Mission, Vision and Tenets

MISSION

The Hurwitz Center advances MICA’s long commitment to art and design education and social responsibility for learners of all ages in schools and community settings. The Center cultivates a network of practitioners and scholars empowered to promote innovative pedagogy and research through engagement with art and design.

The Center catalyzes dialogue and inspires action through collaborative partnerships, events, projects, and publications that serve Baltimore, the State of Maryland, the nation and beyond.

VISION

Art and design education in schools and communities empowers youth and adults to pursue their creative potential as envisioners, change makers, and community builders.

TENETS

• We assert the central role of art and design education in lifelong learning.
• We affirm that creative cultures enrich learning environments in schools and communities.
• We model in-depth preparation and transformational professional development of socially-engaged educators.
• We pursue critical questions that ignite curiosity.
• We shape research that is collaborative and longitudinal, excellent and rigorous.
• We learn from practitioners and researchers who act with intent and critical appraisal.
• We promote a community of care in which differences are embraced and equity is championed.
• We exemplify resilience, passion and conviction.
• We celebrate joy and wonder discovered through teaching and learning.

The Facility

Located in the Fred Lazarus IV Center for Graduate Studies, it includes a reception area, administrative workstations, faculty offices, and a resource library.  The study center is the primary working space for graduate students in Art Education associated programs featuring a collection which holds Dr. Hurwitz's library along with gifts from many of his friends and colleagues.  Computers, as well as scanners and printers, are provided for student use.  Within this space, faculty and students intermix, conference, work collaboratively and study.  This facility was funded in part by alumna Patricia Lion Krongard, '76 and '90 who graduated from the MAT program.

Dr. Al Hurwitz '41  (1920-2012)

After a full career in art education, Dr. Al Hurwitz returned to his home state and alma mater in 1984 to re-energize the art education program at MICA.  During his tenure as Chair Emeritus and Graduate Director, he laid the groundwork for the MAT program and remained active as a faculty member well into his 80's.  As recent as 2008, he co-authored a book and initiated a project to assemble an international history of art education.

Dr. Hurwitz's teaching career began in the Dade County School in Miami.  He first taught at the elementary level, then in junior high school, later in high school, and eventually became the county's art teacher on television.  His final post in the district was that of supervisor.  Subsequently, he was recruited to a supervision post in the Newton Public Schools where he worked until his retirement.  During his tenure in Massachusetts, he earned his doctorate in Art Education from Pennsylvania State University, served as an education associate for Harvard's Graduate School of Education, and directed Continuing Studies for the Massachusetts College of Art.

A native of Maryland, he had attended children's classes at MICA and later studied art education under Leon Winslow and Margaret Glace.  Retiring to the state, he reconnected with the college and was invited by President Fred Lazarus to revitalize the art education program.  He began by laying the groundwork for the MAT degree and put MICA back on the art education map by sponsoring conferences based on issues at the forefront of the field.

Dr. Hurwitz was very active in the international art education scene.  He served as president of the International Society for Education through Art from 1975-78 and is known for helping many a teacher in foreign countries secure the necessary support to attend international conferences.  He traveled widely abroad, ever eager to drop into a local school, talk to art educators, and initiate drawing activities with children.  He conducted tours for art educators to Russia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Israel, Egypt, and Turkey, and was the leader of the first tour for art educators to China.   He gave lectures and keynote addresses in Korea, Qatar, South Africa, Israel, Egypt, Spain, Brazil, and Taiwan.  Dr. Hurwitz's personal collection of international student artwork is archived in the library at Pennsylvania State University.

Born in 1920, Dr. Hurwitz received an MFA in Theatre from Yale in addition to his credentials in art education.  He is credited with beginning one of the first off-Broadway theatres in New York.  He was an avid fan of film, appearing as an extra in a number of nationally syndicated movies.

Deeply interested in promising practices and emerging issues in the field, Dr. Hurwitz, himself or in collaboration with other authors, has written numerous books in art education.  These include:

• Memory and Experience:  Thematic Drawings by Qatari, Taiwanese, Malaysian, and American Children with Karen Carroll (2008)
• Pathways to Appreciation:  A Sourcebook for Media and Methods with Stanley Madeja and Eldon Katter (2003)
• Children and Their Art with Michael Day (8 editions, latest 2006)
• Art Education in America with O. Scholz (1994)
• Collaboration in Art Education (1993)
• Teaching Drawing from Art with Brent and Marjorie Wilson (1986)
• International Art Education with Robert Ott
• The Gifted and Talented in Art (1983)
• The Joyous Vision:  A Sourcebook for Elementary Art Appreciation with Stanley Madeja (1977)
• Programs of Promise (1973)

Hurwitz's Awards

• 2011 Eisner Lifetime Achievement Award, The National Art Education Association
• 1996 National Art Educator, National Art Education Association
• 1990 Alumni Medal of Honor, Maryland Institute College of Art
• 1989 Viktor Lowenfeld Award, National Art Education Association
• 1987 Edwin Ziegfeld Award, US Society for Education through Art
• 1984 Distinguished Fellow of the National Art Education Association
• 1981 Sir Herbert Read Award, International Society for Education through Art
• 1981 National Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession, NAEA