this research. Implementation Plan/Procedure: An expressive arts intervention consisting of drawing and painting or clay work was implemented at the Breast Cancer, Blood Cancers, and Head and Neck Cancer community support groups. Group participants were invited to explore other modalities such as expressive writing, sound, movement and group dialogue to enhance the expressive art experience. Implications/Conclusion: Expressive arts during the cancer support group setting fostered creativity, insight, and self-awareness; helping survivors learn more about their feelings. Participants experienced a deeper sense of connectedness and appreciation for others within the group. The opportunity for sharing was positively received; the arts provided a means of self-expression. Participants expressed a strong desire to discuss the use of expressive arts with their healthcare provider. Findings signal the importance of developing evidence based (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Pamela Stephenson (Committee Chair); Patricia Vermeersch (Committee Member); Tracey Motter (Committee Member) Subjects: Alternative Medicine; Arts Management; Dance; Health Care; Mental Health; Music; Nursing; Oncology; Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, Arts Administration, Education and Policy

Matter and materiality are integral to the artmaking process, but research into materiality in this realm has been largely unexplored. Instead, discussions and explorations of artmaking practice are articulated with the assumption that the artist is the primary active agent. This dissertation interrogates how artmaking and philosophical inquiry can expand current understandings of the concepts of matter, material, and materiality in artmaking. This study looks to the philosophies of Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty and their reaction to the pervasiveness of Cartesian dualism in Western and their contributions to notions of subjectivity, Being, being-in-the-world, embodiment, and perception, and these ideas form the basis from which this study develops. New materialist thought offers a significant contribution to the discussion of materiality and artmaking practice enacted through this study. This dissertation is expanded through an engagement with the new materialist theories of the feminist philosopher and theoretical physicist Karen Barad. Particularly, Barad's concept of entanglements as they pertain to her theory of agential realism and her notion of onto-epistemology, or knowing in being, inform the research process in this dissertation. Moving away from merely reflexive accounts that privilege the artist and researcher as the prime subject in artmaking, this study instead embraces a diffractive methodology. This methodological direction is inspired by Donna Haraway and developed by Karen Barad and entails reading insights through one another to generate and attend to the differences and interferences enabled. By diffracting the theories that undergird this research through artmaking practice and philosophical inquiry, differences and new understandings are generated. In this study, artmaking practice and philosophical inquiry serve as methods through which insights on the role of matter, material, and materiality in artmaking practice develop. Attending to the insi (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jennifer Richardson (Advisor) Subjects: Art Education

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2019, Art

This document demonstrates methods for generating three-dimensional (theoretical) forms and (physical) objects. These methods use a vocabulary of essential geometries, variables, and operations. Objects which are made from these methods are easily understood, universal, and repeatable.

Committee: Steven Thurston (Advisor); Ann Hamilton (Committee Member); Deborah Scott (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture; Fine Arts

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, EDU Teaching and Learning

Research (Ling, Sharifah & Hasnah, 2014; Rohaty, 2003) has shown that Malaysian preschool teachers, despite knowing and understanding the importance of visual arts and inquiry-based learning, lack the theoretical knowledge and practical training that would enable them to implement the approach in their teaching (Ling, Sharifah and Hasnah, 2014; Rohaty, 2003). To educate practicing teachers already in the system to implement these approaches, a professional development course within a self-study inquiry frame was designed and developed. The professional development course which I designed was named “The Inquiry Based Visual Arts Approach (IBVAA) and was specifically developed for already practicing teachers. The course was based on a combination of principles, namely those that are the foundations of visual arts learning, inquiry- based teaching and learning, the Reggio Emilia approach, constructivism and the Spiral Curriculum (1960). Since this is the first time a professional development course on IBVAA was implemented, the course was taught within a self-study research frame to enable examination of my own teaching as well as to refine the professional development course in the process. Two main objectives of this research were: (1) to identify the course materials, activities and instructional practices that promote or constrain practicing teachers' interest and understanding of the approach, and (2), to modify the IBVAA professional development course so designed based on participant feedback. Ten practicing teachers participated in the study that was conducted in a preschool in Malaysia over two months (March -May 2017). Data included participant observations, field notes, reflective journals, interviews, and pre and post-participation surveys. A thematic analysis was used to describe the main findings, namely: hands-on activities and instructional practices such as discussion, humor and lecture did indeed foster participant engagement and interest, and develop (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Laurie Katz (Advisor); Mindi Rhoades (Committee Member); Barbara Kiefer (Committee Member) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, Germanic Languages and Literatures

