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.

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.

Art educators and classroom teachers in the elementary schools are confronted with the challenge of helping children look critically at works of art and develop written and/or verbal skills to communicate their findings. It was the purpose of this study to determine the effectiveness of the conceptual learning technique of semantic webbing in teaching art criticism in the elementary classroom. The author revealed a significant difference of opinions between two sample groups and similarities between the variables of frequency of use, and familiarity of the webbing technique and its effectiveness in the classroom. The sample groups consist of elementary classroom teachers and art specialists who work with kindergarten and first grade children.

A major figure to emerge in the history of American photography is Carlotta Corpron (1901-1987), who taught art at Texas Woman's University in Denton, Texas from 1935-1968. The rediscovery of her abstract images created during the 1940s reflects the growing recognition of the experimental photography at the New Bauhaus in Chicago from 1937-1946. Corpron's abstract photographs were stimulated by her interaction with Lazlo Moholy-Nagy and Gyorgy Kepes. Corpron was an innovator in the development of abstract photography in the United States. This thesis connects her work to that of Moholy-Nagy and Gyorgy Kepes as well as other major figures in American photography of the twentieth century.

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.

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.

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.

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.