V BY J.

ULBRICHT
E

i.C. HOLZ REVISITED:

FROM MODERNISM
VISUAL CULTURE
f n 1973, Brent Wilson and I traveled 33 miles west of the University of Iowa to
'williamsburg, Iowa, where we evaluated the progress of an art student
/ teacher. While there, we visited Williamsburg Elementary School, and
together noticed the numerous self-initiated spontaneous drawings that
students posted on the art room bulletin board.
J.C Holz (b. February 22, 1963) drew most of the pictures and conducted an interview for a front-page article in
images. Ralph Olson, the art teacher, introduced us to the WiUiamsburg Jout^nal 7>'(/)UH(? (February 21, 1974).^ J.C
J.C, and after we took a closer look at his art, Wilson became an instant celebrity in his hometown, and Wilson had
knew he had to leam more about the motivations and all the data he needed for his 1974 article titled "The Super-
methods ofthis prolific young student. heroes of J.C. Holz."
We interviewed J.C, a seemingly shy 10-year old boy, Because Wilson (1974a), and other art educators, used the
several times during his art class in an adjoining room. J.C. Holz article as the basis for further investigations, my
J,C requested that he bring his pad and pencil along so he purpose in this article is to review Wilson's investigation,
could draw and sketch while we asked questions. In the evaluate it in light of emerging perspectives, and leai'n from
first interview we learned about more than 200 self- J.C's recollections of his past achievements. In addition, I
initiated sketches that he completed prior to our interview. speculate on the impact that further analysis could have on art
During a second interview we evaluated J.C's extensive education.
collection of pei"sonally designed multi-page comic books.
And in a third encounter we learned about an equal number Wilson's Analysis
of store-bought comic books tliat J.C acquired and studied. After analyzing J.C's carioon images, Wilson conchided that
During one of our several interviews, we encouraged J.C:. to J.C learned much from his self-iiiitiated spontaneous play art.
have a solo exhibition of his work at the University of Iowa's J.C's drawings exhibited advanced concepts of foreshort-
North Hall, just outside Wilson's office. Fiborboard wall ening, movement, action, multiple viewpoints, value, contrast,
coverings accommodated over 50 of J.C's pictures. A flyer shading, metamorphosis, zoomori)hisni, fantasy, futurism.
quoted J.C as saying, "I am a creator of superheroes. In 1971,1 themes, and plots. Wilson analyzed the story lines in J.C's
drew [and posted] some phantom characters but 1 did not sign work and found that they referred to past, present, and future
my name. After 2 weeks, people becajue suspicious, so I told them events, plus real and imaginary concerns. J.C. included
that I was the creator of the phantom characters." A reporter took himself in his narratives as a powerful male figure, ready to
confront a great, variety of challenges.

