The 1870 Massachusetts Drawing Act required schools to include art as a required subject. It is believed that this law helped aid the economy because of the production of engineers. If teachers attended professional development classes where they learned to draw, schools saved money on hiring an art specialist. The best technologies of the day were slate blackboards mounted to the wall. Students copied the teacher’s drawing lessons on smaller slates. Although advocates of industrial drawing asserted that all children could learn to draw, not all teachers were eager to master the skills themselves (Stankiewicz, 2001, p. 14). This lack of confidence by teachers, along with a broader drawing curriculum, contributed to haphazard teaching in art. Almost ten years after the Massachusetts Drawing Act became law, gray dots and guidelines were placed on the pages in drawing books. Around 1882, drawing books were revised from Smith’s strict South Kensington method of drawing to a broadened art education.
Publisher Louis Prang developed an art education book series including three categories of drawing. Constructive, representational, and decorative were also call con, rep, and dec. Constructive drawing mirrored Smith’s style of teaching industrial drawing. Students drew diagrams, plans, and machine parts. Con drawing supported manual training for engineering and industry. Although con drawing was still considered most important, representational drawing was the most popular among teachers. This was probably true because most art teachers were women who had not been taught industrial drawing. Rep drawing involved training students in how to see by copying objects, nature, lettering, and simple perspective. To promote the careful observation of rep drawing, nature drawing became popular in the 1890’s. Nature drawing also educated city students in plant life and growth. Still life arrangements were set up in groups and became a strategy for teaching Science and language.
Publisher Louis Prang developed an art education book series including three categories of drawing. Constructive, representational, and decorative were also call con, rep, and dec. Constructive drawing mirrored Smith’s style of teaching industrial drawing. Students drew diagrams, plans, and machine parts. Con drawing supported manual training for engineering and industry. Although con drawing was still considered most important, representational drawing was the most popular among teachers. This was probably true because most art teachers were women who had not been taught industrial drawing. Rep drawing involved training students in how to see by copying objects, nature, lettering, and simple perspective. To promote the careful observation of rep drawing, nature drawing became popular in the 1890’s. Nature drawing also educated city students in plant life and growth. Still life arrangements were set up in groups and became a strategy for teaching Science and language.