According to the texts, particularly the Gropius text, what was missing in art education of the past was a practicality that aligned with the real world. As the text says the type of art produced at ateliers and universities of the past was strictly about teaching people how to paint and draw with little forethought given to where these skills might actually be applied to better society, or to ensure the artist can earn money. By distancing themselves from society artists were no longer suited to be the facilitators of communication. It is not until designers come along and consider the practical application of these skills to their societies that the artist begins to reconnect with society. One such artist who imagined the how to facilitate communication was Laszlow Maholy-Nagy. 

Maholy-Nagy creator of Typophoto envisioned a world where all forms of communication crossed to create the most true form of communication. The result of his vision was Typophoto, a marriage of typography and photography which was capable of communicating better than either one could alone. While Typophoto was the result of his vision Maholy-Nagy fully expected for this to evolve as technology and time marched forward. He envisioned film and audio also merging, and even getting beyond their necessity for linearity. 

Communication is one of the most important goals of art and design. Aside from aesthetically delighting, design in particular is art with a greater purpose( not metaphysically, but functionally). As Herbert Bayer pointed out, it is the responsibility of the designer to not just deliver what people expect but to be pushing for more and better, and not just arbitrarily so. The designer must challenge society to see things in a new light so we as a whole can move forward. As Gropius said we cannot move forward without a full understanding of what role the artist, and designer play in society. 

As Gropius pointed out in his writing the atelier has failed its students. It has done nothing but create artists who are incapable of being useful in today’s society. The artist must be able to do more than just visually conceptualize a lamp or a pair of boots, but must understand their construction so that he is doing more than speculating. It is here the role of the academy is to be defined.

The role of the academy is to prepare creatives to be able to think, conceptualize and to produce work that is useful. That is not to say that it also shouldn’t be teaching creatives to look inward and produce work from their souls but the soul will be in turmoil if the artist cannot feed themself. While sitting in some of my classes and listening to some of the lectures I can understand why creatives get the short end of the stick in their careers. Even though the general public understands the importance of design, designers still make a poor case for themselves as to why you should pay them for their services. The academy should teach beyond the practice of design, but should also teach the business of design. Imagine graduating after 10 years of medical school and the only way to ply your trade as a doctor is to diagnose family and friends for $25 dollars a visit. 

While enrolled here at City Tech I can see some of the Bauhaus ideology apparent in the way the COMD program is structured. Classes focused on the fundamentals of design, leading to more specified study, and finally a rounding out of projects to give one a portfolio they can show in the real world, that could get them work.