Defining realism often relies on visual similarities between the outside world and the thing depicted. In German literary Realism of the mid-to-late nineteenth century, drawing and painting frequently serve as a metaphor for what authors were expected to accomplish, while other times they warned against a literary art that only offered an unfiltered depiction of all the detail this world had to offer. This dissertation broadens the view of the role that discussion of visual arts play in German language Realism by focusing on the connections between visual arts and education presented in this literature. To this end, it analyzes the work of Realist authors who had a close relationship to the visual arts, while at the same time looking directly at visual art objectives, training and production practices of this time. In discussing of the work of Adalbert Stifter, Gottfried Keller, and Theodor Fontane, this dissertation reveals processes of learning and verbalizing: learning to see and to depict the real, and to transform depictions, visual images, into words. By dually engaging in close textual analysis and a study of historical art practices, this dissertation develops the argument that visual arts serve as a concrete way for writers to discuss the necessity of training and shaping of the Realist artist, to acknowledge the technical skills needed to create art, and to recognize that a writer or visual artist engages in a constantly evolving interaction with external reality.

Committee: Robert Holub (Advisor); Katra Byram (Committee Member); May Mergenthaler (Committee Member) Subjects: Germanic Literature

MFA, Kent State University, 2017, College of the Arts / School of Art

I Am Not Abandoning You, but You Have Changed was my Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition that used my lived experiences related to my gender and sexuality. By visually exploring my sense of identity(s) and place that utilizes narrative formats and the creation of personas to portray these lived experiences. Viewers would also become immersed within the environment and landscape created within the gallery space to project their own lived experiences to create a dialogue between the two. The works within I Am Not Abandoning You, but You Have Changed were created from processes and materials within printmedia and drawing.

Committee: Taryn McMahon (Advisor); Michael Loderstedt (Committee Member); Darice Polo (Committee Member); John-Michael Warner (Committee Member) Subjects: Fine Arts

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, Arts Administration, Education and Policy

The main goal of this study was to expand understanding of a Korean-American community's cultural identities through storytelling and artmaking, which was conceptualized as Visual Storying in this study. Ethnic minority students in the United States often experience confusion or conflict between American and their heritage cultures. This study sought to identify the experiences of a contemporary Korean-American community through learning and teaching Korean language, history, culture, and/or art. The conceptual framework of this study combined the three following research backgrounds: (1) critical multiculturalism; (2) narrative inquiry and arts-based research; and (3) community-based participatory action research. Understanding cultural identities of Korean-American students is a complex process that required multiple approaches. In order to examine social and political backgrounds as well as power relations of the students' multicultural settings, this study applied a theoretical framework of critical multiculturalism to the settings. In addition, narrative inquiry and arts-based research were used as basic means of this study. Both practices were effective ways to convey thoughts, emotions, and experiences in approachable ways, which revealed unknown stories of a Korean-American community in multicultural settings. Lastly, this study utilized a community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) approach. Exploring a cultural and social aspect required deep integrations and interactions with the community members to gain better understandings of the local context. Therefore, CBPAR was the main methodology in this study that explored the complexity of the Korean-American community's cultural understandings through deep engagement in their local community. The Korean-American Community School of Central Ohio (KACSCO)'s students participated in this study via two classes, Advanced and Art & Craft classes. In the Advanced class, the students learned Ko (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Karean Hutzel (Advisor); Shari Savage (Committee Member); Joni Acuff (Committee Member); Timothy San Pedro (Committee Member) Subjects: American Studies; Art Education; Asian Studies; Ethnic Studies; Multicultural Education; Multilingual Education; Teacher Education

Doctor of Musical Arts, The Ohio State University, 2017, Music

Pedagogy must be ever-evolving, because the cultures, environments and socio-political climates that students live and interact in are ever-evolving. Current horn pedagogical approaches are centered upon traditional methods for learning to play an instrument and study and perform pieces of music. While these traditional pedagogical techniques are sound and necessary steps towards proficiency and excellence on the horn, most of them are “horn-centric.” There are few invitations for students to use the other creative parts of themselves to inform their horn playing; while students in schools of music are often told that they are artists, they are not necessarily encouraged to interact with other art media (visual and plastic arts, dance, theatre, vocal arts, creative and expressive writing, etc.) to deepen their own understanding of a work or to gain a fresh perspective on how to tackle a horn-specific challenge. The purpose of this document is to address this very issue and to introduce alternative art-media methods from the areas of voice, writing, and visual arts, through interaction with historic and contemporary pedagogical discourse, and through reporting the findings of a prototype workshop called Interdisciplinary Transfer and Cultivation: [ITC] How vocal, writing, and visual arts techniques can inform your horn practice and performance. In this workshop, undergraduate horn major participants from The Ohio State University engaged in three activities (vocal, writing, and visual arts techniques respectively). designed to help them connect more deeply with an excerpt from a piece of standard unaccompanied horn repertoire, Bernhard Krol's Laudatio. The results of the workshop would help discern whether experiences with ITC in horn learning are positive and successful in helping a student feel more connected and more invested in a work. The primary research questions of this document are the following: can introducing vocal, writing and visual arts techn (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Bruce Henniss (Advisor); Charles Atkinson (Committee Member); Russel Mikkelson (Committee Member); Katherine Rohrer (Committee Member) Subjects: Music; Music Education; Pedagogy

