Or, I suppose I should start by asking if your kid's school even has an art program. Art and music are often the first areas to get cut- it's a reality and a situation that warrants more than one blog post. For now, I just wanted to talk about how we as parents can raise art awareness in our children. Without art programs in school, whether our children know the difference between a Picasso and a Pollock depends on us! Perhaps you don't thing art appreciation is as important as arithmetic, I see where you are coming from. But before you dismiss art education let me share a couple of things art teaches our children.
As a young child, painting, drawing and other art activities enhance perception, fine motor skills, language and social interaction. Children are open and more attuned to their visual senses so they can truly appreciate (and describe) their creations and those of others (even though they seem like just scribbles to us). Creating their own artwork is one way in which children create meaning and structure in their lives.
If your child is into molding, he is working his fingers to prepare him for writing. If she is into collage, she is cutting and giving order to the pieces. If he is into painting he is using the brush to express his emotions in a physical manner that is expressive yet controlled. And talk about confidence building and pride of creation... K and E beam when they paint a canvas and I am equally as proud of their creations. :-)
If you cannot find an art class to enroll your child in (although
we offer several ;-)), than just buy open ended art supplies and let your child create at home. Even if you have younger children, one of the joys of art is you do not have to wait until your child can read to introduce them to the the visual language of art. For our Pee Wee Picassos class there is no finished product, only classes devoted to certain mediums. The Pee Wee (ages 2 yrs- yrs) class is child-centered allowing the children to experiment with media, to learn skills and concepts, to practice and then create something. Our Peanut Butter Picassos (ages 4yrs-9yrs) does have a finished project, but it allows the children to use the same paint, canvases and brushes of our adult class, giving them the freedom to create in the way an adult artist does.
And art education does not have to be limited to just the making of art- it can also be introducing your child to art in museums, in nature, on the internet, in old art magazines or (my favorite) go to open artist studios and let them see how an artist creates. It is amazing to share with a child what goes into making a bronze sculpture! It is also amazing to hear a child describe what is going on in a painting. Sometimes K comes up with the most wonderful stories from paintings- and I make sure to celebrate each interpretation. Letting children experience art created by others deepens their understanding of the world and connects them to people and situations they have yet to encounter. It teaches them diversity, acceptance, confidence in their analytical skills and it gives them their own personal visual vocabulary of what is beautiful (outside of what the media tells them). Viewing different types of art allows them to develop their own sense of style and preference, which they will undoubtedly do.
So from art education come the skills to write, to create, to bring order, to plan, to think "outside of the box", to analyze what they see, to use words to describe intent/emotion/visual stimulus, to record and interpret and to progressively build on an idea. I think these sound like skills we want our kids to have. And for that reason I strive to have my kids know the difference between a Pollock and a Picasso and I hope you will too...
As Pablo Picasso said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."
