Thursday, January 27, 2011

Why Teach Art?

Why teach art? My immediate response to this question is why not teach art? Art is fun! I subbed in Head Start for a few years and nothing is more delightful than sitting down with a group of students and creating something! Art time always seems to be the student’s favorite part of the curriculum (unless you count recess!). Well, as enjoyable as art can be, there are far more important reasons to teach art. Here’s what I have gleaned from this weeks readings and my own research…

In our chapter one reading, The Role of Art in Society and in the Schools, Clements describes art as many things. He states that art is an international language that brings cultural understanding and is “relative to the time, place, and circumstances of its creation.” Art is a national need, a means to develop citizens that are free thinkers and communicators. Art has the ability to make the ordinary important because “art celebrates ordinary experiences.” making them more significant. Art grants personal communication and expression by making meaning from personal experience. Art is general and artistic creativity increasing thought process and utilization of imagination. Art assists students in choosing vocations by helping them develop an interest in diverse careers like filmmaking, publishing, architecture, landscaping, etc. Art promotes literacy and cognition by increasing symbol recognition and processing of our senses. (sight, sound, touch) Art also makes for easy core integration with other subjects. Finally, art is simply a different way of communication.

In Eisner’s fourth chapter titled What the Arts Teach and How It Shows, he gives several examples of how art changes perception. It does this by creating relationships, helping students learn techniques for working material into expression, and gaining aesthetic awareness among other things. My favorite two sections however, the ones that afforded me a fresh look at teaching art, were flexible purposing and the exercise of imagination. Flexible purposing is a concept that helps students learn to “shift direction” in art and use improvisational skills to let their art lead them to new discoveries. This helps the artist avoid being stuck in familiar routines and guides them to unstructured expressiveness. The concept of exercising imagination gives “not only permission, but also encouragement to use one’s imagination.” Artists can then bend reality to their own view of it and use it as a way to enrich or enlarge views of life.

The Champions of Change studies gave very interesting and persuasive research as to why art is so important. My favorite study was Learning in and through the Arts. It tracked over 2000 students in grades four, five, seven and eight. The studies found vastly different art curriculum even in same grade levels. These students were evaluated by how much exposure they had to visual arts, music, dance, and drama. Researchers quickly discovered that schools rich with school arts programs had students with high levels of creativity, fluency, and originality who were open to possibilities, able to express thoughts, exercise imaginations, take risks in learning, were more cooperative and more comfortable displaying their learning. High arts groups consistently preformed better than low arts groups. Why? “Above all, the arts are subjects where young people can take risks in their thinking as they try out new and unexplored arenas of learning.” These groups of students even thought of themselves as competent academics. Art outlets gave them confidence, fostered good relationship with teachers, and radiated beyond art class.
The study also found that it was imperative to have supportive administration that encourage risk taking and that art supports other disciplines like science, math, and language. High art students were better equipped to look at problems from multiple angles, make imaginative leaps, and layer thoughts together to problem solve. They formed “habits of mind” (I love this term) that let them cross disciplines. Teacher’s attitudes toward the arts also affect the way they taught. Art minded teachers were more likely to be flexible and allow students to be creative and exercise skills. “An ideal curriculum would allow art teachers to collaborate with teachers from other disciplines.” The article also stressed a need for students to have access to multiple cultural institutions and that being rich in arts had nothing to do with economic prosperity.

In an article by Andrea Hermitt, on eHow.com, she outlines four benefits of teaching art in the school system. She relates that art increases a student’s visual perception, thus allowing them to better “recognize and understand images, decipher words, symbols, math concepts, maps and blueprints.” That it also fosters abstract thinking and can help “individualize” a students education by bring out their individual creativity, that art encourages cultural understanding by giving students a visual understanding of history and deepens their understanding of cultures. Finally it simply allows them to be creative.

