Is it only art?

“It’s only art!” This is the one statement that I have resented the most in my career as a HS Art teacher. Despite how often (or seldom) it is heard, the words are always knifelike. This statement has implications that can be felt across many modalities and without understanding just how important art is to our cognitive development we run the risk of creating a society of stagnant thinkers.

Ponder this thought: There has never been a culture that has not had some evidence of artistic expression; conversely, there have been quite a few that have existed without literacy. Where does this place art in the spectrum of basic essentials for survival? (Sousa, 2006.)

Both Howard Gardner and Benjamin Bloom place the visual and performing arts in a place of high importance regarding its relevance to learning. Both have come to the conclusion that art is essential to the development of the other intelligences. Bloom believed creativity to be the synthesis of the knowledge gained. (Sousa, 2006) Similarly, Gardner argues that doing art is a means of thinking as well as demonstrating the process of thought. (Jensen, 2001) Intensive involvement in the arts during secondary educational experiences can be associated with higher levels of achievement, such as the completion of a higher level of education (college) and community involvement, both philanthropic and civil. This was found to be across all socio-economic boundaries including the most disadvantaged. (Catterall, 2009) Studies have also suggested that study in the arts overall has a more significant impact on brain development and health than sports. (Catterall, 2009) Yet we, as a culture, place little importance on arts education. It is often one of the first subjects to be cut in budget crunching measures and alluded to as window dressing.

With this thought in mind, the United States is continually reported to be behind educationally in comparison to other developed countries despite the high importance on measurable outcomes. We test for everything, pour resources into the shortfalls, tighten up curriculums and measure, measure, measure. Our educational system in this country is based on an industrial culture. Being engaged in learning has almost no extrinsic value. Students have been encouraged to become numbers seekers with achievement being the bottom line (Eisner, 2002). Conversely, on a recent trip to Asia, I learned that art is considered essential instruction with South Korean students dedicating at least two hours to creating a day, every day. Art is also thoroughly imbedded in the culture, despite socio-economics factors, and local festivals dedicated to the arts are both well attended and celebrated. Witnessing this experience first hand as an educator had me wondering about many aspects of our own educational systems. Would this level of artistic involvement help students achieve more academically? The accumulation of art-related brain research strongly suggests that this would help tremendously.(Jensen and Dabney, 2000)

As a teacher, I see my primary task as encouraging my students to be creative thinkers, problem solvers and communicators, bridging the gap between the written and the visual languages. I also consider my life as a working artist to be a fundamental obligation to my students as it allows me to continually hone my own understanding of the creative process. I present my lessons with grand visions of genius in the outcome with each student bringing to the table whatever it is that they have to offer from their own life experiences. My hope is that if I have a class full of students reaching for that high bar, there will then be a few bingo moments along the way about any number of things and across the entirety of the curriculum. At the very least, there will be students who have learned some basic skills that they can apply somewhere on their journey through the 21^st Century.

When my oldest son was a junior in HS we attended a college financial workshop sponsored by one of the local “private religious universities” in my area. While waiting for the evening’s presentations to start I had this conversation with one of my son’s friend’s parents about whether or not they should allow their son to take Ceramics. The thought was that it would do nothing to “help” his academic career because it offered absolutely nothing in terms of 21^st century skills. I sat there as a HS Ceramics teacher from a different school defending the course as being one of applied Physics, Chemistry, Math, and of course Art. I almost had them convinced.  The program started and the admissions counselor the university had sent told the audience that colleges would look highly upon those challenging courses at the core of learning (Science, Social Studies, Math, Literature, Languages) and look down upon such fluff courses as Ceramics. Did I hear that right? I wanted to raise my hand and explain to this person that my students do such things as figuring out clay shrinkage, learning about empirical formulas and the process of quartz inversion, basic glaze chemistry,  not to mention an enormous amount of structural/mechanical engineering tasks. They are asked to perceive, produce, reflect, and then record their thought processes in the form of a digital portfolio. My Ceramics class has the reputation of being a hard class where kids work for their grades rather than receiving that easy A the admissions guy was referring to.

