Sunday, January 30, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Why Teach Art?
Why Teach Art?
In todays world everyone is worried about their children getting a degree that will pay them the most amount of money possible. The emphasis is on taking math, language art and science classes, because these are the fields that will help them to make the most amount of money possible. Am I saying the our children should not learn these things? No. What I am saying is that they should not just concern themselves with these subjects only. At the website, habithacker.com, they talk about ways to improve yourself. One of the ways discussed is educating yourself in the field of arts. “Most studies have shown arts education is correlated with improved scoring on standardized tests.” This is one reason alone to make sure that our children take art while in school. It was very interesting to me to read about how students can benefit from art education. In The Arts and the Creation of Mind, Elliot Eisner says: “We also have clear empirical evidence that children, in what we have called the low-arts schools, are less able to extend their thinking.” At edutopia.org I read this: “Arts education enables those children from a financially challenged background to have a more level playing field with children who have had those enrichment experiences.”
In todays world everyone is worried about their children getting a degree that will pay them the most amount of money possible. The emphasis is on taking math, language art and science classes, because these are the fields that will help them to make the most amount of money possible. Am I saying the our children should not learn these things? No. What I am saying is that they should not just concern themselves with these subjects only. At the website, habithacker.com, they talk about ways to improve yourself. One of the ways discussed is educating yourself in the field of arts. “Most studies have shown arts education is correlated with improved scoring on standardized tests.” This is one reason alone to make sure that our children take art while in school. It was very interesting to me to read about how students can benefit from art education. In The Arts and the Creation of Mind, Elliot Eisner says: “We also have clear empirical evidence that children, in what we have called the low-arts schools, are less able to extend their thinking.” At edutopia.org I read this: “Arts education enables those children from a financially challenged background to have a more level playing field with children who have had those enrichment experiences.”
I have known for many years that I am not the most artistic person in the world, I know that I could no more paint a picture than I could overhaul an engine from a car. If I had learned at a very early age to enjoy drawing or painting would that have made a difference? At answers.yourdictionary.com I read this: “While it's all well and good to create a drawing or a ceramic bowl, the real benefit of an art education in elementary school is not the final product. It's the way it teaches the student to think. Patience, perseverance, creativity, problem-solving, and all kinds of other important life skills are often best learned through art.” The article Champions of Change: The Impact of Arts on Learning stated: “One important feature of the arts is that they provide not only permission but also encouragement to use one's imagination as a source of content.” This is another important life skill to learn. Finally Chapter 1 tells us that art can help us and our children to find a cultural understanding of who we are. When all is said and done, the lessons that art could teach us are not just how to draw a person or a bowl full of fruit, but can teach us how to be a better person and help to preserve our future.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Reflection #1
What Is Art?
If you were to ask me this question, I would definitely have to smile and just show you any of the pieces of work that my children bring home from school. To me, this is the purest and most exquisite form of art that any man or woman has ever created. The reason that I would have to say this is because a true work of art comes from the heart, this is in no way to say that the monkey's painting is not art, or that the urinal in the video is not art. I think that those things are artistic and creative, but in my humble eyes not true works of art.
During the reading and searching that I did I came across some very interesting points. At arthistory.sbc.edu I read this: “During the Renaissance, the word Art emerges as a collective term encompassing Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, and grouping given currency by the Italian artist and biographer Giorgio Vasari in the 16th century. Subsequently, this grouping was expanded to include Music and Poetry which became known in the 18th century as the 'Fine Arts'. These five Arts have formed an irreducible nucleus from which have been generally excluded the 'decorative arts' and 'crafts', such as pottery, weaving, metalworking, and furniture making, all of which have utility as an end”. To me this talks about how something can be artistic but not a true work of art, by grouping everything into one group and not letting individual pieces be known for what they are. At philosophytalk.org a Professor Alexander Nehamas states that the desire to make something special is characteristic of the artistic process. Finally, at everydayart.com there was a discussion page that helps to lead teachers on talking to students about how to define art.
In the end I think that the answer to the question is left best to the beholder of the work. I think that it is like the old statement; “One mans trash is another mans treasure”. What some of us would view to be a true work of art others will see a very nice painting, or photo etc...
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