Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 5.02 Architecture and Visual Arts
Presentation #1 Title
Appalachian Aesthetic: Reassessing the Literature on Social Education and Arts Industry in Appalachia
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Study of Appalachian craft revivals yields insight into the ways in which the larger American system of culture and art determined the value of Appalachian crafts and the development of Appalachian craft aesthetics in the early twentieth century; even more fruitful is study of the link between class and aesthetics within the revival traditions. Scrutiny of this system reveals the ways in which it contributed to the undervaluation of craft producers in Appalachia, which in turn situated Appalachian craft within a larger system of material culture of fine goods designed for elite class consumption. While it is possible that the position of Appalachian craft as a consumable art is the result of the socio-economic differences between middle-class Americans and poor Appalachians, close study of aesthetic rhetoric suggests a more complicated scenario. Another significant force in determining the development of Appalachian craft aesthetics was the national intellectual system that established national tastes and exerted authoritative control over fine arts aesthetic discourses. This system, largely comprised of fine artists, intellectuals, critics, collectors, and patrons, was and is located in densely populated and wealthy urban areas such as New York and Chicago and held great sway over definitions of art and market determinations of value. This paper explores the aesthetic roots of Appalachian craft within the larger Western aesthetic tradition through a discussion of aesthetic tradition, privilege, and the link between art discourses and class consciousness.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Carissa Massey is an Associate Professor of Art History and Chair of the Department of History and Art History at Adrian College. Her interests in Appalachian Studies include the sexual rhetoric of Appalachian stereotypes and the relationship between identity and aesthetics in Appalachian arts traditions.
Appalachian Aesthetic: Reassessing the Literature on Social Education and Arts Industry in Appalachia
Corbly Hall 244
Study of Appalachian craft revivals yields insight into the ways in which the larger American system of culture and art determined the value of Appalachian crafts and the development of Appalachian craft aesthetics in the early twentieth century; even more fruitful is study of the link between class and aesthetics within the revival traditions. Scrutiny of this system reveals the ways in which it contributed to the undervaluation of craft producers in Appalachia, which in turn situated Appalachian craft within a larger system of material culture of fine goods designed for elite class consumption. While it is possible that the position of Appalachian craft as a consumable art is the result of the socio-economic differences between middle-class Americans and poor Appalachians, close study of aesthetic rhetoric suggests a more complicated scenario. Another significant force in determining the development of Appalachian craft aesthetics was the national intellectual system that established national tastes and exerted authoritative control over fine arts aesthetic discourses. This system, largely comprised of fine artists, intellectuals, critics, collectors, and patrons, was and is located in densely populated and wealthy urban areas such as New York and Chicago and held great sway over definitions of art and market determinations of value. This paper explores the aesthetic roots of Appalachian craft within the larger Western aesthetic tradition through a discussion of aesthetic tradition, privilege, and the link between art discourses and class consciousness.
