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Our dedicated blog to all things visual arts and the latest information on what’s going on in the art world.
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Our dedicated blog to all things visual arts and the latest information on what’s going on in the art world.
The Power of Displaying Children’s Art WorkGeneral speaking in everyday life, we give little importance to the arts, especially the visual arts, we think of it as a luxury or something that we enjoy casually once and a while. However, the function of visual arts in particular is part of our lives much more than we think.
Art in public spaces gives a city or neighborhood a unique identity and shows its sense of pride, making it more of an attraction for investments and economic endeavors. It has been shown that public art is not only important to beautifying an area and making it more inviting for its citizens, but it also adds value to all the surrounding assets.
Making the arts part of our lives can help us to better appreciate ourselves as a community and enrich us culturally.
Engaging in art forms such as painting, sculpting and collage foster an artist’s connection with their emotions, memories, and learning. Like a new physical exercise, the visual arts heal the mind by activating creative brain cells, thereby stimulating oxygenated blood flow to relatively depleted regions.
“Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life.” — Pablo Picasso
Making art takes your mind off of your everyday life and provides a relaxing distraction. Your brain gets into a mental flow when creating art; worries are set aside as you focus on the detail of the art you are creating. The benefits of this mental relief is one reason why creating art is used as a therapy for PTSD. Adult coloring books are a popular escape for people of all ages!
Another benefit of art is that it encourages creative thinking and imagination in kids and adults. It also enhances problem-solving skills. Because there is no wrong answer in art, people are encouraged to imagine their own solution, and are more daring with new ways of thinking. This type of flexible thinking stimulates your brain and prepares it for complicated functions in the same ways that learning a new language does.
“To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.” — Kurt Vonnegut
In recent years, school curricula in the United States have shifted heavily toward common core subjects of reading and math, but what about the arts? Although some may regard art education as a luxury, simple creative activities are some of the building blocks of child development. Learning to create and appreciate visual aesthetics may be more important than ever to the development of the next generation of children as they grow up.
Motor Skills: Many of the motions involved in making art, such as holding a paintbrush or scribbling with a crayon, are essential to the growth of fine motor skills in young children. According to the National Institutes of Health, developmental milestones around age three should include drawing a circle and beginning to use safety scissors. Around age four, children may be able to draw a square and begin cutting straight lines with scissors. Many preschool programs emphasize the use of scissors because it develops the dexterity children will need for writing.
Language Development: For very young children, making art—or just talking about it—provides opportunities to learn words for colors, shapes and actions. When toddlers are as young as a year old, parents can do simple activities such as crumpling up paper and calling it a “ball.” By elementary school, students can use descriptive words to discuss their own creations or to talk about what feelings are elicited when they see different styles of artwork.
Decision Making: According to a report by Americans for the Arts, art education strengthens problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. The experience of making decisions and choices in the course of creating art carries over into other parts of life. “If they are exploring and thinking and experimenting and trying new ideas, then creativity has a chance to blossom,” says MaryAnn Kohl, an arts educator and author of numerous books about children’s art education.
Visual Learning: Drawing, sculpting with clay and threading beads on a string all develop visual-spatial skills, which are more important than ever. Even toddlers know how to operate a smart phone or tablet, which means that even before they can read, kids are taking in visual information. This information consists of cues that we get from pictures or three-dimensional objects from digital media, books and television.
“Parents need to be aware that children learn a lot more from graphic sources now than in the past,” says Dr. Kerry Freedman, Head of Art and Design Education at Northern Illinois University. “Children need to know more about the world than just what they can learn through text and numbers. Art education teaches students how to interpret, criticize, and use visual information, and how to make choices based on it.” Knowledge about the visual arts, such as graphic symbolism, is especially important in helping kids become smart consumers and navigate a world filled with marketing logos.
Andy Warhol