Germany

 Jia Zhang: Germany 

 sq km: || 230 ||
 * Introduction **
 * Location: || Central Europe, bordering nine other European countries ||
 * Capital: || Berlin ||
 * Population: || 82,000,000 ||
 * Total Area: || 356,866 sq km ||
 * People per
 * Language: || German ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Currency: || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Euro ||

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Germany is a part of Central Europe; a nation rich in culture that came together only after 1971. The Federal Republic of Germany is located in Western and Central Europe. It is the most populous state and has the largest economy in the European Union. It comprises 16 states and its capital is Berlin, the largest city in the country. It is one of the major political powers of the European continent and is a leader in many technological advances.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The history of art education of Germany goes back to very early times. When the crafts and art still formed one uniform whole, as was the case in Europe in former days, artistic education was provided automatically in the form of craftsman and artist training. Distinct beginnings of a systematic art education in Europe can be found in the ancient word. Ancient Greece is one of the finest examples of the artistic education of a whole people in direct association with religion. In the Middle Ages the monastery schools in Germany took over the Hellenistic and Byzantine art education. Early beginnings of an art education in the present meaning of the term – for pupils of general subject schools, from the kindergarten to school-leaving – were initiated in Germany by the movement of pedagogic realism about 1600. Between 1494 and 1800 many academies of art and schools of drawing were founded in Europe which had an effect on the teaching of art in the schools in Germany. J.J. Rousseau already considered art education to be a pedagogic means in the training of human virtues.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">History of Art Education in Germany: **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">None formal Art Education <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">there are about 6,200 museums, about 2,000 libraries, 127 theatres, 74 institutions offering theatre, dance and opera and 56 orchestras.The already mentioned ZfKf-infrastructure survey to arts education in classical cultural institutions proved that the majority (87%) is involved in the area of arts education.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Art education as a cross-sectional task in German federalism:



<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Joseph Beuys (May 12, 1921 – January 23, 1986) was a German Fluxus, Happening and performance artist as well as a sculptor, installation artist, graphic artist, art theorist and pedagogue of art. He was born in Krefeld on May 12, 1921. In autumn of that year the family moved to Kleve, an industrial town in the Lower Rhine region of Germany, close to the Dutch border. There, Joseph attended primary school (Katholische Volksschule) and secondary/high- school (Staatliches Gymnasium Cleve, now the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gymnasium). His teachers considered him to have a talent for drawing; he also took piano- and cello lessons. On several occasions he visited the studio of the Flemish painter and sculptor Achilles Moortgat. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">As of 1936, Beuys' membership in the Hitler Youth is documented; the organization comprised a large majority of German children and adolescents at that time and later that year membership became compulsory. He participated in the Nuremberg rally in September 1936, when he was 15 years old. From an early age, Beuys displayed a keen interest in the natural sciences and had considered a career in medical studies, but in his last years of school - possibly influenced by pictures of Wilhelm Lehmbruck's sculptures - he had decided to become a sculptor himself. Around 1939 he worked for a circus on the side, postering and taking care of animals for about a year. He graduated from school in the spring of 1941 with his Abitur. During WW II He received the German Wound Badge in gold for being wounded in action more than five times. On the day after the German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945, Beuys was taken prisoner in Cuxhaven and brought to a Britishinternment camp from which he was released August 5 of that year. He returned to his parents who had moved to a suburb of Kleve.After his return to Kleve Beuys met the local sculptor Walter Brüx and painter Hanns Lamers, who encouraged him to take up art as a full-time career. He joined the Kleve Artists Association that had been established by Brüx and Lamers. On April 1, 1946 Beuys enrolled in the "Monumental Sculpture" program at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In 1947 he, with other artists including Hann Trier, was a founder member of the group 'Donnerstag-Gesellschaft' (Thursday Group). The Group organised discussions, exhibitions, events and concerts between 1947 and 1950 in Alfter Castle. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In 1951, Mataré accepted Beuys into his master class. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In 1961, Beuys was appointed professor of 'monumental sculpture' at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Beuys manifested his social philosophical ideas in abolishing entry requirements to his Düsseldorf class. Throughout the late 1960s this renegade policy caused great institutional friction, which came to a head in October 1972 when Beuys was dismissed from his post. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Later in life, Beuys became a visiting professor at various institutions (1980–1985). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Joseph Beuys, Stripes from the House of the Shaman, 1964-1972.
 * Accomplished artist:**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Joseph Beuys, The Pack (Das Rudel), 1969.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">DOMO (German Organization for Mosaic Art) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the following tasks: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">With the founding of DOMO in March 2008, Germany has accomplished what other countries already did before, i. e. forming an organization of mosaic artists. This significant step will enable the DOMO members to increase the awareness of mosaic art into the public eye. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The number of members has increased to over 50 by summer 2009. During the first year of rapid growth it has become obvious that people who join DOMO have different approaches to mosaics and mosaic art. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">DOMO offers space to artisans as well as artists - for some of the latter mosaic art may be just one form of their artistic expression. Among the members there are also commercial distributors of mosaic materials, organizers of mosaic workshops and finally even enthusiasts, who do not produce any art themselves. By intentionally covering the full width from craft to art DOMO creates a particularly fertile environment for new ideas.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Successful arts organization: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">promotion and propagation of mosaic art
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">carrying out seminars, classes and workshops
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">organization of exhibitions of the works of its members
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">edition and distribution of publications about mosaic art
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">information and assistance for artistic and technical questions
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">setup and operation of communication system between the members
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">support for mosaic projects executed by DOMO members
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">cultivation of contacts to foreign mosaic artists as well as to sister organisations abroad

