Date of Award

Spring 5-2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

EVMS School of Health Professions

Program/Concentration

Art Therapy

Committee Member

Anne Stubert

Committee Member

Scott Howe

Abstract

Because adolescence is a time marked by physical, psychological, and cognitive changes and stressors, group art therapy with teens can be difficult. Art history enriched art therapy has proven effective with adults to aid in overcoming treatment difficulties. The Visual Thinking Strategy (VTS) is a research supported approach to art history which emphasizes group dynamics and student-directed art discussion. Therefore, this study explores the applicability of VTS to adolescent group art therapy.

In this study, a group of four 13 to 14-year-old girls participated in a three session workshop. Session one included personal art-making and an open discussion of the artwork. During the second session, participants discussed historical works of art at the Chrysler Museum of Art using a VTS approach to discussion, facilitated by the researcher. During session three, the participants again engaged in personal art-making and discussion of their artwork; however, this time the discussion was facilitated by using a VTS discussion approach. Results and data from the first and third sessions were compared.

The hypothesis that adolescents’ discussion of personal works of art would increase and their artwork would be different, after being introduced to the VTS approach to discussing historical works of art, was supported by the results of this study. The study’s results showed that participants rated the discussion of session three as more closely approaching “great,” felt more comfortable participating, and felt more involved. They were more likely to consider what they created as art. The third session’s discussion lasted longer and included more responses than the first session’s discussion. The later discussion was more enriched and the art of the later session was more integrated, developed, and focused. Subjective responses indicated that participants enjoyed the museum visit and the workshop as a whole.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Download

Share

COinS