Visual Arts Education : The Importance Of Art Education

This article is based on a study that was funded in 2001 by the National Art Education Foundation and it focused on the use of arts education in juvenile detention centers in the United States (107). The purpose of this study was to figure out if art education helped children and teens in juvenile detention centers to have a better vision of the future (107). The National Art Education Foundation created a survey to support their research and it was composed of 17 multiple choice and short answer questions (108). The questions in the survey asked people of each institution about funding, instruction, demographics, and participation in the art programs. This survey was given to each of the 478 public residential juvenile correctional facilities

“After a certain high level of technical skill achieved, science and arts tend to coalesce in esthetics, plasticity, and form. The greatest scientist are artist as well” (Albert Einstein). In this advanced modern tech-world mostly people are dependent on science and technology, but arts also play an important role in education. Art creates balanced thinking and better imagination which helps humans to be successful in their career. Yo-Yo Ma intensely informs about important role of arts in modern education society throughout his essay Necessary Edges: Arts, Empathy, and education. Ma illustrates that arts should be also part of education, because it improve students to filter their imagination through disciplined knowledge. Liberal arts should be equal to science and technology because it creates new idea, and in this modern world people should think critical than divergent in their lives. Empathy teaches students to understand and simplify the complicated life. Collaboration include discussion amongst people or group to make things effortless. Moreover liberal arts itself is beauty such as performing arts, it values the beauty of imagination in modern society by art and sculpture.

Art education is different for each individual. Some individuals have a formal art education that includes weekly, sometimes daily, lessons, while some students receive one week of the year dedicated to art and taught by their homeroom teacher after state testing. I was a teacher’s kid that knew how to craft and get all of the paint supplies out of the class. However, I was never taught the importance of holding my brush a certain way or the difference between foreground and background. Once I made it to high school, I was required to take an art history class and once again in college. My eyes were open to how art has changed over the years, but it’s impact on our nation’s history. Another form of art that I have been exposed to is dance. I began dance when I was eighteen months old and continued for twenty years. I am trained in multiple styles including jazz, tap, lyrical, clogging, and ballet. Through dance, I have gain a greater appreciation for the practice and spend time watching So You Think You Can Dance to learn the different types of dance from around the world. Art has the ability to make a significant impact on each life differently and diversely. Dr. Pamela Stephens (2007) encourages teachers to look beyond the curricular benefits of teaching art, and notice the way art can connect individuals with a unique way of expressing their personal growth.

It is well known that art is often overlooked or cut in most education systems around the world. Many believe that is is a distraction from the core components of education (Math, Science, English and History). While many believe this, studies have shown the complete opposite. Art enhances education and encourages creativity or ‘thinking outside the box’. By definition art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination. Without art, earth would be ‘eh’. Funds are running low and the federal government does not require any completion of art in order to receive a diploma. However, art should be a required fifth core class.

Art is a medium for exploring a culture’s characteristics during a specific time. Understanding an art piece’s content and historical significance can reveal key details about different civilizations. Following the time period of the Renaissance, European artists experimented with styles to separate their works from the prior time period. They strayed away from even lighting, stillness, and symmetry to form a new artistic style that differed from the Renaissance. This type of style was labeled the Baroque, a European aesthetic focused on movement, emotion, and drama. Francois Boucher was a French artist from this time that embraced the rising Baroque style. In the 17th century, the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture was created in France.

Plain, repetitive academic classes can definitely become old and dull—especially when it could be all that’s happening daily. Students become bored and dissatisfied with this lifestyle, but the integration of arts can cause various changes in a student’s life. The arts in classroom curriculum open up a diversity of things for students to develop their interest and enjoyment in or express their minds. It not only allows students to enjoy life, but to also expand their academic skills. However, the focus of schools is on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—STEM, rather than on STEM and the arts: STEAM. Schools all around the world are focused on STEM because the world is developing and becoming more complex. Students need to have the skills to think critically and deeply, solve problems, garner and analyze evidence, and make sense of information. Arts education enables students to develop these skills, open up their minds to new perspectives, enjoy life, and flourish.

