The Value of Art Education

Ann Wynne

12/19/09

The Value of Art Education

What if I were to say that learning how to paint is as crucial to the education of children as learning algebra or essay writing. What would you say? Crazy? Art is not even on the MCAS tests! But I believe these hard times give us an opportunity to make our values more explicit. If we can agree that we want our children to emerge from school as competent learners, not simply equipped with a specific body of knowledge, then we can proceed. Do we know what our children will need to know in 2015? …in 2020?

But what is a competent learner? Take the analogy of the runner. A competent runner is physically fit, has exercised that part of the mind and body that allows him to run. It is the exercise that makes him a runner not winning a particular race. He/she is ready to run. Like a runner, a learner is ready to learn. Education should be more like exercising a muscle than getting filled up with the right set of facts.

I would like to make a case for the Visual Arts as essential to a child’s education throughout elementary, middle, and high school. Many disciplines contribute to a complete education but the learning that happens when children make art is qualitatively different than much classroom learning. The artistic process is unique in the breadth of opportunity it allows children to exercise the capacities of competent learners.

 Art experiences are unique because they can engage the heart, the mind and the body all at once. An artist cares deeply about what he/she makes. Art making is an expression of emotion and thought - a student’s unique perspective. Making art is a physical process. It fulfills the basic human need of working with one’s hands. The artist works with materials that have specific properties and in doing so gains both intimate knowledge of the material and skill in making them do what he/she wants. It is this dialogue between material and artist that is so important. Through this process of dialogue, the artistic learner transcends the specific material to develop a way of approaching and solving problems.

 Art is especially important to the education of young children. They are not abstract thinkers. They long for interaction with real objects- to look, feel, smell, taste, throw, squish, bend, and rip. They experience the world in a visceral way and can’t abide lengthy conversations about things that aren’t in front of them. An infant acquires the concept of self as a separate entity by interacting with the world. A toddler expands his knowledge by experimenting with objects, by seeing what happens when you throw a ball, pour liquid into sand, or stack a set of blocks. School age children ‘think with things’. Children build imaginary worlds with found objects or props like dolls, stuffed animals or toy trucks. They instinctively imbue these things with meaning and play out their ideas in concrete ways. Making art is in tune with this natural play of children. They learn that “work “and “play” can be one and the same thing. The process is immediate, concrete, and experimental. Children represent their ideas with materials, create their own symbols and build their sense of themselves as active agents each time they build a piece of art.

Finally, the artistic process takes on another level of value as children enter middle and high school. As they acquire the cognitive capacity for abstract thought they still need to work with their hands and build concrete models that represent their ideas. More that ever they need to express their individual voices as they build their identities as young adults. It is the actions that each student takes, not the lesson plan of the teacher that determines their learning. Here the artistic process is an opportunity for students to be active in building their abilities as learners. If we   look at what happens in the art room we will see a range of behaviors that constitutes this authentic learning.

So what do students have to do to make art? What parts of themselves are they exercising? The following list comes from Studio Thinking by Lois Hetland, Ellen Winner, Shirley Veenema and Kimberly M. Sheridan which explores what goes on inside student artists as they work:

§  Stretch and Explore
Explore without a preconceived plan, learn from mistakes, improvise

§  Reflect
Think and talk about one’s work and process. Communicate, practice that critical dialogue with oneself and others

§  Observe
Look more closely at the physical world, see the extraordinary in the ordinary

§  Express
Create works that communicate ideas and feelings. Be evocative, find the wonder

§  Envision
Picture mentally what can’t be directly observed and imagine a plan. Visualize, conceptualize, build something from nothing

§  Engage and Persist
Frame one’s own tasks and complete them. Gain satisfaction from making something

§  Develop Craft
Get to know how a variety of materials behave, gain skill in manipulating them. Develop a foundation for learning more.

Art education is essential. This is true not only because what a student gains in making art can make him/her a better mathematician or writer or that he/she may even become a great artist. The real value is that art can make us better and more confident learners and therefore better human beings. Isn’t learning what we humans are here for?

The Arlington Friends of Visual Art, AFOVA, welcomes more voices. To find out more contact David Ardito at ydpaa@yahoo.com or Ann Wynne at annwynne@verizon.net