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Abstract:
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This study was undertaken to answer the question , “In a cross -section of the featured creative entrepreneurs from Handmade Nation : The Rise of DIY , Art , Craft , and Design , what kind , if any , of art education did these full time , handmade -craft business owners receive in EC -12 schooling and how has it affected their adult lives as successful craft business owners ? In what ways , if at all , does it appear their formal art education led to their successful creative ventures in their adult years ?” In order to answer this question , a survey was conducted of a cross -section of the participants featured in the book (Levine & Heimerl , 2008 ) and film (Levine , 2009 ) Handmade Nation : The Rise of DIY , Art , Craft , and Design about their art educational backgrounds , including what amount of art instruction they received in EC -12 schooling , as well as in informal or community settings . Based on the survey results , four representative participants were interviewed . Their responses were then constructed into narratives so as to portray holistic portraits of their individual paths through art instruction to entrepreneurship . In doing this it was revealed that while EC -12 can be attributed with furthering the participants’ interest in art , and giving them a grounding in many technical skills still used in their daily lives , in most cases , formal art education alone has not seemed to provide enough training on its own to promote the participants’ future successes as creative business owners . It is only through the blending of the sum total of their formal , familial , and informal art education that successful outcomes have been found . |