Art Metalwork Chapter 1

THE INFLUENCE OF THE ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT UPON MANUAL TRAINING

Enough has been said about the arts and crafts movement since its inception, to run the entire gamut of human opinion. But there is one phase of its influence about which. very little has been said, and that is the vitalizing influence it has had upon manual training in our public schools. And if it had done nothing but exert this influence, that alone would be sufficient reason for its existence. At the present tune the principles of the arts and crafts are being spread thru out the land thru the medium of manual training more rapidly and surely than would ever be possible by the supporters of the arts and crafts movement alone.

To realize fully the influence that the arts and crafts movement has had upon manual training, we must know a little of the type of work done in manual training before it felt the influence of the arts and crafts. The first manual training problems shown in this country were at the Centennial in 1876; they were sent here from Russia, and consisted largely of the common joints used in carpentry, and consequently were totally devoid of any artistic element whatever. The adoption of this system into our schools was the beginning of real manual training in this country. The problems were merely exercises and were of no utilitarian value what-ever; they were the essence of monotony, and speedily killed any interest that the student might have had in manual training. Next came the Swedish sloyd; this was a decided step in advance because it took into account the interests of the students, by using models that were of use in the home. But still the problems were devoid of any art interest. Dr. W. T. Harris, the well-known educator, said of the Swedish sloyd, "Sweden is the leader in the manual training movement, but her educators have not yet seen the importance of developing correct taste among their workers, as a condition of industrial success; clumsy shapes and incongruous ornaments are the characteristics of Swedish goods." This statement by one of the leading educators of that time shows clearly that they felt the need of the combination of design, more artistic appreciation, and the higher ideals that the arts and crafts movement later furnished to them.

ART METAL WORK. MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT.

It is thru the direct influence of the arts and crafts that educators now realize the educative value there is in design thru the necessary logical thinking required to produce a design that has embodied in it the requirements and limitations of use, process, and material. Where the shops and the design class have no vital connection, a student can design things that are impossible of execution, and they are accepted providing they look well on paper. But where the arts and crafts principle is in force, where the designer and the teacher have a working knowledge of the processes and material involved, and the things designed are made in the shops, there we get a directness and simplicity of design that is entirely different from the incongruous objects that are produced in the classes where the teacher is strong on art (so called), but whose knowledge of structure and materials is weak, or in the classes of the teacher whose knowledge of design is limited to the ornament that he copies and applies promiscuously.
Thru design we appeal to the interests of the student; this develops the much desired active and creative attitude in the student, instead of the dormant receptive attitude. Thru it we get a definite reaction that is a pleasure to the student and an inspiration to the teacher.
Since the adoption of manual training into the schools of this country, we have been informed upon its educational values, later of its ethical and industrial values, but the arts and crafts movement has showed to us its art and its social values. It has given to manual training artistic appreciation and higher ideals, and the unification of structure and decoration that we find in the progressive manual training shop of today. John Quincy Adams said "The purpose of art is to idealize work," and that is what we find in the manual training shops that keep the principles of the arts and crafts in view.
THE MISSING ELEMENTS SUPPLIED
The criticism that is being made nowadays of our school system is that it has no vital connection with our economic or social system, and that it has not kept pace with the development of commerce and industry; also that it has no ethical or social value to the great majority of people. The development of manual training by the making of objects of real value, constructively sound and artistically good, develops the ethical value, and increases very largely the value of our school system to society.
The entire reorganization of society and industry upon the principles set forth by the founders of the arts and crafts movement is impossible. The education and elevation of the great public to an appreciation of even that which is possible cannot be done by a few scattered enthusiastic disciples of Ruskin and Morris. This education and elevation is a function of the school system, and that it was started and its propaganda disseminated entirely outside of the school system shows that the criticisms of our schools that are current today are worthy of serious attention by progressive educators.
Even the foremost and the most progressive of our educators can learn something from a study of the social and industrial phases of the arts and crafts movement. The men who are so earnestly advocating vocational education in an endeavor to bring the school system into articulation with our social, economic, and industrial system can learn that art, drawing, design, and industry cannot be separated but must be developed together. The average educator when considering the vocations from his somewhat narrow point of view engendered by his experiences with manual training rather than the vocations. thinks of the machine-shop first, and of forging, foundry, and pattern making, as adjuncts of the ma chine-shop ; he thinks of joinery and carpentry, and thinks there is no need for art or design here. But he should visit one of our large stores where the products of many vocations are presented for sale, and he will find it impossible to pick out one piece of work that does not have embodied in it design or a need of design. The vocational schools for girls are realizing this need much faster than those for boys, as in most of the textile, dressmaking, and millinery courses we find a parallel course in applied design and the history of costume. By correlating design with the vocational, educators can meet the criticism that is already abroad, that the suggested vocational courses have no cultural element in them. In one new school that the writer visited a few weeks ago, in the class that was cataloged as the millinery class, the girls were learning millinery, practical design, history of art, and French history. Such a course as this is more truly cultural than any of the traditional academic courses could possibly he and it seems to be a truly practical realization of the teachings of Ruskin and Morris by the agency that should do it, namely the public school system.

William Morris protested against the minute division of labor and the inconsistent design arising from such division, and the exploitation of labor arising from making things merely to sell. We have the same conditions today, and his large vision and high ideals are being lost sight of by arts and crafts workers themselves; but they are almost unconsciously being adopted by the progressive manual training teacher who knows construction and design, and has been trained to analyze a problem or a course of study and reduce it to its educative, ethical, cultural, and social values.
Today the great need of the arts and crafts movement is an educated and appreciative public, and that is the return that manual training will make for the enrichment of the work that has been derived from the arts and crafts movement. Manual training is educating and training a generation of future buyers, who will demand sound construction and consistent ornament in the things they buy and the houses they live in. The combination of the two movements will result in the development of both and the enlightenment of the public and benefit to the state.

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