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1984, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

MFA, Kent State University, 2014, College of the Arts / School of Art

A map is typically a didactic way to read the world. It tells you how to get from point A to point B or it can encourage the viewer to explore an area. Liz DeBellis created woven tapestries that start as a map image. Each is a reflection of a place she walked and knows intimately. As she walked through a landscape fallen leaves, stems and pods were collected to be used as dye to stain fabric: the leaves create marks and shadows of themselves. This fabric was then incorporated into the large weavings she created. Each is a representation of an area that is important to DeBellis. She interpreted various digital maps of each location, picking and choosing exactly how to represent the geography as a weaving. The finished weavings are not exact replicas but rather a reflection of her experience and relationship with the location: Each tapestry is a visual demonstration of the artists footprints in a place. When filled with weavings, the gallery creates a narrative-atlas of her life.

Committee: Janice Lessman-Moss (Advisor); Kathleen Brown (Committee Member); Isabel Farnsworth (Committee Member) Subjects: Cartography; Fine Arts; Textile Research

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2009, Education : Secondary Education

A two month ethnographic study was conducted in a classroom where children were engaged in project work. Project work is an innovative curriculum approach in which small groups of children investigate a topic of interest to them. Children use the visual arts to express themselves and represent their learning during a project. Children in the study ranged in age from 3 to 5 years from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. The pattern and components of children's artwork were analyzed using videotaping, photos and field notes. Three questions guided this study: What types of art do children make? Is there a pattern of progression in children's art? What is the purpose of children's work with visual art materials? Findings suggest the children created within four domains and fifteen subsets of visual arts. While there was a progressive pattern of children's artwork from simple to complex, experience was found to play an important role in this progression. In addition, children did not leave behind earlier ways of expressing themselves through the visual arts. Instead, they built a repertoire of the domains and subsets of types of visual arts to choose from. Findings also suggest that children create art works to meet developmental needs of mastery, belonging, generosity and independence.

Committee: Stephen Kroeger Ed.D (Committee Chair); Flavia Bastos PhD (Committee Member); Peg Elgas PhD (Committee Member); Anne Bauer EdD (Committee Member) Subjects: Art Education; Education

Bachelor of Science (BS), Ohio University, 2012, Journalism

The purpose of this project was to create a print and online publication and report on the visual arts of Athens, Ohio. Through interviews and images, the LAVALAND zine showcased a cross section of the Athens art scene. My research explicated how the zine and ezine platforms catered to a community of both place and interest and suggested how arts journalism could be improved at the local level.

Committee: Ellen Gerl M.S. (Advisor) Subjects: Journalism

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2010, Art Education

The purpose of this study was to identify how Visual Arts can play a pivotal role in the implementation of an integrated curriculum in elementary education. In order to increase my knowledge base I reviewed a body of theoretical and philosophical writings that revealed how the arts, especially Visual Arts, have been valued in the field of education. Next I use case study methodology to investigate how an exemplary Visual Arts educator/teacher has been putting theories to practice by providing state-of-the-art teaching and learning in, with, through and about Visual Arts, as well as how she has been using Visual Arts as anchor for and an engine to drive an integrated curriculum in an elementary school setting. I explained how the data was collected using a triangulation research design process. These included on site observations, reflective journaling, interviews, and artifacts and document analysis. I reported and analyzed the data to ascertain the knowledge, skills dispositions and commitments the Visual Arts teacher displayed that reflected theoretical and philosophical knowledge of best practices related to art education, general education and teacher education. After stating my findings, I made recommendations for how teachers in Jamaica can implement an integrated curriculum that is anchored and driven by the arts, especially Visual Arts.

Committee: Vesta Daniel PhD (Committee Chair); Patricia Stuhr PhD (Committee Member); Robert Hite PhD (Committee Member); James Sanders III PhD (Committee Member); Ronald Solomon PhD (Other); Christine Balengee-Morris PhD (Other) Subjects: Art Education

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2010, Art

This research explores the aesthetic application of humankind's ongoing attempts to surpass the boundaries between humans, animals, and machines in our technological and scientific society. This work strives to create and discover the aesthetic possibilities that can exist between art and science. The purpose is to develop organ-machine hybrids and promote the repositioning and re-contextualizing of discarded biological materials. Discarded materials, such as pig hearts and pig bladders, create metaphors and multiple associations within my interdisciplinary projects, which involve a host of practices including robotics, dance, music, video and visual performance.

Committee: Ken Rinaldo (Advisor); Amy Youngs (Committee Member); Todd Slaughter (Committee Member) Subjects: Fine Arts