Fine Art Classes

While many people believe that there are other programs worth funding for such as sports, schools should increase the amount of funds that fine art programs receive. Not only is fine art a way to express creativity and have fun, it also benefits students’ academic achievement, child mental health, and child development.

By having art programs in schools students gain skills such as, problem solving, critical and creative thinking, integration of multiple skill sets, and working with others. Qualities such as these are very necessary for creating exemplary students. Arts have already proven to help with many long standing problems but critical thinking is needed for jobs in the outside world. “ … Creating art supports problem-solving, creative thought and critique like no other discipline.” ( Schoales,2) By participating in artistic classes students gain discipline that most classes fail to teach. These valuable lessons learned from art can’t be found anywhere

Despite taking the place of a core class, fine arts can bolster and strengthen a student’s abilities in said core classes. Art is accessible to everyone and therefore can create a new sense of unity and connection among peers in and out of school. Students often don’t have many ways to express themselves, but by taking classes in the fine arts, students would have an expressive medium to do so inside of school. Skills learnt in fine arts classes can be used for a student’s entire life, regardless of age or condition, and thanks to the many other advantages of these courses, should be required for students to

Fine art classes are fun and let students express themselves in different ways. A middle school student said, “I love fine arts. They give you a chance to be outwardly expressive and they are more fun and less stressful. They help me express myself through music.” Another student said, “The fine arts classes help me think creatively and are one of my favorite parts about

Imagine world that is bland, along with its individuals all the selfsame. In result of the reprehension of creative courses in academia. That previously mentioned world would soon become an actuality. When budget cuts were accruing in my school district; I remembered my fine arts teachers were petrified that not only their department would cease to exist but they would no longer have an occupation. There is a constant reminder of how paramount the sciences and mathematics are; but the fine arts such as music, ceramics, art, and all the other courses that allow creative freedom are important as well.

Greek philosopher Aristotle defines the arts ¨as the realization in external form of a true idea, and is traced back to that natural love of imitation which characterizes humans, and to the pleasure which we feel in recognizing likenesses.¨(IEP). The fine arts which have been a part of human history for 30,000 years have played an essential role in the development and advancement of our societies. As of today, the fine arts are facing the danger of vanishing in the education system of the United States Schools in places like Minnesota, Michigan and Philadelphia struggle to obtain arts programs within their schools. Districts like the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan district, have been struggling with raising student’s academic scores in courses

One impact that students would be missing out on would be the skills they would learn through fine arts. Fine arts show to personally enhance student’s school work ethic, civil communications and personal drive to succeed. Analyzed in 2002 by UCLA, over 50 studies showed that these enhancements proved to help students thorough their time in college and participating in fine art activities (“Athletics and Fine arts can Coexist!”). With all these skills that students could learn through this creative program, America needs to keep the program in order for those students involved to gain these

The undergraduate Fine Arts Program is uniquely offered by both the Graduate School of Design and the Undergraduate College of Arts and Sciences; the specialization and practicality of graduate education undoubtedly improves the quality of undergraduate education. Compared with Vanderbilt, which only has general painting or photography courses, the undergraduate courses at Upenn is highly refined and crown all. For instance, there are

Cutting the fine art classes is giving more time to the more essential classes that students have to take standardized tests on. Classes such as math and English are taking first priority in most schools, which in turn is raising overall test scores in those categories. Most department heads see cutting fine art classes as a small fee to pay in order to raise test scores (Evans). With lack of art classes to choose from, students were "encouraged" to double up on English and math classes. Art and music electives turned into an after school program (Holcomb). Though it is not listed in their everyday school schedule, schools are still trying to incorporate art opportunities for students. This may be true, but funds are still very limited to these after school programs (Holcomb).

Why should Fine Arts be considered as an elective ? Fine Arts is a course taken for students in school to determine their abilities in such activities. Fine Arts should be considered as an elective course because not every student wants to be in a Fine Arts’ related career activity, it will not count against the student if they decide to take the course or not, and there's no special SOL for certain classes in this department.

In conclusion, requiring students to take a fine arts class is not a good idea because it requires students to take a class that they would not want to do and it forces students that in fact want to take the class to be in the same class as students that could not care less. The school board may say that it helps a student become well rounded but it is a proven fact that students that do not want to be in a fine arts class will learn nothing. Do not force these students to take fine arts, because it is inconsiderate to all of the students in those

When used well, the arts are the cement that brings all the disparate curricular areas together. In the best schools, this is often the case. The arts are valued for their interdisciplinary potential. The result is a more cohesive curriculum in which students explore relationships across disciplines. . . . the arts in conjunction with other aspects of the curriculum afford students more complete and compelling conceptions. (p. 7)

Art education has been proven to help with “cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skills” as well as “motivation, concentration, confidence, and teamwork” (Smith). Having the ability and patience to sit down and paint a masterpiece or work through a song on the piano requires high focus and dedication. Students willing to do this will in turn have stronger skills to focus and be dedicated in other subjects. The mixture of all these abilities gained from participation in art programs lead to higher test scores and overall better performance in school. Still, these are only a few of the assets provided by art education.

Schools that offer fine arts classes have lower dropout rates and raised attendance. The fine arts positively impact students of lower socioeconomic status more those of a higher  status. The fine arts have no barriers for race, religion, and culture when it comes to being involved in the arts. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to be involved (Katy Independent School District). Without the arts these students have no outlet for creative capabilities and no way to express their talents. Students who need this way of expressing themselves are overlooked and they are the ones who need it the most (Dickson). When viewing the participation of arts in the eyes of a ten-year old, “It cools kids down after all the other hard stuff they have to think about” (Arts and Smarts: Test Scores and Cognitive Development).

“People are forgetting that math is taught when a child is playing an instrument. English is taught when a child is reading or writing a script. Critical thinking is taught when a child is analyzing art” (Sabrina Holcomb). There is a significant correlation between participating in the arts, and success in school. Multiple studies have shown that there is a strong correlation between playing an instrument, and an increase in scores in mathematical subject. In these studies, it was also noted that students who were more creative were better problem solvers than students who were not as creative. All of these characteristics are sought after in the work force, meaning that the arts not only help during the school years, but in work and business as well (Ron Whitehorne). Also, it is important to note that “Low-income students who had arts-rich experiences in high schools were more than three times as likely to earn a B.A. as low-income students without those experiences. And the new study from the National Endowment reports that low-income high school students who earned little or no arts credits were five times more likely not to graduate from high school than low-income students who earned many arts credits” (Tyleah Hawkins). The arts have always been used as a form of expression and inspiration for people across the world, the arts have also been shown to improve high-risk student's outlook on their schooling. Research has shown that the arts help improve standardized test scores like the ACT or SAT (Tyleah Hawkins).People who support the arts believe that quality art education can help engage at-risk students in ways that other subjects such as math, science, or reading cannot. This is why it is believed that the arts are a key tool in the prevention of high-school dropout. There are many studies that point to a lower dropout rate for students who participate in