C ultural diversity is fact.Most North Americans live in dynamic, nonstatic combinations of multiple cultures and subcultures.These overlapping groups may be identified by ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, geographic location and mobility, income, occupation, education, and other factors.In this monograph, I will argue that discipline-based approaches to art education 1 that focus on the multicultural roles and functions of art will help all students to find a place for art in their lives and to understand that members of diverse cultural groups have commonly shared needs for art. 2 For some time, the literature on multicultural education has presented conflicting concepts and promoted conflicting goals, and the definition of multicultural education continues to shift.Definitions, programs, and practices associated with multiculturalism and multicultural education have been variously described as confused, contradictory, inconsistent, and muddled (Grant and Sleeter, 1986).Unless art teachers-indeed, all educators who teach art-are presented with reasonable ways to address art in a multicultural society, many may not be prepared to embrace and implement a curriculum that respects pluralism.Whether in schools or in museums and galleries, many art educators already feel that they are being asked to do too much.How, they ask, can they be expected to teach about all types of art from all cultures and all time periods?Critics of extravagant claims for a sociocultural approach suggest that to implement the recommendations of some pluralistically oriented art educators is to get caught up in a "schizophrenic fast lane" (Clark, 1990).Although such criticism may be based in part in the critics' fear of viewing all art and all cultures as equal, and of similarly accepting diverse definitions of quality, to a certain extent these critics are correct.How does one make manageable sense out of a vast diversity of ideas?Clark (1990) asserts that it is "preposterous" to expect teachers to deal with all of the ideas presented and claims made in some multicultural education proposals.He says that he "can't conceive of a teacher who, without dissolving into emotional deterioration, disassociation, and splitting of the personality, could possibly serve all of the diverse masters suggested ... as 'multicultural education' " (p.15).In a thoughtful commentary, art educator Peter Smith (1992) has outlined some of the uncomfortable paradoxes in a multicultural approach to art education.He worries that many of the approaches that are being advocated seem more concerned with social issues than with art, and asks, "How shall we choose?"(p.98).
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