Search results

Information makes an important contribution to the promotion of the creativity of visual artists. This work aims to explore relevant research through a systematic review of the literature and discuss the impact of information on visual artists' creativity.

A systematic literature review was conducted through Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses method. The authors searched and retrieved 1,320 papers from which, after evaluation, 41 papers have been analyzed.

Two thematic categories were identified for visual artists' information needs: (1) the need for professional development and (2) the need for creative techniques and materials. In terms of information sources visual artists employ, the authors have also identified seven broad categories: (1) conventional resources (galleries, museums, etc.), (2) professional scholar sources, (3) digital art websites, (4) informal information online and colleagues, (5) libraries, (6) personal collections and (7) professional scholar social networks. In addition, the study proceeded to classify the obstacles faced by visual artists in their search for visual information into two general categories: (1) environmental barriers and (2) digital literacy barriers.

Although the investigation of the information needs satisfaction of visual artists as well as the evaluation of their information behavior patterns and information literacy competences is essential, it is understudied. This paper summarizes the relevant literature in a concrete and systematic way providing evidences to be considered in a variety of situations, i.e. developing lifelong learning programs, managing visual art library collections, library services development for artists, etc.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature on the information behavior of practicing visual artists to determine if a consistent model emerges and what further research is necessary.

Works dealing with the information needs and uses relevant to the creative activities of visual artists are discussed in the paper. These works are assessed for their contributions toward understanding of the specific information behaviors of practicing artists.

The results show that a consistent model of artists' information behavior emerges. However, nearly all of the literature focuses on art students, academic art faculty, or librarians, and so any claim that practicing artists fit the model is largely unsupported by research. There have been no published studies of communities of practicing visual artists. The implications of defining artists as communities of practice are discussed.

Research is proposed that studies the information behavior of communities of practicing visual artists in order to confirm or amend the existing model.

Practitioners will have their attention drawn to an underserved user population whose information needs and behaviors have not been directly targeted for research. They will recognize the need for study of their own artist communities and the development of services for them.

This paper directs the discussion of artists' information behavior away from the art‐library‐specific literature, where it has largely resided, as a means of adjusting the focus of research onto the largely unstudied and underserved communities of practicing artists.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss whether artists create research outcomes in a revolving (or spiraling) process? This can be a catch-22 where their work is responding to and forecasting change, while the artist’s voice is often seen as too qualitative to provide research impact for university societies or to be compared with the quantitative data that scientists use.

Where will research methods, qualitative and quantitative overlap? The author knows that both methods are important for ongoing observations about creative arts practice. The qualitative is part of Holmes’ (2011/2012) query about how “knowledge involved in artistic thinking should […] include the issue of how mental images are given creative form, but this is a process that remains obscure in current art research” (p. 2).

For Holmes, “the knowledge product of art research cannot be considered separate from the researcher’s psychic processes; and the currently obscure relationship between artistic production and subjectivity might lead to one of the unique contributions to be made by art research” (Holmes, 2011/2012, p. 2). Holmes’ suggestion provides a strategic link to the way arts and sciences might overlap. “How do artists and scientists find a way to match issues, ideas and theories?” This may be especially so in relation to the integral use of image to empower a message.

This paper offers an original look at how artists empower with image.

The purpose of this paper is to argue that greater awareness of the connections between the traditions and conventions of visual art and the production and consumption of images leads to enhanced ability to understand branding as a strategic signifying practice.

Several prominent, successful artists served as case studies to illuminate the potential for insights into the interconnections between art, branding, and consumption by turning to art history and visual studies. Discusses the cross‐fertilization of art and branding, focusing on three contribution areas: the interactions between art, brands and culture, the self‐reflexivity of brands, and brand criticism.

Successful artists can be thought of as brand managers, actively engaged in developing, nurturing and promoting themselves as recognizable “products” in the competitive cultural sphere.

This paper places brands firmly within culture to look at the complex underpinnings of branding, linking perceptual and cognitive processes to larger social and cultural issues that contribute to how brands work and argues that art‐centred analyses generate novel concepts and theories for marketing research.

The concept of style is gaining momentum in organizational research. Focussing on its implications for strategy, this paper presents a conceptual and methodological framework to make the notion of style operational and applicable to both research and practice. Style is defined here as a combinatorial, socially situated and semiotic device that can be organized into typologies – recurrent combinations of stylistic dimensions exerting a normative and semiotic function within and across contexts. The empirical analysis, situated in the field of electronic music, considers the music genres and the colour dimension of artists' appearance as components of their style. Results show how coherent style typologies normatively dominate the field and how non-conformist but coherent typologies correspond to superior creative performance. Operating as unifying device, style can transform varied and potentially confounding traits into distinctiveness and shed light on competitive market dynamics that cannot be fully explained via other theoretical constructs.

The purpose of this paper is to report on an independent evaluation of a three-year “Creative Ageing” programme, focussing on the impacts for participants and factors promoting successful delivery of sessions.

Artists provided feedback through reflective journals and questionnaires, while the views of care staff and participants were also captured in a standard format at the end of each arts session. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data identified common themes.