When my son went on to apply to colleges, he considered art as highly as he considered math and science despite the barrage of people advising him that he would be wasting his time and money. In the application process he was asked to explain what it has been like to apply to college. He took bits and pieces of every essay he wrote, cut and pasted them into a new document in a completely a random order, printed it out and then proceeded to lay a cube pattern over the mess. He cut out the pattern and constructed a form on which he wrote WRITERS BLOCK in red ink. He then packaged it nicely in a foam-lined box that was cut to fit the cube exactly and mailed it off with his application materials. This innovative move earned him admission with a scholarship. He majored in art at Alfred University where he graduated with honors and has a good job, even in this tough economy.

As a high school art teacher I have had the occasion to witness all of the developments that the research suggests about the role of the arts in honing the skills students will need in their future. Early in my tenure I wrote a letter to a well-respected Professor Emeritus of Ceramics about an introductory lesson that my Sculpture class was working on. The unit dealt with both additive and subtractive techniques. Students were working with a 2”cube of clay, first adding clay to it so that there was no cross-section of positive space thicker than ¾ “ and the second step was subtract material from another 2” cube and have no positive or negative cross-section be thicker than ¾”.  I was marveling at the differences in how my students processed and perceived form (3D). There was a direct correlation to the type of learner each one was. Some students were fantastically creative when it came to working in an additive manner; they worked swiftly and seemingly effortlessly, while some of their peers struggled. My first thought, when working with adding components was that I might be struggling to reach those students who found this assignment painfully difficult throughout the rest of the semester. Honestly, I admittedly lowered my expectations. When I next assigned the reverse problem, working in a subtractive manner, the previous students who found things easy had a great deal of trouble, while the students who found the first assignment miserable excelled. I myself understand form ambiguously, and had never given this issue  much thought prior to this observation. My resolve about the course content was restored. I learned first hand that students often need a holistic approach towards learning. Art is one of those curriculums that allows for experimentation on a fairly regular basis. This creates ample opportunities for students to find understanding. Conversely, my students are often asked to do things, document process, reflect on the journey and speak about the outcome because I want to make sure that I have exhausted as many of the possibilities of outcome and remain objective about assessments, especially for those who have great ideas but a poor working vocabulary of studio skills or visual nuances. However, I had never really thought to ask my students what studying art does for them academically, that is until I decided to write this article.

I learned in a recent discussion with a good cross section of my students that they took art for several reasons. It was a break from the school day, a time to relax, and more importantly process what they had learned in other classes, gain confidence in their learning, and to notice the finer details in their environment. It has also helped them understand and communicate their learning. One student explained that her study of art helped her understand the process of writing better. It has given her the confidence to be more descriptive, more specific with her thought process and definitely much more creative. It has allowed her to allow herself to think outside the box. She explained that developing an essay was not unlike refining the craftsmanship on one of her ceramic pieces. “Art has taught her to embrace intricacies”. Another student claimed that when she started taking an art class in her sophomore year she noticed that her math skills improved. She had always had a hard time with both lateral and analytical thinking skills but when she was enrolled in an art class she could often see the “big” picture more readily. Students have explained that art class has helped them with science by teaching them to be more analytical with lab problems as well as draw diagrams more accurately. One claimed that art helped her understand a great deal of the concepts she was learning about in AP Physics because she has identified through art that there are multiple ways to look at and solve a problem. She also realized that she was a visual learner, which is a tremendous asset in that particular AP course. These sentiments correspond well with one of the largest studies ever done about the effect of arts education on SAT scores. Ten million high school students were interviewed over a several year period and the study found that the test scores of those who were actively involved in courses of the arts were significantly higher. (Vaughn & Winner, 2000). Eisner argues that the limits of our cognition are not dictated by the limits of our language, similarly education in qualitative relationships, judgment, flexible purposing, form-content relationships, mediation, and aesthetics are  all artistically rooted. (Eisner, 2002)

