“the noblest art will be always pure experience…” ~ W.B. Yeats
I have two favorite artists. One is Vincent van Gogh and the other is Caleb Jensen, my son. I like the first for all the classical reasons and the second because of his personal approach.
Cutbacks have led to huge cuts in art education in schools, with many relying on volunteers or additional fundraising to support their programs while others have simply cut out art from the curriculum completely. Yet at a time when this is happening all around us, we at Six Seconds actively pursue a strong art curriculum for several reasons:
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To provide each child with the opportunity to explore his or her artistic inclinations. This is imperative. Society doesn’t normally recognize young prodigies in art. Most famous artists and sculptors did not manifest their creative genius and commitment to the struggle as an artist until young adulthood or even later so each child should be viewed as a potential “Master”. Who knows if we have the next Picasso in our midst? 🙂
To have the opportunity to create memories, build relationships and contribute something aesthetically pleasing to our environment. Art allows us to encourage the unique and the personal. How many of us have been touched by our child’s splodgy artwork depicting a family day out? How many of us have been so impressed by our child’s endeavors we’ve hung it up in our home? Art bonds people to us, it delivers beauty into our living room and it crystallizes memories.
To instill an appreciation in art that we may be uplifted by it – our own or that of others. A masterpiece has the power to capture and hold our attention in some mysterious way. We feel uplifted and refreshed. We feel harmony within ourselves. And the greatest appreciation comes with both knowledge and some level of experience. Education in art needs to develop both technical skills in creating art oneself and the understanding necessary to appreciate others’ works.
To support the process of the ‘whole child.’ Maslow believed that the personality fuses into a fully functioning, idiosyncratic whole only when involved in the creative experience. The diversity of opportunities for creating should be endless and art education provides many such possibilities.
The goal of art education in our school is to provide insights into creating, confronting and appreciating works of art. We believe art education must provide the psychological safety and freedom to take aesthetic and creative risks. And it needs to be enabling, inviting, focusing, and supporting.
Above all, we wish to encourage an individual’s creativity and his or her ability to discover new relationships, to reformulate ideas and feelings, and to devise new means and approaches to his or her own artistic realization. ‘Making art’ is often an informal, illogical, and messy-looking affair. Yet it serves as a very special educational opportunity. And, the end result can be amazing. Please see some examples below of the art work of children at Synapse, who have been instructed by Noa Mendelevitch, the art specialist.
What do you think about the importance of art education for children? Does it have a place despite cutbacks? And how should it look? What are the goals of a strong art education?
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