Twenty-three arts projects were delivered across a range of settings and through diverse art forms including dance, drama, music, visual arts and poetry. They reached nearly 2,200 participants who recorded over 8,100 session attendances in total. Participation in high quality creative experiences improved well-being for older people, as well as increasing social interaction and reducing isolation. Several factors facilitated successful implementation and delivery of the activities, particularly the need to hold planning meetings with staff to provide guidance around participant numbers and suitability, minimising disruption of the sessions and the supportive role of staff during the sessions. Opportunities for reflection enabled artists to address potential challenges and adapt their practice to meet the needs and preferences of participants and to the complexities of diverse settings.

Previous research has largely focussed on the impact of activities in a single setting. This study supports the role of creative arts in increasing social interaction as an attempt to tackle isolation and loneliness, both for older people living in the community and for those living in a communal setting such as care homes and supported living schemes.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the value of the artist's authentic identity in fashion design and art collaborations and evaluate the efficiency of collaborative brand projects.

Through the case study approach, this paper explores the attempts of Adidas to create authenticity by teaming up with artists. It also investigates consumer attitudes toward the brand's collaborative projects via a questionnaire survey.

Authenticity can be understood in two general aspects: conceptual forms and incarnate forms. Within the value system of authenticity, Adidas' collaborative projects and diverse promotional strategies are to a large degree consistent with consumer aspirations. Nonetheless, the factors that contribute to authenticity via conceptual (e.g. originality, exclusivity) and incarnate forms (e.g. creative process, final designs) occupy different positions in the consumer's mind. This study also reveals that when a brand intends to launch such artistic collaborations, the selection of art style should be treated as an important issue, because specific consumer groups tend to have inclinations toward specific art forms.

More cases should be examined to enable the theory to be generalized to other artistic collaboration practices.

As a pioneering effort in this field, this paper explores the application of artistic authenticity to the fashion world via a collaboration with fashion brands. More importantly, it examines the efficiency of such collaborations and the roles that diverse forms of authenticity play in consumers' minds.

Arts participation fosters social inclusion in a way that other social and recovery programmes do not. The professional role of an artist is an appealing and socially valid role in the community. For many people with a mental illness, arts‐based programmes become a catalyst to resume and/or pursue their art practice more seriously. The focus of this paper is to uncover the complex boundaries that exist for artists who have mental health needs in contemporary culture, and to review these artists' perceptions of their opportunities to create a place for their creative expression to emerge in its own right, and not on the basis of their illness. We also comment on the specific issue of public perception of the ‘outsider artist’ and refer in parts to the apparent question of how such art is perceived and treated. This paper refers specifically to the experiences of eight visual artists with mental illnesses living in Queensland, Australia, who contributed to an exhibition titled Artist Citizen as part of a participatory action research programme. The topics of discussion by the eight artists explore familiar themes to mental health: stigma, exclusion and the integration of identity within limited membership groups. This paper details the expressed concerns of the artists around the value and connection of their creative output. It should be relevant and of interest to mental health service personnel for insight into integration and recovery for people with mental health needs into mainstream social and cultural environments.

The purpose of this paper is to examine science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) efforts at Florida Atlantic University’s (FAU) John D. MacArthur Campus Library (JDM) to share methodologies and ideas with other academic libraries. Recently, there has been an emphasis on and push for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in colleges and universities across the USA as a means for training future work forces and for remaining competitive in global job markets (Land, 2013). FAU in South Florida is a big proponent of STEM and STEAM education (Florida Atlantic University, 2012; Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, 2013).

As many librarians and outreach staff strive to remain relevant to their faculty and students with changing technologies (Drewes and Hoffman, 2010), the FAU JDM outreach staff have developed several novel programs that are geared toward the STEAM initiative.

The Library Outreach Committee at FAU was committed to investigating how they could advance student success through visual arts programming. How can the library help contribute to STEAM education for the students and learning community as a whole? How can the library engage art students? Can the library promote dialogue in arts to the faculty and staff, regardless of their disciplines? This article will describe and discuss the various art outreach programs that the JDM has tested and their outcomes addressing goals toward STEAM education and academic libraries.

The objective in sharing the experiences at the JDM is to spark new and successful program ideas at other academic libraries across the country and abroad and create knowledge in this relatively new area.

Historically business education has put greater emphasis on rational analysis and the acquisition of instrumental and technical knowledge, while paying relatively scant attention to developing business students’ soft skills such as self- and social awareness and emotional intelligence through contemplative learning. In light of the growing need for more open and diverse ways of knowing that are more holistic, emotional, and aesthetic in management education, the authors present a 2 × 2 framework of arts-based pedagogy which helps organize various arts-based practices currently used in management education. The authors also share their personal reflections on using artful practices, specifically focussing on two individual-level experiential learning activities (i.e. museum visits and e-portfolio projects) and one group-based participatory art project. The authors further discuss why creative thinking and innovative arts-based practices can open up a new possibility for filling the gaps in current management education, especially in regard to developing students’ self- and social awareness and environmental consciousness in a more creative manner.