Article in Review: "Jump-Starting Visual Literacy" by Philip Yenawine

Now that we know the process of conducting a VTS lesson, what types of imagery are appropriate to develop this method of learning? Where do you begin to look for images that would be appropriate for this type of visual investigation? Yenawine parallels this process of choosing objects for visual consideration with the process of choosing books for early readers: they must be what the viewers are ready for developmentally as well as being full of inherently intriguing subject matter. Essentially, it is about "supplying the right challenge at the right time" (2). If the ultimate goal of this type of exercise is to cultivate within students a "solid rapport with art based on direct, personal connections," the images we choose to present to them should be ones that serve to best stimulate ongoing development/growth (2).

What Yenawine has termed visual literacy, or the ability to use one's eyes to learn, has been noted by psychologist Rudolf Arnheim as being a habit that is developed at a very young age. Infants begin to recognize and categorize the visual stimuli that they take in. Jean Piaget claimed that the ability to do this comes from an individual's interaction with the physical, concrete environment (2). Indeed, the importance of visual literacy need not be justified further, yet it is clear that the earlier these skills are developed and honed, the better individuals will be able to make sense of the visual world around them and appreciate these surrounding as they get older. The implication here is that if we as museum professionals want to maintain and increase our audience numbers we need to be making the efforts with our younger population now in order to cultivate these skills that will perhaps cause them to become advocates for the cause of the arts and its visual properties.

One's interaction with the physical world--especially that of art--is not a uniform experience. By this, I mean to say that not all visuals create the same level of accessibility to the meaning of their creation. As a result, we must look at the categories mentioned below in order to be better prepared to select images for our VTS lessons that aid in the process of viewing works that address the needs of our viewers as well as providing them with age-appropriate challenges.

1) Accessibility: Beginning viewers, like Dewey claimed long ago, tend to understand what they encounter in the world based upon what they already know to be true. Past experiences and prior knowledge undeniably affect how we view reality in the present moment. Beginning viewers seek after narratives within art, and their viewpoints on a given work often are rooted in their personal life experiences. Given this knowledge, accessibility of art images is necessary. Viewers must be able to recognize what they see, as well as make connections between what they see and their existing knowledge base.

Accessible imagery is needed at every stage of visual literacy--from beginners to "experts." Viewers must be given the opportunity to uncover intended meanings by themselves. Images must always allow for "successful interpretation, without expert intervention" (4). By doing so, viewers begin to realize that art can be understood to a certain, meaningful degree by observation, analysis, and association. They gain confidence in the presence of artworks they are not familiar with.

On a more practical side, images must include identifiable elements, such as familiar people, places, emotions, interactions, etc. (4).

2) Captivation: Just like anything else, images should be selected with a specific group of individuals in mind, so as to target images that will peak their curiosity and maintain their interest (5).

3) Expressive Content: Images selected for VTS purposes must be open to interpretation, meaning that they should contain various meanings. This range of possible viewpoints allows for the process of VTS to truly take form. As Yenawine states, "the more a work is open to interpretation, the more likely the viewer's intuitions will be plausible--that is, within range of the artist's or culture's intentions" (5).

4) Narrative: As mentioned before, beginning viewers tend to search for narratives in art and will even go so far as to advocate for their existence even if one isn't there. Therefore, facilitators of VTS lessons should cater to this tendency by selecting images that contain a story waiting to be found, one that is intended by the artist. Things to look for in images include: "stopped action, dialogues, and pregnant moments, often found in "genre" scenes and images of family, play and work" (5)

5) Diversity: It is important for beginning viewers to experience finding meaning in art that is from a diverse range of times and cultures. This diversity fosters flexibility in terms of visual literacy. This is the point in time where viewers look beyond their previous knowledge and experiences into realms of the unfamiliar. Variety also "allows for more people to find their interests, preferences and backgrounds represented" (5).

6) Realism: Stylistically, realistic images are the most accessible for beginning audiences (6).

7) Media: Paintings, figurative sculpture, drawings and prints, and photography all serve as excellent media for VTS imagery. Photography in particular is most useful because it provides an entryway into understanding the process of what artists do: beginning viewers all know what it is like to use a camera. They can then consider an artist's artistic decisions because they could easily place themselves in the artist's shoes (6).

8) Subjects: Genre paintings, narrative images, landscapes, portraits, etc. are all good choices for VTS lessons. It should be mentioned that not all of these categories will be accessible to all viewers (7).

9) Sequences: Images should be sequenced from simple to the most complex. "Simpler images" are defined as those that provide a finite number of meanings with fewer visual stimuli within its composition. More complex images contain a level of ambiguity. Meaning is conveyed through style, material, and symbolism rather than subjects or iconography (7).

10) Series/Themes: For beginners, images should be placed in a series tied together by a common concrete theme such as play rather than more abstract concepts such as sadness or happiness (7).

After reading through these ten suggestions for choosing the appropriate imagery to use in a VTS session, I came to the realization that they boil down to three key points. First, participants in these lessons must have a means of access to the material being presented. Some ways of doing so have been listed above; however, the most important idea here is that individuals feel a sense of place and belonging in this process. They must realize through both the structure of VTS, the facilitator's behavior, and the nature of the imagery itself that they are welcome with whatever level of visual literacy that they have. Second, there must be an atmosphere of openness that allows these individuals to freely contribute to the process without feeling intimidated or seeing barriers to their creative flow. Lastly, the imagery presented must in some way allow for individuals to go beyond what is familiar to them, thereby entering a world of the unknown and creating new avenues of thought for future investigations/life experiences.

Here is a list of things to avoid (7-8):

1) Avoid imagery that requires prior specialized knowledge for beginning viewers.

2) Avoid religious, mythological, historical, or cultural-specific imagery in which there are "correct answers" as judged by experts in the field.

3) Avoid cartoons, advertisements, and illustrations, for they generally hold only one interpretation.

4) Avoid images depicting violence, political stances, sexuality, sensuality, grotesque subject matter, and religious imagery since they may conflict with the values of the viewers and disrupt the meaning-making process.

5) Avoid abstractions. As mentioned above, beginning viewers tend to place narratives within imagery where the artist intends none.

6) Avoid still lives, architecture, and the decorative arts. They are difficult to understand and create meaning for because they are generally based on more abstract issues of space, proportion, etc.

The most important lesson to learn here, from my perspective, is that we cannot expect our students to get excited about reaching outside of themselves if we don't allow them opportunities to do so. This means that the images we present must not only be full of multiple meanings but it also suggests that our facilitators have the responsibility of conveying this to their students. Having definite answers blocks creative flow and can also hinder our students abilities to step outside of their comfort zone.

Specific Considerations for Younger Viewers (10-11):

1) Images should be active, fairly sparse, filled with people or animals, contain an individual or a small group of individuals, contain equal gender and racial representation, have familiar activities or emotions, depict values shared by students, have clear settings, a sense of timelessness, and be cheerful and positive colored images.

2) The techniques found in these images should be somewhat realistic. Paintings, drawings (kids use this media!), photographs, and folk art are appropriate.

3) Diversity in the imagery should be minimal, with about 25% of the composition containing the "other." Works for other cultures should be very similar in appearance to the ones familiar to the students. Egyptian, Asian, and Islamic art are all possible options.

4) Themes may include the following: play, family, school, work, love, seasons, city, day/night, etc.