ART EDUCATION / NOVEMBER 2005


In his article, Wilson (1974a) compared J.C.'s prolific
production to Kreitler and Kreitler's {1972) homeoslatic model
of motivation that assumes optimal conditions for existence
and survival, establishing equilibrium between overly boring
and stimulating activities. The Kreitlers theorized that
repeated activities became redundant, and thus, people
sought new and more stimulating experiences. According to
Wilson, J.C's motivation came from Ms strong predisposition
for fantasy, an acute need for non-redundant stimulation, and
a strong need to avoid boredom.
Wilson also looked at J.C.'s spontaneous art through the
research of Victor Turner (1967; undated) who wrote about
the ludic continuum that spanned from luminal (ritualistic)
to limuloid (play-like) activities. Wilson hypothesized that a
school-spontaneous art continuum was similar to Turner's
continuum. Wilson encouraged teachers to incorporate
spontaneous art in school art instruction, and he hypothesized
Ihat students found self-initiated spontaneous art more
enjoyable than school art.
Wilson (1976; 1979) and Wilson and Wilson (1977) extended
their observations in several articles with Gombrioh's (1960)
appropriation concepts. Wilson (1976) cited examples of
several artists who leamed to draw by co[)ying graphic images
and he concluded that child art was a cultural product that
varied from one culture to the next.
Modernist Analysis
One can only speculate about Wilson's
frame of reference when he investigated J.C.
Holz. Although concerns for creativity were
waning in the professional literature, many
teachers believed that teaching for expressive
child art was a worthy goal, Wilson appreciated
the modernist celebration of children's energy and
exuberance for image making, and he speculated
that self-motivated child art was different from
school art.
Modernist teachers and critics looked at art for
its formal qualities and Wilson was somewhat inter-
ested in form, composition, and sensory expressive
qualities—but not exclusively. In Wilson's (1966)
earlier research, he developed an art content analysis
scheme that took into account a whole range of
elements including symbolic, allegorical, historical,
social, personal, narrative, and synthetic.
Wilson became increasingly aware of how
highly motivated some kids were to make
their own graphic narratives.
At first glance, J.C's spontaneous art appeared to be
very unusual to modernist researchers and teachers. The
fact that there was so much more in the form of stories,
plots, and symbols made J.C.'s work look imaginative,
inventive, and expressive from Wilson's perspectives.
Modernists also believed in the use of acclaimed
"exemplary" models to guide research and teaching
practices. Observers could easily see that J.C. had advanced
symbolic and technical abilities and after evaluating J.C.'s
art, Wilson possihiy felt tJiat he had found a young artist who
was a model for other students, researcher's, and teachers.
Classifications of children's art often paralleled the work of
famous artists. Wilson may have found J.C.'s comics of
interest because they were similar to the pop art of styles of
Roy Lichtenstein and Roger Brown. Wilson knew about
Lichtenstein through a filend at The Ohio State University and
he later leamed about Roger Brown's (Gedo, 1990) cartoon-like
art during a visit to the Phyllis Kind Gallery in 1974.
Wilson also may have found J.C.'s con\ics of interest because
of concurrent observations of his son Dirk, who at the age of 7
also liked to draw in a comic-book style. Wilson became increas-
ingly aware of how highly motivated some kids were to make
their own graphic narratives. Clearly, Wilson had several reasons
for looking at J.C.'s ait in the early 197()s.
OVEMBER 2005 / ART EDUCATION
 OURNAl TRIBUNE
THURSDAY. FtSRUARV 21, 1974

Thur^ Dae. M . 1174 THE PtOWEHl BEPUBUCAN 5

J. C. Holz has display

of cartoons at Ul galli
•a Iw nMl Iliarahu

Mil. I tm,
lirWtSSES AHT - J C Holi 10 VSil »< 1 'Ki^ *«>™'l**"i«»"'«l««'O !" ^ n
(l,»ll^llll!H «fni dr.i"!- Mipi-r hi-ri»'». i-ilk..
j j l II till hi-Mi-lri»lorK,iiph tllM.n,iif Wil

Draws Suoerheroes
J.C. also said that he did not find his K-12 education
Reviews Art Of J.C. Holz JO ,imb ii'iiturrr ,mi1 bikt- ,i iil.j>
to be especially challenging or interesting.... While
nini*[i,i^i.> inil-NimiiihiTcd
ilKiii ro.tri<rn(tl<' TIst-SiiiH-r-
Wilson rppiinv ihJi ,1. r,
di»Mi'l lltink ol hUnsHi waiting for the next lesson and assignment in school,
heroes [j( J C. Holi" .i C, 10 ;ini*(. '•IVrh;>i)s-nmr i
--.•n .if ihf (^r.mk Hi>lr
VVilli^jm^iiir^ :iil(>n<ls Hie
" i l l Uenuiir on.-, liui
prrsriu. an tarhini n i i i he would daydream and stare out the window and
Wiiltjiiisbur^ ('iiinntiJ"H,v ^a.',"
st'tKWi. • Mj- smiitliijftl i j i i -
conceive of his comic stories and characters.
Postmodern Analysis Visual Culture
Although many of Wilson's child art interests were consistent Today, many academics from journalism to art history are
with modernist trends, some were postmodernist, although concerned with visual culture. Many who study the effects of
scholars did not use the term at the time. Postmodernists attempt \isual culture have positive and negative points of view. Many
to deal with the effects of increasing technology and often appro- business leaders, advertisers, and graphic artists welcome the
priate popular visual imagery to express autobiographical and expansion of visual culture because of its ability to cater to the
social concems (Risatti, 1990). In postmodern art, one can fmd developing and perceived needs of mass audiences. Because of
art that makes a difference in the world, connects art and life visual culture's pervasiveness, some educators (Duncum, 2002)
through self-reflection and transformation, and expands the fear the loss of a belief in and opportunities for personal
definitions of who can make art to involve collaboration and expression.
wider viewer participation (Taylor, 2002). Wilson (2004) provides evidence that visual culture influences
J.C.'s comic book drawings fit many of these characteristics children and their art. J.C. confirmed this when he said in a
in that they used and were concerned with narrative popular WiUiaiiisbury.Journal Tribune (February21,1974) article,
imagery. J.C.'s drawing process was collaborative in that he I leamed how to draw characters by reading comic books.
bought and traded his source material from friends and lot al I have been reading them for seven years. I created over 200
merchants. He enlisted the help of friends and was motivated by superheroes. It took me all summer when we lived in an
and leamed from peer and adult feedback. apaitment [behind my pai"ent5 cleaning business on the
While looking at J.C.'s art., we could see how he used popular square] and I didn't have much to do. Someday, I might
culture to define himself and his world. In his art, J.C. seemed to create a movie using my characters.
have unconsciously anticipated Ihings such as his growing sexual Today, one can find individuals who imitate what they see in
awareness, reiationsiiips with females, and peer power struggles. visual culture, while others use it for expressive and reconstruc-
He contemplated the consequences of good and evil behaviors, tive purposes. Wilson (2004) hypothesized that children go
and in various instances tapped into mythical and psychoanalyt- through three phases of artistic development. In the first phase,
ical themes which are all parts of everyday life. children discover, through graphic play, images that, correspond,

