This thesis investigates how the interior of the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center of Dallas accommodates the three groups which use the space: the patron, the musicians, and the administration. Following the Draft Brief of 1981 prepared by the Dallas Symphony Association's Concert Hall Building Committee, each area is discussed as to what was actually built and what concerns were met. The primary data were the symphony center and interviews with I.M. Pei, architect; Russell Johnson, acoustician of the concert hall; Charles Young, associate of Pei, Cobb, Freed & Associates, interior architect of the concert hall; Carolyn Miller, Trisha Wilson & Associates, designer of the Green Room, Richard Trimble, designer of the musicians' areas, and Joe Pereira, designer of the Administrative area.

This thesis investigates how the visual arts philosophy promulgated in the 1960s by the Second Vatican Council of Roman Catholic Churches is manifested by commissioned artists for a particular parish. The primary data were the new sanctuary and the artworks, which include stained glass by Lyle Novinski, a carved-glass Marian Shrine by Claire Wing, bronze Stations of the Cross by Heri Bartscht, and wooden medallions depicting two saints carved by Don Schol. This paper reviews pertinent ecclesiastical doctrines along with interpretational publications, physically and iconographically describes the sanctuary and artwork, and considers aspects of the relationship between patron churches and the artists they commission.

This study examines the development of Edward Larrabee Barnes's design concepts for the Dallas Museum of Art, from preliminary concepts and program statements by Director Harry Parker and Dallas Museum trustees, through initial planning and architect selection, to site selection, the Program and Space Study, Barnes's early conceptual plans, and his Dallas Arts District master planning. Influences on Barnes's work and his career development leading to the Dallas commission, his most ambitious museum to date, are examined. Discussion and documentation of design development is based on schematic studies, presentation drawings, models, and trustees' minutes. Design changes during construction and all phases of expansion planning are also discussed. The conclusion summarizes historical influences on the design and Barnes's fulfillment of program concepts.

The purpose of this study is to examine I. M. Pei and his partner Harry Cobb's downtown Dallas architecture within the context of their overall stylistic development. This paper explores the structure of five buildings within the framework of the city, and addresses their possible influence on the city's future architectural direction. The thesis is divided into six chapters. Chapter I introduces and states the problem as it discusses the fabric of Dallas architecture. Chapter II outlines a brief biography of I. M. Pei, looking to those who have influenced him, while discussing the key public buildings of his stylistic development. Chapter III is devoted to Pei's first structure in the city, the Dallas Municipal Administration Center. Chapter IV explores the concepts of his planned Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. Chapter V outlines a brief biography and focuses on the work of Harry N. Cobb: One Dallas Centre, ARCO Tower, and the Allied Bank Tower. Chapter VI summarizes the contributions of Pei and Cobb by placing them within the context of twentieth century architecture, and pointing out their specific achievements with their additions to the fabric of Dallas architecture.

This thesis concerns the utility of including the art of hand lettering in a curriculum of a university advertising art program. Data secured from 155 questionnaires sent to 266 advertising firms in five states were analyzed by simple descriptive statistics including frequency counts and percentages. Two hypotheses were examined, and it is concluded that hand lettering is still needed in advertising art and should be taught in university art programs.

Two curricular needs exist for the elementary art classroom: multi-cultural lessons which are customized to address North Texas ethnicities, and art history materials for early grades, whether taught by art teachers or regular classroom teachers. This thesis addresses both of these concerns by developing lesson plans to meet the needs, and executing an evaluative study with North Texas art and regular classroom teachers of kindergarten and first grade. The teachers represent four districts, including rural, suburban, and urban demographic populations. Findings address time limitations for public school teachers, cultural exchange differences between demographic groups, and differences between presentation of the units by regular classroom teachers versus art teachers.

In developing the study, the writer has attempted to devise a method whereby high-school students may gain an understanding of certain trends in modern abstract and non-objective painting.

Texas has only recently taken an active interest in developing the fine arts as an important aspect of her culture. With the discovery of vast oil fields in Texas, an era of prosperity ensued that brought about rapid growth in population and wealth.

The purpose of this investigation is to present to teachers in the field of art education a list of words which are essential to successful mastery of the subject matter found in certain textbooks used in the art department at the North Texas State Teachers College.

Since the East Texas area has many minerals in the categories which yield semiprecious stones of commercial value--jasper, wood agate, wood opal, and silicified stone, the author undertook this study to determine: (1) the extent which these minerals could be utilized as sources for gems; (2) the equipment necessary for cutting and polishing the stones; and (3) the techniques for finishing the gems.

Over a period of two decades, Raymond D. Nasher, a Dallas-based real estate developer, and his late wife Patsy amassed a collection of significant modern sculptures. For years, pieces from the private collection--numbering over 300 as of 1990--were on display in various museums and civic institutions, and they were installed on a rotating basis at Northpark Center, a Dallas shopping mall developed by Nasher. Since the 1987 Dallas Museum of Art exhibition, the collection has been shown in several major international museums. This study documents the formative period of the collection, the Nashers' collecting and exhibiting philosophies, and four early exhibitions of the sculptures. It includes a chronology of the Nashers and major acquisitions of sculpture.

