The purpose of this study was to analyze the physical issues of verticality and architectural reference in the presentation of my figurative sculpture and to determine how these issues affect me as viewer. In this analysis, the term architectural reference refers to the fundamental structural elements historically associated with architecture, such as column, pylon, pilaster, pyramid, elevated platform, and bilateral symmetry. The term does not address broader architectural concepts such as spatial organization, circulation, or shelter.

I am interested, both from a personal standpoint and from a cultural perspective, in pursuing the meaning of thes eimages singly and as they combine with others. In turn, the results, I hope, will lead to the discovery of more images for my image encyclopedia. After this introduction subsequent chapters will explore my reasons for the combinations of images I choose and will place the finished drawings in their contemporary art context. My goal will be to note the changing meanings of the objects as they interact serially.

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.

My work already shared some of the characteristics of the gravesites that I proposed to study. They were similar in that they both attempted to integrate sacred and profane imagery. Both called attention to personal events and related these events to a larger scheme. Finally, both were involved with the creation of objects of veneration according to personal edicts, but in relation to already established mythologies. I proposed to create a body of work based on the information gathered from the investigation of three predominantly Mexican graveyards-- one in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and two outside of Laredo, Texas.

Even Though I already did paint fairly rapidly, I felt I had a tendency to let the painting in progress sit too long in between times spent working on it. I also felt that I was spending too much time stepping back away from the work to look at it and was milling around the studio sometimes needlessly. Thus I became intrigued with the idea of doing a painting in one block of time. The purpose of this investigation was to explore and study the possibilities generated by a series of "one-sitting" paintings. I defined one-sitting painting as a painting which proceeded from beginning to end without a significant break, meaning that it could take anywhere from four to sixteen hours to complete.

The purpose of this thesis is to discuss the stylistic development of the Italian architect Aldo Rossi from Modern to Post-Modern design. A summary of the Modern architectural movement is presented along with an analysis of the developments in Post-Modern architecture since 1960. The influence of Italian culture on Rossi's career is discussed through a brief survey of Ancient Roman archetypal motifs and Italian architecture of the early 20th century. Several key buildings proposed or constructed by Rossi from 1960-1990 are discussed based on his concepts of analogy, typology, morphology and rationalism.

Since I was a young child, I have had a deep interest in all facets of the cultures of early humans and more modern primitive peoples-- in particular, their art and their mythology. It was my proposal, therefore, to combine these interests with the styles of my earlier works by using images drawn from the various aspects of my ancestry in several pieces of work in which the layering of those images-- similar to the layers of my heritage-- was used. My choices were limited to a set number of images listed in a "dictionary of symbols." I continued to engage in on-going research of these symbols to determine if there were relationships in their meanings between the various cultural elements of my ancestry.

The problem I proposed to explore involved making changes in personal work practices in the studio as well as studio organization. Using advice and practices that I have gleaned over the past few years, I made changes in the areas of studio organization, wheel production, and the glaze decoration process with the goal of adapting to a limited studio space and becoming more productive.

I believe that an artist needs a mechanism(s) built into his or her working method out of which the greatest number of options may arise. I suggested that, for me, painting on paper could be one such mechanism. I wanted to pursue paper as a viable surface on which to paint and discover to what extent it would influence my choices in the working process.

My proposed objective was to create eight illustrations using Fusion as a tool to communicate concepts. I posed the following questions for evaluation. 1. Can I create two-dimensional illustrations effectively when applying the knowledge and techniques I have studied? 2. In what way will the use of multiple techniques affect the concept?

I was curious as to what my work was about and what images were important to me. There had to be a reason why I was driven to do what I did, whether it was a conscious, conceptual purpose or a subconscious, intuitive reason. The problem of this investigation was to discover which of these I used in the creation of my images or whether I used both.

My creative project was to expand the depth at which non-clay materials such as wood and metal (brought, found, or otherwise acquired) were successfully blended with clay, both physically and visually. Also, imagery--so essential to the narrative quality of the work-- was to be expanded upon to provide a constant freshness that avoided repetition or variation for its own sake.

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.

The Isle of Man and Southeast Texas both display unique aspects of their geographical localities. In many ways they share similar attributes. I feel strongly that we are a product of our past and of our surroundings. So what type of imagery can be dealt with as a personal icon to link the two diverse places of my past and present?

The purpose of this problem-in-lieu of thesis is to explore the effect of scale in my sculpture, on me as an artist as well as the viewer. My work addressed the following questions: 1. Can smaller-than-life-size sculpture communicate with the same intensity as my previous life-size work? 2. How does scale affect the ability of the work to communicate ideas and feelings? 3. Can the sculpture be as confrontational without occupying space as we do? 4. Does a larger-than-life-size piece gain intensity in any of these questions due to its scale? 5. How does scale affect my feelings toward the work and my method of working?

Each of the pieces in this study was a single room structure which incorporated a window. The scale varied depending on whether the piece as a whole or in part was to be worn.

The intention of my mask-making was to present a body of work that visually captured my many encounters with spiritual presences in nature. From my perspective, these spiritual presences can be described most effectively as Platonic ideals, or the blueprints from which all physical forms are derived. These spirits are, therefore, the life breath and animating force behind the material world. I wanted to transcend the mere physical manifestations of nature and create in the masks a primary vehicle or conduit for the spiritual presences that I sensed in nature.

As I proceeded with my work within this format, I encountered some concerns that dealt with value judgement involving the presentation of an effective installation of this type. The challenge for me was to form a union between the images in my mind and the combination of materials that I chose to use. I wanted the viewer to be conscious of the entire space, as one experience made up of numerous elements.

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.

For the purpose of this study I intended to use Majolica to allow me both more flexibility in the physical act of decorating my ceramic work, as well as the opportunity for the expansion of my selection of symbols. During this investigation the following questions were addressed: 1. Was the color range attainable with Majolica relevant to my work? 2. Was my chosen imagery complemented by the special properties of Majolica. 3. Did the textural possibilities of Majolica benefit my work?

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.

There are three recurrent themes in my work: 1) environmental installations utilizing ecologically unsound materials 2) incorporating air space with plastics 3) conceptual inspiration derived from dreams. I proposed to address these three themes by employing materials traditionally used for industrial applications (as in plumbing supplies and dry-cleaning bags) as fine arts media using fiber related techniques in environmental sculptural pieces.

The purpose for this study was to investigate the effect of painting and drawing when used as an integral part of sculptural form. The following questions are addressed in this study: 1. Does color increase or decrease the three-dimensionality of a form? 2. When used, is color an integral part of the sculptural form or a superficial decoration? 3. Can drawn line (on the sculpture's surface) be used to flatten or deny the sculptural form? 4. Can drawn line be useful in describing or enhancing sculptural forms?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the depiction of rainbows in the art of Frederic Church in relation to mid-nineteenth century scientific developments in order to determine Church's reliance on contemporary concerns with light and color. An examination of four Church paintings with rainbows, three oil sketches, and nearly a dozen pencil drawings shows that Church's rainbow art represents a response to mid-century cultural values connecting science and art. Changes within Church's rainbow depictions occurred as the artist explored the visual representations of light, synthesizing the scientific knowledge of light and color available to him, and reconciling that information with the requirements of art.