Being an Artist is more than just being able to draw, or make pretty pictures. It is about being able to express yourself in ways other than words or sounds. It is about developing and feeding creativity. It is about being a problem solver. Taking an Art class in school helps to develop expression, creativity, and problem solving skills. This presentation and accompanying activities help to highlight some of the benefits to taking Art classes besides just "having fun".
If you were out during this presentation there is a PDF version of the presentation here.
If you were out during this presentation there is a PDF version of the presentation here.
GETTING STARTED
Why should a high school student study art? This is the fundamental question for this lesson so I want you to think of five different reasons that you think a high schooler should take an Art class. Got them?
Okay, good. Now that I have you thinking about taking an Art class, I want you to read the article 9 Reasons to Study Art in High School by Amiria Robinson. In it the author talks about reasons for students to study Art, not only for their personal fulfillment but also as a legitimate career choice for the future.
What surprises you about what you read? Was there anything in the article that disproved or supported your reasons for taking an Art class? These are questions that are becoming more and more relevant in our society. For more information on that you might want to read "A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future" by Daniel Pink and/or "The World is Flat a Brief History of the Twenty-First Century" by Thomas Friedman.
Why should a high school student study art? This is the fundamental question for this lesson so I want you to think of five different reasons that you think a high schooler should take an Art class. Got them?
Okay, good. Now that I have you thinking about taking an Art class, I want you to read the article 9 Reasons to Study Art in High School by Amiria Robinson. In it the author talks about reasons for students to study Art, not only for their personal fulfillment but also as a legitimate career choice for the future.
What surprises you about what you read? Was there anything in the article that disproved or supported your reasons for taking an Art class? These are questions that are becoming more and more relevant in our society. For more information on that you might want to read "A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future" by Daniel Pink and/or "The World is Flat a Brief History of the Twenty-First Century" by Thomas Friedman.
SO WHY TAKE AN ART CLASS?
If you ask a lot of students why they sigh up for an Art class you might get answers like, "I like Art", "Art is easy", or the dreaded "I don't want to have to work hard" and "I didn't sign up for the class". Art classes always have a mix of students who are passionate about Art, students who like Art, students who think Art is "play time", and student who don't really want to be in the class but are "stuck". While students have many reasons for wanting to take an Art class there are many reasons that EVERY student should take at least one Art class, but lets focus on three things: developing/encouraging expression, fostering creativity, and developing/strengthening student's problem solving skills.
If you ask a lot of students why they sigh up for an Art class you might get answers like, "I like Art", "Art is easy", or the dreaded "I don't want to have to work hard" and "I didn't sign up for the class". Art classes always have a mix of students who are passionate about Art, students who like Art, students who think Art is "play time", and student who don't really want to be in the class but are "stuck". While students have many reasons for wanting to take an Art class there are many reasons that EVERY student should take at least one Art class, but lets focus on three things: developing/encouraging expression, fostering creativity, and developing/strengthening student's problem solving skills.
Expression
"I found that I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for."
~ Georgia O'Keeffe
"I found that I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for."
~ Georgia O'Keeffe
Art is not only about self-expression but also experiencing other's expression. Being able to look at other's artwork allows us to experience things through the eyes of others giving us different perspectives on our world. It also allows us to expand our visual vocabulary as artists and viewers.
Art allows you to express your thoughts, feelings and emotions without the need for words. So many students "hate" to write. They may find it difficult to put ideas into words, but they have a picture int heir head of what they want to say or do. Today's society is very visual. Think about it. You are bombarded with imagery from the minute you wake up, till you close your eyes at night; you use your cell phone that has pretty icons on it, you check Facebook/Instagram/Snapchat to see what your friends have posted, you come to school and work on a laptop for part of if not all of the school day, and then your back on your phone/computer after school to check on your world before you go to sleep. Images have invaded your life. Now your taking an art class and you can express yourself in a way that matches how you interact with your world.
You are also in a place where your are "SAFE" to explore ideas and share a part of yourself where there is not a set "right" answer. While you may/will have guidelines for each project that you should adhere to, projects differ from student to student. The guidelines are there for grading purposes and to help direct you though a learning process for a specific concept. If you choose not to follow the guidelines, your grade may suffer, but that is a decision that you may make in pursuit of an idea.
Art allows you to express your thoughts, feelings and emotions without the need for words. So many students "hate" to write. They may find it difficult to put ideas into words, but they have a picture int heir head of what they want to say or do. Today's society is very visual. Think about it. You are bombarded with imagery from the minute you wake up, till you close your eyes at night; you use your cell phone that has pretty icons on it, you check Facebook/Instagram/Snapchat to see what your friends have posted, you come to school and work on a laptop for part of if not all of the school day, and then your back on your phone/computer after school to check on your world before you go to sleep. Images have invaded your life. Now your taking an art class and you can express yourself in a way that matches how you interact with your world.
You are also in a place where your are "SAFE" to explore ideas and share a part of yourself where there is not a set "right" answer. While you may/will have guidelines for each project that you should adhere to, projects differ from student to student. The guidelines are there for grading purposes and to help direct you though a learning process for a specific concept. If you choose not to follow the guidelines, your grade may suffer, but that is a decision that you may make in pursuit of an idea.
Creativity
"Creativity takes courage." ~ Henri Matisse
"Creativity takes courage." ~ Henri Matisse
That quote is one of the Art Department's favorite quotes. As a budding artist you are exploring ideas and concepts that are forcing you to put a part of yourself out there for the world (or at least Newville) to see. It is interesting to me when I ask students, "How many of you would get up in front of the whole school and sing Karaoke?" I rarely see more that 2 or 3 hands go up. If I ask the same group how many would be mortified if their work was on display in the school, few hands go up. For some students, showing their artwork to other's is as scary as singing Karaoke. Most students are not afraid to have their art on display, but wouldn't sing in front of anyone.
