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Art Education

June 9th, 2010

I worry sometimes about the educational system these days. There’s so much focus on testing, and not much focus on actual learning and development. With restricted budgets, programs like art, music, shop, and even sports are being cut. Children are so pressured to memorize things for tests, and the rest of their time seems to be spent plugged into their smart phones, ipods, computers, etc, that they barely lift their eyes to take in the world around them.

It’s important for kids to interact with reality on a regular basis. To stimulate their minds with tactile sensations- wet paint, fuzzy yarn, mud- whatever! To stretch their muscles, their minds, to hear new things, taste new things, see new things. To ask questions, to find out what happens when you mix blue and yellow, and then add red. Kids need a way to express themselves, whether through art, music, sports, or some other avenue.

I was fortunate enough to go to a small, ordinary public school where art and music, shop and sports were offered. I loved art, dreaded sports, enjoyed shop class, and unfortunately  didn’t explore music. And of course there was math and science, reading, history- all the basics. I was blessed to have parents who read to their children, and a mother who was creative and encouraged her kids to be. Without all that freedom to create, explore, and learn I’m not sure where I would have ended up. So I wonder what sort of future are today’s schools preparing the kids for? Okay, they can’t all be artists, and the ones that are truly driven to be creative will find a way, but it seems so much is lost without the lessons learned in art, or sports, or music. How to think creatively, how to work together, how to improvise.

Parents are so proud of their five-year-old’s watercolors, but they get a little nervous if the child shows interest in art as they get older. Art is not a money-making career, except for the very few. It sounds nebulous and wishy-washy to some. I see a lot of older artists just beginning their art careers- they spent most of their lives at a sensible job, and now at retirement age are finally doing what they really wanted. I wonder what might have happened if they had had the opportunity and encouragement to focus on their art for all those years? It frustrates me that people place so little importance on art, and yet it’s a part of almost everything in our lives. Our houses, cars, clothes and the fabric those clothes are made out of all had the hand of an artist in them at some point. Every ad, every website, every font, every label had a creative person involved.

If art and creativity were celebrated, encouraged, even required in schools, imagine the mental and emotional doors this would open. Kids would learn to be innovative, confident, curious, and explorative. They’d learn to think, question, and challenge. But here’s so much attention on schools and teachers being accountable, and I guess they haven’t developed a test to gage creativity- so much easier to focus on math and reading- which are important too, don’t get me wrong. I just think the scales are tipped too far in that direction for kids to be getting a balanced education.

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