Arts and Crafts Movement 1900-1939

1. Arts and Crafts Movement1900-1939 By Chelsea, Lauren, Kirsten, and Carly

2. Setting the scene: 1900-1939 • Rapid social, economic, technological, civic, and cultural change • Industrialization – rise of machines and impersonal factory work

3. Setting the Scene: 1900-1939 • WWI (1914-1918)

4. Setting the Scene: 1900-1939 • Economic instability: The Great Depression begins in 1929

5. Scientific View vs. Holistic View • Scientific view of person and physiology of disease vs. holistic view of person (mind-body unity) • e.g. X-Rays began to be used in medicine

6. Getting back to a simpler time • John Ruskin • mid-19th century British university professor • Believed that machines and factory work limited human happiness • Advocated a return to simpler times

7. The ‘Work Cure’ • Dr. Herbert J. Hall, Adolf Meyer, and William Rush Dunton searched for ways to humanize the care of chronically ill patients • Promoted the “work cure” rather than the “rest cure” • Championed “sheltered workshops” where people earned a living by making authentic objects. The goal was to give spiritual support and to help employ people with mental and physical disabilities.

8. Arts-and-Crafts Societies • Arts and Crafts Movement spread from Great Britain to the U.S. with the help of furniture-maker and craftsman Gustav Stickley. • The U.S. was accepting of this movement because upper classes desired unique, authentic objects, whereas they criticized mass produced items and idleness.

9. Arts-and-Crafts Societies • Handicraft clubs and arts and crafts societies began popping up around the U.S. • e.g. Boston Society of Arts and Crafts (1901) • Herbert James Hall “called his institution a ‘school of handicrafts,’ where patients became ‘artisans,’ tasting ‘the wholesomeness of a life of labor without the hardships and trials [of] the real industrial world” (Quiroga, 1995, p. 93).

10. Before WWI • Clinics were created for patients with chronic physical illness • e.g. Consolation House • The goal of OT was to return clients to a state of financial independence • e.g. Arequipa Sanatorium – clients were encouraged to earn their keep by making pottery • OT had a vocational focus. This paved the way for programswhich wouldtreat wounded soldiers and sailors returning from WWI.

11. During WWI • Occupational Therapy was founded in 1917, the same year that WWI began. • Society felt it was their social and moral responsibility to rehabilitate soldiers • WWI forced field of OT to clarify its role and standardize training and practice • U.S. Army Rehabilitation program was based on the Reconstruction Model

12. During WWI • OT was a means to keep soldiers on the front. • In a lecture given at a meeting of MAOT in 1921, Joel Goldwait, an orthopedic surgeon, said: “These war experiences showed us what was obvious before, that idleness is a dangerous thing. Every maimed soldier was likely to become a centre of social unrest and no nation can stand that. There were numerous cases of wounds in the hand. Three or four months were lost by these during ordinary medical treatments; with occupational therapy available, the time was brought down to as many weeks, and the men returned to the front. This is entirely possible in civil life” (Quiroga, 1995, p. 145).

13. After WWI • There were six people in attendance at the first meeting for the National Society for the promotion of occupational therapy • 300 people attended the society’s third meeting in 1919 • This demonstrates the development of OT as a field during WWI.

14. Women’s Changing Roles • Women gained the right to vote in 1920 • Elizabeth Upham started the first OT program at Milwaukee Downer College • While women who were nurses were under thesupervisionof male physicians, women in the field of OT had the opportunity to be independent.

15. Occupational Therapy Schools • Glaser argued: eye, hand, mind, and creative imagination are stimulated by arts and crafts • As a result, occupational therapy schools began to offer courses in occupations such as needlework, weaving, metalwork, bookbinding, and leatherwork. • The missions and philosophies of occupational therapy and the arts-and-crafts-movement were so intertwined over time that it became hard to distinguish between the two.

16. The Impact of the Arts-and-Crafts Movement • Economic issues led to the demise of sheltered workshops and arts-and-crafts societies • However, the impact of the arts-and-crafts movement remained. • Some argue that OTs’ use of arts-and-crafts has decreased in recent years.

17. The Impact of the Arts-and-Crafts Movement • The use of arts-and-crafts in therapy can be useful: • As a means of self expression • For increasing self-esteem and motivation • To assist learning processes • How can we incorporate arts-and-crafts into practice?

18. References • Levine, R. (1987). The influence of the arts-and-crafts movement on the professional status of occupational therapy. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 41, 248-254. • Quiroga, V. (1995). Occupational Therapy: The First 30 Years: 1900 to 1930. Bethesda, MD: The American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc. • Reed, K. (1986). Tools of practice: heritage or baggage?: 1986 Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lecture. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 40, 597-605. • Thompson, M. (1998). Creative arts in occupational therapy: Ancient history or contemporary practise? Occupational Therapy International, 5, 48-64.