Taking an Art class helps you to develop your sense of creativity. To paraphrase the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English definition of creativity , it is “the ability to use your imagination to produce new ideas, make things etc.” While your project may be based on something you saw or another student's idea, your solution to the problem shouldn't be identical to someone else's. You can start with their idea as a basis, but you should change or manipulate the idea to make it your own.
If you look at the top job skills that today’s employers are looking for, CREATIVITY and PROBLEM SOLVING are consistently listed near or at the top of the list! These two "soft skills" are in demand in today's job market. Learning to develop your own idea independently will serve you in the future.
Taking an Art class helps you to develop your sense of creativity. To paraphrase the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English definition of creativity , it is “the ability to use your imagination to produce new ideas, make things etc.” While your project may be based on something you saw or another student's idea, your solution to the problem shouldn't be identical to someone else's. You can start with their idea as a basis, but you should change or manipulate the idea to make it your own.
If you look at the top job skills that today’s employers are looking for, CREATIVITY and PROBLEM SOLVING are consistently listed near or at the top of the list! These two "soft skills" are in demand in today's job market. Learning to develop your own idea independently will serve you in the future.
Problem Solving
"Painting is mostly problem solving. It's different each time. Self confidence and assurance that come from hard work has a lot to do with finding solutions. And there is not only one way."
~Sylvio Gagno
"Painting is mostly problem solving. It's different each time. Self confidence and assurance that come from hard work has a lot to do with finding solutions. And there is not only one way."
~Sylvio Gagno
Let's take a look at what a student is going to be required to do in most art classes
If we start to change to wording of each step does it look familiar to you?
This should look familiar from your science classes. It's the Scientific Method! The steps that artists and scientists use are based on the same thing; good problem solving skills. So even though you are in an art class you are reinforcing your science skills, and your math skills.
- Project Requirements
- Brainstorm
- Thumbnails/Final Sketch/Model
- Build the piece
- Grading Rubric and/or Critique
If we start to change to wording of each step does it look familiar to you?
- Project Requirements → Clarify a problem → Define the problem
- Brainstorm → Identify possible solutions → Form a hypothesis
- Thumbnails/Final Sketch/Model → Test each possible solution → Design an experiment
- Project Construction/Execution → Select and apply the solution that seems appropriate → Draw a conclusion
- Rubric and/or Critique → Determine whether the solution solves the problem → Report the results
This should look familiar from your science classes. It's the Scientific Method! The steps that artists and scientists use are based on the same thing; good problem solving skills. So even though you are in an art class you are reinforcing your science skills, and your math skills.
PARTING THOUGHTS
“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution”
~ Albert Einstein
~ Albert Einstein
The presentation ends on Einstein's quote. It is one of the most profound statements about being an artist and it wasn't even said by an artists. Here you have one of the fathers of modern physics expounding on imagination. The most important line in this quote is the second sentence. "Imagination is more important than knowledge." It is more important to be a creative problem solver than it is to know "stuff". He could not have done the things that he did without being able to look at a problem in a new and different way. It didn't matter what he knew, it was about how he was able to take knowledge that already existed and "play" with it.
This idea actually becomes more important when you think about your education. Educators know that you need to know how to do things to get by in life. We know that you need to have a base of knowledge for the day to day living of your life. We also know that as you progress and you specialize into a field of work or study, you must be able to think for yourself. This is counter to what the state and federal governments are saying when they continue to force standardized testing that only deals with regurgitated information.
Taking an Art class, any Art class, will afford you several things. An Art class will give you a place to be yourself. It will give you a place where the work you do is enjoyable and almost feels like "playing". It will give you a place where things aren't as "structured" as they are in other classes. More importantly it will help you to develop a way of expressing yourself that is different from reading, writing or speaking. It will help to foster and build your creativity. Finally it will help you to develop your problem solving skills. Those final three things are things that will serve you well in any field and in any profession you choose.
This idea actually becomes more important when you think about your education. Educators know that you need to know how to do things to get by in life. We know that you need to have a base of knowledge for the day to day living of your life. We also know that as you progress and you specialize into a field of work or study, you must be able to think for yourself. This is counter to what the state and federal governments are saying when they continue to force standardized testing that only deals with regurgitated information.
Taking an Art class, any Art class, will afford you several things. An Art class will give you a place to be yourself. It will give you a place where the work you do is enjoyable and almost feels like "playing". It will give you a place where things aren't as "structured" as they are in other classes. More importantly it will help you to develop a way of expressing yourself that is different from reading, writing or speaking. It will help to foster and build your creativity. Finally it will help you to develop your problem solving skills. Those final three things are things that will serve you well in any field and in any profession you choose.
WORKS CONSULTED
Friedman, Thomas L. The World Is Flat a Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. New York: Picador/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. Print.
Pink, Daniel H. A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. 4th ed. Vol. 4. New York: Riverhead Trade, 2006. Print.
Robinson, Amiria. 9 Reasons to Study Art in High School. Student Art Guide. 2/18/2014. Web. March 2014 http://www.studentartguide.com/articles/reasons-to-study-art
FOR MORE INFORMATION - Painter Sylvio Gagnon - http://sylviogagnon.com/
Friedman, Thomas L. The World Is Flat a Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. New York: Picador/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. Print.
Pink, Daniel H. A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. 4th ed. Vol. 4. New York: Riverhead Trade, 2006. Print.
Robinson, Amiria. 9 Reasons to Study Art in High School. Student Art Guide. 2/18/2014. Web. March 2014 http://www.studentartguide.com/articles/reasons-to-study-art
FOR MORE INFORMATION - Painter Sylvio Gagnon - http://sylviogagnon.com/