Art, Industry, and Women's Education in Philadelphia

by Nina D. Walls

Overview

Separate education for American women in the arts began in the mid-19th century as an innovative vehicle for middle-class women to move into a new and genteel profession. The 20th century evolution of the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, lone survivor as an autonomous school of many similar institutions founded at the same time, presents an unusually well-documented case study of meeting the changing needs of women students.

The first American institutions devoted to women's professional art education, design schools appeared in industrial northeastern cities in the 1850s, modeled on Philadelphia's pioneering School of Design for Women, which opened in 1848. Sponsored by business leaders and philanthropists, design schools gave women unprecedented access to craft skills, and eventually helped professionalize the work of women as art teachers and practicing artists. Separate education in the arts constituted an innovative vehicle for expanding Victorian-era middle-class gender prescriptions into new professional opportunities. Through the 20th century, the Philadelphia School of Design and its successor, Moore College of Art, survived as the nation's only autonomous women's art college, offering new educational options for women.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780897897457
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	10/30/2000
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

NINA DE ANGELI WALLS is an independent scholar who lives near Philadelphia./eShe earned her doctorate in United States history from the University of Delaware, specializing in women's social and cultural experience. She has taught at the University of Delaware and Widener University. Currently she travels as a Commonwealth Speaker for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Calicos and Carpets
‘Designing Women' as Students
Managing a Women's Art School
The Sartain Legacy, 1886-1946
Proud Alumnae, ‘Wage Earners and Artists'
Moore College in the 20th Century
Bibliographical Essay

Editorial Reviews

The story of the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, and its successor, the Moore College of Art and Design, from the 1850s to the 1990s, illustrates the challenges and opportunities facing female professionals in their training and careers over the past century and a half. This chronicle of the school focuses on the period from 1880 to 1932, and is told from the perspectives of students and of managers and administrative staff. Themes that emerge include the role of single-sex education, professionalism for women in art, and the influence of business and industry on art education. The author is an independent scholar in the Philadelphia area. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews