Art Education
College of Arts and Architecture
School of Visual Arts
Special Collections (Archives) at Paterno Library
In addition to strong collections of contemporary resources for the study of art education, visual arts and culture, and education, the libraries at Penn State house a variety of specialized resources for those interested in the history of art education. The Special Collections Library, located on the first floor of Paterno Library, consists of three units: Penn State University Archives, Rare Books and Manuscripts, and Historical Collections and Labor Archives. Although its focus is the University and the local area, the University Archives holds many monographs and collections related to art education (with emphasis on the history of art education). The University Archives holds the records of the National Art Education Association (NAEA), including papers, publications and conference proceedings from the four regional art teachers' associations that joined with the National Education Association's Art Department to form NAEA in 1947. The University Archives also hold the papers of the Pennsylvania Art Education Association going back to 1925, as well as records from the Pennsylvania Alliance for Arts Education and the Art Education Program at Penn State. Collections of personal papers accessible to researchers include those of Viktor Lowenfeld, with his illustrations for the first edition of Creative and Mental Growth; and of Florence L. Goodenough and Dale B. Harris, with extensive examples of children's drawings used in developing the Goodenough-Harris Draw-a-Person Test. A number of twentieth-century art educators have given their papers to the library, notably Alice Schwartz Mattil. Audiovisual materials in the collection include films, and audio and video tapes from early instructional television programs on the arts for children and from national, regional, and state art education conferences.
Rare Books and Manuscripts holds the Albert Anderson collection of nineteenth-century drawing books and related materials on art education. Gathered by a former faculty member in the Art Education Program, this collection includes examples of early illustrated books, text-book series for art instruction, and more theoretical materials on art teaching and learning. Rare Books also holds numerous publications on art education, as well as a major collection on art and architectural history.
The Special Collections Library is open Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Because Special Collections materials are often old, fragile, valuable, and irreplaceable, all patrons must comply with a few general rules for consultation and handling, such as registering upon entry and working under supervision. Books and other materials may be used in the room only; photocopy service, however, can be arranged. Since some of the materials in these collections are not listed in The CAT, users should consult the separate catalogs and handlists that are available in Special Collections.