I enjoyed an article titled Why Teach Art from Incredibleart.org, wherein Tina Farrell likens art to other disciplines. She states that art is a science: combinations of medium produce different results so artists learn to experiment and record findings like scientists. Art is mathematical: art teaches things like size, weight, symmetry, asymmetry, geometrical shapes, spatial and linear perspectives. Art is a foreign language: art vocabulary derives from many languages and students learn to blend these. Art is history: art often reflects ideals and is contemporary in its nature meaning students can learn so much about beliefs and popular elements of any time in history. Art can also become a student’s personal record. Art is physical education: art can require much “coordination of fingers, hands, arms, and body as well as require strength, balance, and stamina’ Art is technology: it can help students develop great vision and extensive computer skills. Art is art: art allows us to be creative in such a way that it is something “science cannot duplicate, mathematics cannot calculate, foreign language cannot translate, history cannot legislate, and physical education cannot replicate.” Farrell says art is taught to help students recognize beauty, communicate from the soul, be sensitive to others and give us more life.

Education.com says that art is important for young children, but theories differ on why we should teach it. Author S. Wright relates that some believe art is a biological need that defines the human existence and condition. Others believe that art needs to be taught to encourage children to appreciate beauty and aesthetics or that it needs to be taught because it is an “important means of self-expression, spontaneity, imagination, play, experimentation, lack of inhibition, and freedom of expression.” Another given reason is that it is that art is an emotional medium for “unconscious expression” and encourages “healthy personalities.” According to this article, teacher attitudes toward children and art is as important as teaching it. “How we see children will affect the way we teach and our content will also be influenced by our own views on art.” The article further states that art should be taught universally, not just to those with special talents, and used communicate meaning, communicate between and about cultures, and to bring a child’s “visible thinking” to a wider audience. Art can be therapy, spiritual, self-expressive and teaching art may help students “express their own ideas better than they might do on their own.”

We are back to the question, why teach art? As you can see there are so many great reasons to do so! Not only is it fun, but affects a student’s cognitive, social, and emotional development in unimaginable ways. The infusion of art into one life affects them in almost every aspect and dimension of their existence… physical, psychological, spiritual, cultural…just to name a few. I personally believe that art is as nourishing to our minds as food is to our bodies. I also believe that the way a teacher approaches art, with enthusiasm, knowledge, and confidence, determines the impact it will have on their students.

Works Cited
Clements, Roger D. Emphasis Art. 2010. Ninth edition. Allyn and Bacon. New York.
Eisner, Elliot. The Arts and the Creation of Mind. Chapter four (readings)
Champions of Change: The Impact of Arts on Learning (PDF)
Farrell, Tina. Why Teach Art? http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/Files/why.htm
Hermitt, Andrea. Why Do We Teach Art in the School System? http://www.ehow.com/print/about_5454600_do-teach-art-school-system/
Wright, S. Why Art is Important for Young Children. http://www.education.com/print/art/art-important-yound-children/
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Tuesday, January 18, 2011