ART EDUCATION / NOVEMBER 2005

in one way or another, to objects in the world or to otliers' graphic jealousy and bittemess in a few classmates, shortly after his one-
configurations. In this phase there is discovering, minor person exhibition at the University of Iowa.
inventing, and some borrowing. In the second phase discovering With regard to the relative importance of the comic imagery
and minor inventing continue, but there is more deliberate versus his personal stories, J.C. said,
borrowing. The third phase is where major inventions and I don't believe that comic imagery and stories can be
extensions of the conventional take place. separated. If both are not great, you end up with mediocrity.
At what phase was J.C? How much of J.C.'s thought and In the '60s and eariy '70s there were some classic comic
expression was his? How much was the result of the themes and books that remain my favorites to this day. I loved the
stories he read about in the comics that he studied? Obviously, artwork and stories of Bemie Wrightson and I^en Wein in
J.C. leamed from the visual culture as he adapted comic charac- the Swa mp 111 i ng. I loved Jack Kirby's DC comics like The
ters, styles, and story lines in his sketches. Using Wilson's (2004) Demon and Kanumdi. Jack Kirby both wrote and drew,
conceptions of art development, J.C. was at an advanced conven- and I always found this inspiring.
I ional phase, in that he imitated and masterefi the conventions of After leaving eienientaiy school, J.C. took art classes in high
adult aitists, envisioned how he could relate them to his world, school from an older traditional teacher who studied with Grant
entertained hhiiself, and objectified his personal concerns. Wood at the University of Iowa. J.C.'s high school art teat^her was
not supportive of his self-initiated aitistic interests and did not
Interview Results encourage him to pursue a career in art. Fortunately, J.C. excelled
For this aiticle I interviewed J.C. Holz,' 31 years after our initial in l\is other courses and he graduated first in lus class. His mother,
contact with him. Through e-mail and personal intendews, I was Bemice Holz, thought he might go to college and study medicine.
concemed with: (1) confinning Wilson's analysis of J.C.'s elemen- Instead, J.C. envisioned a major in accounting followed by law
tary school cartooning experiences, (2) learning about his school and a coiporate cai eer.
current concents for art and imagery, and (3)findingout how his
artistic experiences have affected his life today. At the University of Iowa (1981-84), J.C. especially liked
economics, psychology, social psychology, and marketing. He
Childhood Recollections. To begin, I asked J.C. to describe
was veiy intrigued with how businesses manipulate consumers
his eailier elemental^' art experiences, what he leamed, and how
to buy their products and services. He was surprised to leam that
he perceived his artmaking activities. J.C. said that he had very
fond memories of creating characters and stories. He thinks his
comic art was a great [emotional] release for him. He loved
cartooning and storytelling, but as he advanced in high school, his
studies and work took him away from cartooning. He stopped
buying comics, except for a brief interlude while in college. He
believes that his cartooning activities made him more creative,
adventuresome, and imaginative in that he was always looking at
his world through books, television, aiul comics in seaich of new
ideas that he could use hi his stories.
J.C. also said that he did nol find his K-12 education to be
especially challenging or interesting, and he leamed more quickly
on his own. While waiting for the next lesson and assignment in
school, he would daydream and stare out the window and
conceive of his comic stories and characters. Confimiing Kreitler
and Kreitler's (1972) theories, J.C. said that cartooning was a
great reliever of boredom.
As Wilson hypothesized, J.C. also confirmed that he eryoyed his
cartooning much more than school art activities because of the
freedom that he had with ideas, characters, and his ability to draw
what he wanted. Although J.C. remembers many school assign-
ments to be boring, he thinks of his elementaiy school art teacher
as a liberator, who allowed him to decorate a plate with an ape
fromPlanet of the Apes.
I asked J.C. if his cartooning helped him deal with his peers. He
responded that cartooning enabled him to earn the respect of
others as they recognized his drawing abihties. Although J.C.
received adulations from countless adults including his elemen-
tary school art teacher, his cartooning activity resulted in

