Introduction to 50(4)

Abstract

This issue of Studies in Art Education commemorates 50 years of publication. The inaugural issue of Studies in Art Education was published in fall 1959. This first issue included essays by Irving Kaufman, Edmund B. Feldman, Kenneth R. Beittel, Vincent Lanier, Fredrick M. Logan, and John S. Keel. Jerome Hausman edited the journal and contributed an editorial.Hausman also contributes an editorial to this issue. Three of the articles that follow his editorial are written in response to an invitation from the editorial board for research articles inspired by the issues raised, and the problems posed, by the authors in the first issue of the journal. These articles are by D. Jack Davis and Stanley S. Madeja, Judith M. Burton, and jan jagodzinski. Each of these articles attends to historical figures and issues in the field while simultaneously commenting on contemporary issues and possible future directions. An additional three articles by Donai O. Donoghue, Mary Hafeli, and Enid Zimmerman are included because of their critical orientation to research in the field: arts-based research, the tendency to erase earlier research, and creativity, respectively.Studies in Art Education has a history of publishing commentaries and media reviews. In keeping with this history one of each is included in this special issue. Mary C. Carter's commentary is the second response to a commentary by Kevin Tavin on aesthetics that appeared in Volume 49, Number 3. The first response to Tavin was a commentary by Olivia Gude that appeared in Volume 50, Number 1 . Tavin's original, Gude s first response, coupled with Carter's in this issue exemplifies the importance of sustained debate within the field on issues of common concern. Rita L. Irvin's review of Mel Alexander's edited volume, Educating Artists for the Future: Learning at the Intersections of Art, Science, Technology and Culture, concludes this issue by directing our attention to the future as well as the significance of art education that is multidisciplinary.Together, the 50th volume of Studies in Art Education included 4 editorials, 24 articles, 2 media reviews, 3 commentaries and an introduction. The articles were selected from 78 active files spanning three years of submissions, including 48 new submissions from April 2008 through March 2009. Research published in this 50th year tended to be curricular, historical, cultural, philosophical, and critical-theoretical. Authors were associated with universities and one public school system in 18 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces.Volume 50, Number 4 concludes my senior editorship of Studies in Art Education. I have appreciated the opportunity to serve the field, in this way, over the past two years. I have also appreciated the opportunity to express concerns and issues that I believe should be important to the field on those pages of the journal given over to the editor. These concerns and issues have included the politics of knowledge and publication; education and democracy; culture and democracy, education and media; embracing a systemic view of education in the arts; and the importance of place and the environment. …