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Workshop example:

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Course RS1 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">mosaic portrait <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Monday, 08.10.2012, 9.00 to 17.00 clock <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Instructor: Ruth Minola Scheibler <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Mosaic portraits have a long tradition of mosaic art. This workshop will be a complex procedure for the realization of a portrait in mosaic learn and get a good overview of different techniques. You will learn to simplify a document (photo or drawing / painting), to divide the face into lines, and create a design appropriate to the color scale of the materials offered.The necessary theoretical knowledge is taught to be independent to try this sport. You will also have the opportunity as an eye or a mouth to realize or to start all over her face in order to then on their own in the days following the symposium, or at home to finish.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In every German state the departments of education create their own school systems and curricula and the departments of cultural affairs can decide autonomously on which projects and initiatives to fund. Further than that, when it comes to the fields of education and culture local authorities hold powerful positions as well, contributing to an even bigger differentiation and complexity in the organization of arts education provision. While state and local authorities are responsible for structural decisions and the provision of an appropriate infrastructure, the involvement of the federal government mainly consist of funding innovative pilot projects, program evaluations and fundamental research. Besides the departments of education and culture the ministries of families, youth and senior citizens (in some states also social affairs) act as the third institutional pillar of arts education. These institutions come into play when educational offers concern special target groups such as youths (e.g. youth orchestras), seniors (e.g. senior theatre groups) or migrants (e.g. intercultural activities) Therewith, the three main sectors that support arts education provision in Germany are named. On all levels of the federal system these agencies host departments engaged in the topic. Rather selectively, also other departments can fund arts education activities. For example, the department of foreign affairs aids the international exchange of youth orchestras and the ministry of economics supports private suppliers of arts education.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Compared to the big range of offers for school children and youngsters there are relatively few resources for educational offers for children of pre- school age and younger. Only 18% of the educational offers of the classical cultural institutions in 2008 were directed towards children at preschool age. Only very few formats were conceived especially for kindergartens and day-care centers (6%) or preschool children with their parents (7%). Libraries are especially active with the address of preschool children. About one fourth of their art educational offers are directed at this target group. Popular educational formats in the preschool area are above all artist's visits in kindergartens, special guided tours in institutions and artistic-creative projects. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The target group of the children and youngster takes center stage in most arts educational offers of classical cultural institutions. The majority of these arrangements are co-operations of the cultural institutions with schools. Co operations with elementary schools (38%) are most frequent, followed by classes of the secondary schools, classes of the “Hauptschule”(compulsory schools) are not included, (35%) as well as especially classes of the compulsory schools (28%). In this area artistic creative educational formats are enjoying great popularity over more traditional receptive formats. Thus in the context at school as well as in the leisure area seminars/workshops/courses and artistic creative projects are also preferred educational formats for children and youngsters.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Art Education in School: **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">There are only a small number of international and pan-European research studies of arts education based on which the questions posed in this study can be formulated. Their main themes and findings are outlined below. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Do all areas in the curriculum have an equal weight? What is the place of arts in national curricula? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Existing research confirms that a hierarchy exists within the curriculum, whereby reading, writing and numeracy are prioritized. Furthermore, within the arts, particular art-forms (especially visual art and music) tend to be prioritized over others (such as drama and dance). A survey of arts education in Europe (Robinson 1999) took place as part of the Council of Europe’s initiative on Culture, Creativity and the Young. The study found that all national policy statements on education routinely emphasize the importance of the cultural dimension and the need to promote the artistic and creative abilities of young people. In practice, the status and provision of the arts in education was less prominent. The main disciplines taught were art and music. In the majority of national systems, the arts were compulsory in primary education and for the first two or three years of secondary education. Beyond this point, almost universally, the arts were optional. In all examined cases, the arts had a lower status than mathematics and science. In some countries, attempts were being made to reduce existing provision for the arts in the curriculum in favor of subjects, which were thought to be more directly relevant to economic or academic success.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">I also agree with the point of it is almost universally agreed that arts were optional. When I was in school, when needed, other major subjects were always the substitution of art classes. During the last semesters of my high school, my math teacher always replace art classes with his class so that we can do better at math before we take the entrance exam to get into college. I am really surprised about the similarities of education system and concepts between Germany and China. The part that both of our art education started early but not important until nowadays is a big surprise to me because I have always think that western countries have a very modern and efficient art education concept so that the people are very creative and never lack of imagination.

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