NOVEMBER 2005 / ART EDUCAT

One wonders how
teachers could incorporate
his interests In classroom
learning and what he could
have learned in school that
would have facilitated
deeper artistic and personal
understandings.
psychology professors qualified their
lectures by stating that they were not
teaching mind manipulation
techniques. J.C. compared his profes-
sors to many of the comic book \illains
with their far-fetched ideas and out-of-
the-mainstream thinking. His
cartooning experiences helped him see
the motivations and intentions of
various indi\iduals.
Leslie Hager, J.C.'s future wife, motivated him to finish college
in 3 years through CLEP tests and summer school so he could
start, his career and family, hi addition to his self-imposed time
limit, J.C. never thought about taking art courses in college,
possibly because he lacked self-confidence.
Art Interests. Wilson (1974b) urged teachers to think of their
instruction as a long-term proposition that may have an effect on
students 10, 20, and 30 years in the future. So what is J.C. doing
today and how did his schooling and spontaneous art affect his
life? Is he creative, expressive, imaginary, well adjusted, and
artistic? Is he still an "art addict?" Does he visit museums and
have ait in his home?
Today, at the age of 41, J.C. isa third-party owner of a 401K
pension administration firm for professionals and small
businesses. He constantly travels as an investment consultant,
and meets with potential clients and vendors. When waiting for
appointments, he often uses his spare time to draw more
cartoons. His recent work looks similar to his earlier caiiooning
except it includes references to, and opinions about, current
events as seen in the media.
Within the past 10 years, J.C. rekindled his interests in comics
when he noticed that film studios were converting many comics
into movies. Chills nm up his spine when he sees trailers for new
Spiderman™ mo\ies. When J.C. travels on business he tries to
see "historic sites and visit local attractions." During a recent trip
to Orlando, Florida, he spent the afternoon at Universal Studios
primarily to eryoy the Spidennan ride. J.C. collects art by Harley
Brown, known for his impressionist pastel Indian portraits in the
C. M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, MX
ART EDUCATION / NOVEMBER 2005
J.C. lives with his wife, Leslie, and four
daughters in a home surrounded by rugged
mountains and a menagerie of over 50
chickens, goats, rabbits, geese, and other
wild animals. J.C. was pleased to leam that
all of his daughters like to draw as he did
when he was their age. During a restau-
rant interview not far from his home, all of
J.C.'s daughters came prepared with
completed and in progress carioons, as
well as colored pencils and markers to
complete new work while they waited
for their food. J.C.'s hobby has proved to
be an important intergenerationaJ bond
that he never envisioned in 1973 and
1974.
Current Concerns. J.C. thinks that
comics provide great entertainment
an<i enlightenment for a person such
as himself. As he tries to outline
financial solutions for clients, he
reflects on his cartoons. He learned
from his readings that life is not
simple—often consisting of problems that
have many answers. He notes that fantasy cartoons, even in the
'GOs, often dealt with interpersonal concerns, moral questions,
drug problems, environmental issues, and politics. Cartoons
continue to provide him with ideas for multiple solutions to
complex issues.
Today, J.C. continues to maintain contact with Ralph Olson, his
elementary school art teacher. Olson included J.C. in a movie that
he made one summer with a gram from the Iowa Arts Council.
Olson is currently working as an animator for a major motion
picture corporation in Califomia, aiid J.C'. said that his former art
teacher is doing exactly what he would like to be doing with his
talents today.
Applications
Ha\ing re\1ewed Wilson's arlicle and confirming its findings,
we know how much J.C. valued his self-initiated spontaneous an
and how he used \isual culture to develop and frame the language
of his personal narratives. We see how gifted students often
become bored in school when teachers do not make adjustments
