Child Creativity & Visual Arts: From Secessionist Vienna to Postwar America

Join us for an intriguing lecture and book presentation by Dr. Megan Brandow-Faller about . After the lecture, a panel discussion with Dr. Megan Brandow-Faller (Professor of History at the City University of New York), Dr. James P. Shedel (Professor of History at Georgetown University), and Dr. Steven Beller (Author & Independent Researcher) will take place, followed by a Q&A with the audience.

From the ‘creative corners’ found in postwar suburban ranch homes to the proliferation of children’s art exhibitions in public schools and libraries, Secessionist notions of child creativity burned brightly in postwar America. That all children are inherently creative with unique access to imaginative and expressive powers—remains ubiquitous in contemporary American society. This lecture examines the intellectual-cultural roots of commonplace notions of children’s creativity born in Secessionist Vienna, excavating the transmission of these ideas through the lens of three critical intermediaries:

• Franz Cižek, often called the ‘patriarch’ of progressive art education and one of the first art educators to allow children to draw from their imaginations;

• Emmy Zweybrück, who ran a successful craft school for girls and commercial workshops based on ideas similar to Cižek but with a greater emphasis on traditionally-feminine media and the transmission of solid handcraft knowledge;
• and Viktor Lowenfeld, a Cižek pupil widely considered the most influential figure in 20th-century American art education who shifted the emphasis of creative art education from aesthetics to its therapeutic and developmental potential.

The event is followed by an Austrian wine reception.

Please find more information on our ACF DC website.

Doors open at 6:15 p.m. The event starts at 7:00 p.m.

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Please bring a photo I.D.

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Please note that photographs and footage will be taken throughout the event. These might be used by ACF DC for marketing and publicity in our publications, on our website and in social media, or in any third-party publication.

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Parking on International Court is available after 6:00 pm (for the duration of the event), or on 36th Street (access to the Embassy through the park behind the building). Van Ness Metro (Red Line) is a short distance away.

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Host or Publisher Austrian Cultural Forum Washington