Art Education: More Important Than One May Think
Published with Permission
Written by Dr. Heather W. Allen
www.TOSMagazine.com
According to the Oxford Dictionaries’ website, art is “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.”1 Taken one step further, the arts are “the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature, and dance.”2 According to The American Heritage Dictionary, art is “the conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium.”3
As I researched this topic, looking for data pertaining to artists and art history, specifically as it pertained to education, I focused on the study of the arts and its importance in general. I think this focus will provide a more comprehensive foundation for why the study of the arts is important in the education of our children.
There were studies that indicated that participation in the arts positively affects brain development. (more…)