The purpose of this study was to examine the status and the content of the middle/junior high school art- programs in Texas. A questionnaire designed to elicit information concerning the art program was sent to middle/junior high school art teachers in Texas. The responses were analyzed according to the school district size, the grades comprising the school, and the school enrollment using simple descriptive statistics. This study revealed the following areas concerning the typical middle/junior high school art program in Texas: school district size, school enrollment, art enrollment, grades in school, types of art courses, teaching objectives and approaches, art budget, resource materials, and art equipment.

The problem of this study was to compare the expectations of the interior design profession regarding entry level requirements of new graduates of Southwest Texas State University and the present interior design curriculum at Southwest Texas State University. Questionnaires seeking information regarding skills and knowledge thought necessary for graduating interior design students were sent to professional interior designers in the South Texas area. Simple descriptive statistics were used to analyze the responses. The survey of the interior designers practicing in the South Texas areas conducted in this needs assessment of the Interior Design program at Southwest Texas State University supports giving consideration to the development of new courses or content revision of existing interior design courses offered at Southwest Texas State University.

The problem of this survey is to ascertain the relationship between nine Texas art museums and contemporary art, defined for this study as art of the 1970s. The role of the museum and its involvement with contemporary art are also perceived in respect to the general public. The purpose of this study was (1) to visit nine Texas art museums and interview the director or curator of contemporary art, using a standardized questionnaire, and (2) to present and analyze the responses to the questionnaire. The eight questions comprising the survey were formulated to include both practical and philosophical related concerns. Therefore, the survey responses and final conclusions reflect a variety of issues ranging from the physical accommodation of diverse contemporary works to the more fundamental philosophical issue concerned with contemporary art's presence in the museum and the institution's function.

This study examines the effects that discipline-based art education has upon reading test scores of public school second grade children. The progress in language arts of an experimental group and a control group were followed for two six week grading cycles. The experimental group was treated with DBAE instruction for one six weeks, while the control group received only studio production exercises. Both groups received no art instruction for another six weeks. Gains between mean pre-test and post-test scores indicated a significant difference for the experimental group but not the control group.

This study reports on the development of a curriculum guide to insure some degree of experience uniformity in the first art course available to students in high schools in Mesquite, Texas. Current general education and art education literature as well as curriculum guides from American schools provided the behaviorally oriented framework and objectives, content, and teaching strategies. The guide reflects a balance between the ideal and the real physical environment in which the guide will be implemented. Conclusions include the concepts that teacher education in using behavioral objectives is necessary, that a behaviorally oriented guide will work in Mesquite high schools, that behavioral objectives will facilitate evaluation, and that the trend toward tri-part subject content will increase in art curricula.

This study considers the equipment needed for the art rooms of the three junior high schools of Corpus Christi, Texas. It discusses the special problems encountered by the teacher-committee that had to determine the minimum list of tools and other equipment necessary to carry out a well-rounded art program.

The present study explores some of the materials native to the Texas Gulf Coast between Corpus Christi and Beaumont relative to their adaptability to weaving. The problem is three-fold: first, to collect and identify the indigenous materials which might prove suitable for weaving; second, to determine the range of uses which each might serve in a weaving program; and third, to test further each selected specimen by making a sample into a finished woven product.

The problem of this thesis is to determine just what part the museum is playing in the cultural development of Texas. This study presents a detailed investigation of the exhibitions offered by four of Texas' major art museums for the period from 1940-1950. Each of the museums will be discussed separately and then compared so that an over-all picture can be achieved.

This thesis involves an investigation of the trees in McLennan County that were suitable for wood sculpture, or wood carving, giving special attention to the wood that could be used for wood sculpture projects in the junior-high-school art program.

This manuscript records an adventure in exploring the inherent possibilities of organic forms for use in the designing of jewelry.

For the average person many opportunities for esthetic enjoyment of useful objects exist if the relationship between beauty and utility is understood. Furniture and other articles of daily use have acquired new and radical changes of design, based on function, which are altering esthetic concepts. This new approach to design is gradually being accepted by manufacturers and producers. Do purchasers appreciate and accept these structural and functional bases of contemporary design? If they do not, wherein does their deficiency lie, and how may it be corrected? This is the problem that the writer has attempted to investigate through this study.

How much art is projected into the home and community as a result of art experiences in the school is difficult to determine without some criterion as a standard for judgement. Based upon this premise, the author attempted, with the cooperation of the art committee of the Dallas Junior League, to test the aesthetic judgement of selected groups of children in the Dallas Public Schools by evaluating their reactions to an exhibition of common household articles currently available on the Dallas market.

In this study sixteen early stone buildings at Fredericksburg, Texas, are described and evaluated as examples of indigenous architecture. Chapter II presents a brief history of the founding of Fredericksburg. Chapter III presents a description of the town site and a discussion of the native materials as used by the pioneer immigrants in the construction of residences and other buildings. Chapter IV is devoted to a detailed description of fourteen buildings as specific examples of the indigenous architecture. Representative photographs of the buildings as they now appear, as well as floor plans, illustrate the text. Two early churches of the indigenous type, accompanied by photographs and floor plans, are discussed in Chapter V. In Chapter VI a summary of the study is given and conclusions are presented.