Artist Betsy Williamson Takes Apart The Textbooks
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » The accepted rationale for college-level art history classes is that they teach you “how to look at art.” I’ve always found that irritating. The implication—that observing, analyzing, and interpreting art are skills that must be learned—is somewhat insulting, suggesting that those who haven’t received the right training can’t relate to visual art. “Kids go into class and they regurgitate what they’re told,” Williamson told me in a telephone interview....