I ask you to open your mind. The first day of instruction in my Painting class starts with me asking my students to paint a square with what they perceive to be “Coca-Cola” red. I then take the time to read the Albers essay on visual memory. If you ask fifty people to paint a red square you will get 50 different variations of that color. If you ask the same fifty people to recreate a known red with a trade-marked formula, such as Coca-Cola red, which is the same in every advertisement the company produces, you will still get 50 different variations. There are infinite numbers of color combinations and only a few color names. (Albers 1975)  After a discussion of the first batch of red squares they have produced, I place a can of Coke on a pedestal in front of the room and have them paint the red from observation. We compare the results and discuss the possible reasons for such discrepancies from poor memory, to individual perception, to the pigment limitations available. We then work the effects of the substrate on color by painting a ground of color on the paper and then using only a complimentary scheme to produce a still life. We also do the same going through the full range of analogous and mono-chromatic palettes. (Elliot 2008) Each step of the way we discuss the results and issues. My painting students study the science of color as intensely as they cover the art of painting itself. The thought is that if they understand how colors work their painting techniques will be the only thing that stands in the way of their expressive thoughts, which is the very next step. They go on to apply what they have learned in an expressive manner. There are other implications, color is part of the vast visual vocabulary that almost everyone experiences just by being present in this world, artist or not. Imagine how much richer life will be when the subtle variations of color appear easily. Think of all the descriptive thoughts that could come from the experience of witnessing 50 different hues in one stand of trees or in a rainy mist.

Before you argue that I am not the typical art teacher, and that I must work really hard to get those results. I will remind you that I am not the only one in my department, and while we regularly have students win awards and gain exhibition experiences I will also admit that there are just as many we apply to where we are not accepted by the juror.  Honestly, just the act of getting the work out there is important for the students. With that said, I witness students who otherwise feel no association to their academic life come alive in my classes. They are focused, contemplative, and energized. In some cases I even see these students turn their whole academic history around. I hear the thrill of learning when a student has made a cross-curricular connection. I see incredible excitement about the regular opportunity to organize and display their work in our student run gallery. I see the school culture welcome and embrace these exhibitions. They are willing to contribute music, food, PR and respect to the students who have created it. They assign art a social status. It is just one more wonderful testament to the importance of arts in education. So I ask you to ask yourself, is it only art?

References:

1. Sousa, D. (2006) How the Brain Learns. p. 213. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
2. Sousa, D. (2006) How the Brain Learns. p. 252. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
3. Jensen, E. (2001) Arts with the Brain in Mind. p. 51. Alexandria, VA : ASCD.
4. Gullatt, DE (Apr-May 2008) Enhancing Student Learning through Arts Integration: Implications for the Profession. High School Journal, 91, 4. p. 12 (14). [online] retrieved January 27, 2011 from Educators Reference Complete via Gale:http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/start.do?prodId=PROF&userGroupName=21457
5. Catterall, J. (2009) Doing Well and Doing Good by Doing Art. p.72. Los Angeles, CA: I-Group Books.
6. Catterall, J. (2009) Doing Well and Doing Good by Doing Art. p.94. Los Angeles, CA: I-Group Books.
7. Eisener, E. (2002) What Education Can Learn from the Arts about the Practice of Education? The encyclopedia of informal education.Infed.org[online] http://www.infed.org/biblio/eisner_arts_and_the_practice_of_education.htm
8. Jensen, E., Dabney, M. (2000) Learning Smarter. p. 77. San Diego, CA: The Brain Store.
9. Vauhn, K. & Winner, E. (2000, Fall) SAT Scores of students that study the arts: What we can and cannot conclude about the association. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 34- 77-89.
10. Eisener, E. (2002) What Education Can Learn from the Arts about the Practice of Education? The encyclopedia of informal education.Infed.org[online] http://www.infed.org/biblio/eisner_arts_and_the_practice_of_education.htm
11. Albers, J. (1975) Interaction of Color. p.3.  New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
12. Elliot, R. (2008) “16 Lessons in Color Theory”. Wet Canvas ArtSchool Online . Lesson 2: p.2. Cincinnati, OH:  W+F Media. [online] retrieved Septemer 26, 2008. www.wetcanvas.com/ArtSchool/Color/ColorTheory/Lesson2/index.html

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