for individual differences. We also see how J.C. used his comic
interest-s to deal with life and how his interests seem to have infiu-
enced future generations.
It appears that, aside from the support that J.C. received from
his elementary teacher and Wilson's encouragement through
J.C.'s one-person exhibition, art schooling had very little to do
with his artistic development. One wonders how teachers could
incoriiorate his interests in classroom leaming and what he could
have learned in school that would have facilitated deeper artistic
and personal understandings.
 J.C. had a keen interest in the techniques and stories that he
found in popular art. His teachers could have enhanced the
narrative qualities of school art if they had looked at J.C.'s work
and incorporated his interests in their teaching. Furtliennore, if
his teachers had included some of the themes (reality and fantasy,
power issues, interpersonal relations, environmental issues, and
scientific exploration) found in some of J.C.'s comics, then all
students might have leamed the value of art for telling meaningful
stories about important social issues.
Since visual culture will be increasingly pervasive, teachers
should prepare students to understand its objectives, mot ivat ions,
and impacts. Teachers should help students relate the various
forms of visual culture to one another, and pose questions for
students about their makers, purposes, and functions. If teachers
could help students such as J.C. use their analytical skills to
better critique and evaluate the concems of visual culture, then
student understandings might be deeper and better infomied.
Based on the enjoyment that J.C. had from his summer movie
participation and his confession that he would like to be an
animator today, we can see how teachers could have made a
contribution to his career development if they had incorporated
film technology and animation in their art classes. With such an
early start. J.C. might be where he wanted to be today, just like his
element^uy art teacher.
For J.C. there are many school activities that might have
supported his personal development through ari. Although his
peers may have understood the genre in which J.C. worked, one
can assume that few took the time to really understand the depth
of his symbolism and the layers of meaning in his art. J.C.'s
comics invited a more thoughtful interpretation, If J.C.'s teachers
had provided such inteipretations, they would have enhanced his
interpersonal and social development and tliat of other students
as well.
In hindsight, there are many insights that we can gain from this
child art study that would help students go beyond their self-
initiated art. Teachers can learn from these experiences by
expanding upon Ihe technical, thematic, symbolic, and social
aspects of the spontaneous ait of students such as J.C.
•J. UlbHcht is a Professor in the Visual Studies/Art Education
Division, Department ofArt, and Art History^ Univeisity of
Te.ras at Austin. E-mail: j.ulbricht@inail.utexas.edu
J. Ulbricht (left) interviews (the tormer) J.C. Holz,
Photo by Erroi Zitnnierman,
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ENDNOTES
^This is aji edited version of a paper presented November 13,2004 by
Lhe author at a meeting of the Visual Art of Childhood: Cliild Art after
Modemi.stn Symposium at Penii State University, State College, PA
^In addition to the front-page WiUiamsburg Joui-nal Tribune
(Eebniary 21, 1974) an icie, additional articles about the exltibition
appeared in 'Ilie Cedar Rapids Ga^p/^c (Sunday, P>bniary 24, 1974 and
December 12, 1975) and Tlie Pioneer-Republic (DefpmbeT2i\, 1974).
'^Interviews conducted between April 2,2004 and August 14,2004 were
supported with a travel grant froiu tbe Department of Art and Art
History, The I 'niversity of Texas at Austin.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Each of tlie comic book cover reproductions in this article (Given
Lantern, Kaniaiidi, im(\Sw(inii> lliing) is used by the publisher to
illustrate teaching, scholarship, and research points in accordance
witli tlie "fair use" provisions of the U.S. Copyright Law section 17.
C'oniic books are from the collection of J.C. Holz.
N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 5 / ART E D U C A T