EDUCATIONAL POLICY

The educational mandate "No Child Left Behind" had numerous unintended consequences.  One of the most troubling to me personally was the reduction (and in some cases elimination) of numerous fine arts programs across the country as schools shifted their resources to try and meet the required test scores in reading and mathematics.  The Child Left Behind was an attempt to sum up this damage to fine arts programs in one powerful image.

Artistic Inquiry: The Child Left Behind

Research: Damage to fine arts programs across the United States caused by No Child Left Behind.

Supporting Documents: The Child Left Behind: An Artist’s Statement by R. Andrew Strickland (2007)

Central Metaphor: An abandoned child with equally abandoned fine arts artifacts.

Modality: Photography.

Photograph:

THE CHILD LEFT BEHIND