The arts have been an essential part of culture since the beginning of civilization. Over time, art education paths became more normal in society, and were implemented into schools. These classes have gone through numerous budget cuts, but statistics have kept the field alive, showing improvement in core subjects is associated with a sound foundation in at least one art. The fine arts come in many forms, and each one is unique (Encyclopedia of Career and Vocational Guidance).

This literature review is concerned with the effective and engaging way to deliver visual art lesson to students. This is a significant educational topic because research suggests that students’ engagement in the classroom has been distinguished as the important indicator for students’ academic success (Harbour, Evanovich, Sweigart, & Hughes, 2015). Errey and Wood (2011) also suggest that the higher the level of students’ engagement will result in a better learning outcome. However, many students have fallen in the category of disengage during their classroom practice, which also includes art classroom. The existing literature on visual art education proven that many students in art classroom claimed that they were bored and showed resistance in their art classes (Pennisi, 2013), they were also not as enthusiastic about their art project as the teacher (Andrews, 2010). So, the purpose of this literature review is to discuss several approaches for teachers to effectively deliver art education in the classroom.

(2013). Why the arts don't do anything: Toward a new vision for cultural production in education. Harvard Educational Review, 83(1), 211 236, 265. Retrieved from https://login.ezproxy.socccd .edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/doc view/1326778756?accountid=39855

The arts should be known as a core academic subject. Arts should be in education at schools because it helps with all of the students classes. Music includes about every subject. Math, with the counting and rhythms. English in the reading of the music; Science in the history of the writers the music and what time the music was written; History is the time frame of the songs and the music that tells a story; Physics, in the way the instructor conducts. Clearly music is a pretty important art. For example drawing with shapes, shadows and lines help with the brain and how the brain works more creatively and effectively. Everyone who gets taught from the arts is benefited somehow. “Art does not solve problems, but makes us aware of their

Arts Education in schools has been found to be important for future students. As art teachers say, “art is what makes most human complete as a person”. Many believe students connect better when arts are involved it begins down the number of fights, increase the understanding of diversity, and more peer support. Studying in the arts is very integral to our society today. They are found a part of the cultural heritage of every American. Art allows students to learn about themselves as in skills, passions, their interpersonal skills and meaning of the skills they encounter, and the different cultures all around the world. Students can begin to visualize the world in a different perspective through taking art education classes by experiencing

Nowadays, parents and schools are shifted heavily to mathematic and reading, how about art? Some schools do not even have Art because of the reasons that art education is luxury. Schools need to purchase the materials, and sometimes they need to plan an out-of-school trip, which makes them waste money on the material and time on planning for an unimportant discipline. However, art education benefits students in many different ways. In the article, the Development of Self through Art: A Case for Early Art Education, the author cited, " Early childhood educators have long felt that art had much to teach us about the world and ourselves (Bleiker, 1999). From the brain of Art, it is obvious that there are several areas of the brain are developed for Art. In addition, "the arts play an important role in human development, and learning the arts provides a higher quality of human experience throughout a person's lifetime (Fisher, Immordino-Yang, p 331-332).

In response to shifting perceptions of art prompted by the Industrial Revolution, the work of

During the early twentieth century, art education was seen as unproductive and more often not cost effective. However, in the 1950’s opinions about art education made a drastic change as Americans craved more self-expression. Art education began to flourish as the importance of art involvement became known (DeHoyas).

“Modern painting, breaking through old conversation, has released countless suggestions which are still waiting to be used by the practical world.”(Gropius) The birth of modernism and modern art goes back to the Industrial Revolution, a period that lasted from the 18th to the 19th century, in which rapid changes in manufacturing, transportation, and technology profoundly affected the social, economic, and cultural conditions of life in Western Europe, North America, and eventually the world. Before the 19th century, artists created art pieces for wealthy people and institution places like the church where they can create art works about storytelling of religious or mythological scenes . These arts were there to instruct the viewers.However, this changed when during the 19th century many artists began to create works that were about people, places, or ideas that interested them, and of which they had direct experience. With the popularization of the idea of a subconscious mind, many artists began exploring dreams, symbolism, and personal iconography as avenues for the depiction of their subjective experiences.Challenging the notion that art must realistically depict the world, some artists experimented with the expressive use of color, non-traditional materials, and new techniques and mediums.