What is Art?
Wow, what an interesting question, and a hard one at that. I believe I am even more clueless than I was before I embarked on this search for an answer. First, let me share a recent experience with art and then try to define my own personal beliefs for you.
Two years ago I was fortunate enough to take a trip to New York City. Visiting the Met was on the very top of my list of must do's. I have always wanted to see it and relished every wonderful minute I wandered around in there! However, that is not to say that I enjoyed everything I saw. Some of the art was exquisite, I felt indifferent toward some of it, and some of it was downright ugly... at least to me. So, as I perused each collection of paintings, statues, medieval weaponry, art/sculpture, and archaeological relics, I tried to carefully evaluate them. Some items were afforded considerable amount of time and reflection (can I tell you that I almost hyperventilated upon seeing Monet's Water Lilies in person) while I simply shuffled on by others without much ado. Funny, I spent a good hour admiring Monet's works and marveling at things like just how thick the paint is on a Van Gogh painting, and just about that much time being creeped out and confused over why David Hirst's Shark was considered art and trying to figure out why Andy Warhol (soup cans?) is so popular. As I viewed all these works of art, some of the questions I asked myself were; Why do I like/dislike this so much? How in the world do people dream up some of this stuff? And, is it awful or am I simply "not getting it?"
The readings, videos, and blogs were pretty interesting, but less than conclusive. Is it just me or did they seem to dance around the question and never pin down an answer for you? Maybe, just maybe that is the problem I am having. I just want someone to tell me what art is! No such luck. Here are some of the theories and observations I gleaned from the article. First, the subject of art certainly draws out the philosophers! The Puzzles in Art chapter covered the spectrum and made me think. I do consider that the chimpanzee paintings could be art. Why not? I have noticed many definitions, as in the Art and Artworks chapter, say art should be understood and appreciated. My problem with art is that although I can appreciate much of it, I do not understand a lot of it. The Balinese do not call anything art. I found that compelling and began wondering if maybe we attach too many labels to everything. I also notice I recognize all of the art that is considered"standard examples." There are so many opinions. Plato thought art should inspire philosophical reflection. Dickie thought it needed to be professionally recognized by persons versed in art like artists and art historians. Others attest that art is something physically made or emotionally persuasive. I found the YouTube video pretty entertaining. I like one of the final statements where he said that "as the urinal shows us, the only thing keeping your chair from being in an art gallery is a pedestal." How true. The Tolstoy article states art should mirror the condition of life, draw you into a relationship with the artist, and that you should be able to perceive and share the intended emotion. In professor Shakespears blog she gave 3 examples of art and asked if it stretched our definition of art.The answer to that for me is not really because I would have considered all three art without the revelation of their creators. The urinal in blog two is an interesting subject. First, I do believe purchased items, not altered, can be art. Have you ever seen Arman's School of Fishes made entirely of vise grips. I love it. Second, when I first saw the urinal (and Gober's Two Urinals) I too thought it was offensive, but no more than renaissance paintings with exposed bosoms everywhere. Call me a prude, but I think they are equally distasteful yet renaissance art is among the most beloved forms of art. The third question was about Raushenburg. I am not fond of his monochrome white paintings and I certainly do not believe erasing someones important drawing (maybe if he would have partially erased it making it look like there were scenes emerging from underneath) counts as art. So, some of the opinions and theories did make me think about how I define art.
After reading the provided materials, I set about finding other definitions of art. In her book Why is a Painting Like a Pizza, Nancy Heller notes that both have "visually pleasing patterns, use distinct ingredients, have aesthetic awareness and control, use basic palettes of color, and are similar in the way they are served. She cites that the presentation or "everything surrounding the items" also affects how they look. In an online article, freelance writer Liza Mason says "art is something that portrays beauty and joy, truth and reality, expresses emotions and makes a person happy or sad, expresses life and death, love and hate, and is creative." According to an article on goodart.com, art is anything that is expressive. In other words, what is it that painting, sculpture, music, literature, and drama all have in common with one another that is not common in other types of expression? The difference between these classes has to do with the method of expression (as opposed to the content or the medium of the expression). Specifically, the way that art accomplishes its expression is through the manipulation of a medium as a selective recreation of some aspect of reality. That is to say that the artist fictionalizes reality in order to highlight some idea he thinks is important, and to diminish ones he considers irrelevant to his intended message."
I think art can be found everywhere. It is housed in museums, it is beautiful structures like the Woolworth building, it is on billboards, on the radio, in nature, in classrooms, and even pinned on our very own refrigerators. My individual definition of art is something that has personality, enlivens any or all of my senses, and something that makes me take a second look. It is something that makes me wonder how or why it was composed, created, or came to exist. I also think art is something that inspires discussion or controversy... like the urinal for example. Like it or not I believe it did exactly what it was intended to do, create a stir. Some diverse examples of art for me, besides painting and sculpture, are the Nazca lines in Peru, the Spiral Jetty in the Great Salt Lake, the beautiful bridges framed by nature in Central Park, the detailed graphics in video games, photos and scrapbook pages, sunsets, lightening storms, the hue of colors in the fall, and the cool "sculptures" my son makes with his Legos. I think that there will never be any one correct definition of art because what is popular comes and goes. Art continues to morph and evolve and what holds beauty for some simply doesn't do it for others. I know next to nothing about art, but I know what I personally do and do not like. I also know that I am grateful that we all have different opinions on what art is and is not. What a horribly lackluster and uninteresting world it would be if e all liked the exact same things!!
Works Cited:
Puzzles in Art, Chapter one (Blackboard)
Where do you draw the line. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZXOL-HUfWM
Heller, Nancy. Why a Painting is Like a Pizza. 2002. Princeton University Press.
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