Charlotte Mason was a turn of the century British educator and published author who dedicated her entire life to the education of children. She was innovative, progressive and ahead of her times. Her broad and rich philosophy was based on educating the whole child, not just his or her mind.

Miss Mason was a firm believer that children are born-persons, contrary to the belief many still hold today of children as blank slates to be written on or an empty cup to be filled. As a result, the educator was to be a guide instead of the all-knowing teacher.

Education was viewed by Miss Mason as a “feast” and it is up to the educators to provide the appropriate feast of knowledge for their unique students, one that is rich with nourishment. In her eyes, all children had the ability to learn at their own pace, regardless of ethnicity, culture, genetics or socioeconomic status. She believed students everywhere had a right to a wide and liberal education, of which art was an intricate part.

Concerning Art Appreciation, Charlotte Mason wrote:

“We recognise that the power of appreciating art and of producing to some extent an interpretation of what one sees is as universal as intelligence, imagination, nay, speech, the power of producing words. But there must be knowledge and, in the first place, not the technical knowledge of how to produce, but some reverent knowledge of what has been produced; that is, children should learn pictures, line by line, group by group, by reading, not books, but pictures themselves…. As in a worthy book we leave the author to tell his own tale, so do we trust a picture to tell its tale through the medium the artist gave it.” (Vol 6, pg 214, 216)

This form of study enabled students to appreciate beauty for themselves in a natural way, as well as increased their power of observation, visualization and beauty sense.

"We aim at putting the children in touch with the great artist minds of all ages. We try to unlock for their delectation the wonderful garden of Art, in which grow most lovely flowers, most wholesome fruits. We want to open their eyes and minds to appreciate the masterpieces of pictorial art, to lead them from mere fondness for a pretty picture which pleases the senses up to honest love and discriminating admiration for what is truly beautiful - a love and admiration which are the response of heart and intellect to the appeal addressed to them through the senses by all great works of art.” – The Parents' Review (edited by Charlotte Mason, Vol 12, no. 7, July 1901, pg. 501)

Appreciating “all great works of art” is a vital focus for our Collections as our desire is to bring to students the beauty found within the work created by Artists of Color not usually showcased.

This is but a snippet of why we proudly and confidently use the Charlotte Mason Philosophy of Education for our Artist Study.