There's More To Art Than Meets The Eye
Newcastle Herald
Tuesday August 26, 2008
HAVE you ever noticed that as soon as you are just getting into the swing of creating your masterpiece in art lessons, the teacher says "Quick finish up, you've got five more minutes?"
How much time do students get to study art per week? Most schools only get about one hour per week. Is it really enough? Art is the creation of objects and things by an individual who is sensitive to the world around them. The artist has an understanding of how they respond to their physical and emotional environments. Artists communicate very personal messages for others to view or decode. Sometimes when we look at a piece of art, we understand it. Its meaning is obvious to us. Sometimes we do not understand it on a rational level; we simply feel something when we look at it. We can't always tell why. Art makes us feel anything from happiness to anger. Craft, on the other hand, does not always engage the individual in the same way. School children especially need to practise and learn more about art, otherwise their imaginations could be held back. If we studied more art in schools, the students would be happier because it nurtures their creative side. Learning about and practising art is not only fun but also gives people a chance to use the creative side of their brain. This creativity is not just used in art but also in all other subjects. Creativity enables us to solve problems in unusual and interesting ways no matter what subject we are studying. Creativity means flexibility and thinking of new ideas, instead of using your brain to simply recall information for subjects such as maths and science. Art also gives students a chance to use their hands and learn manual skills in primary school.The authors of Creative and Mental Growth, Victor Lowenfeld and W. Lambert Brittan, say that "For a child art is primarily a means of expression". They go on to say that art is an expression of who they are, what they're thinking, what they think of the world and how they feel about things happening in this world.Studying art teaches about a diverse world of history, environments, societies and cultures. Examples range from ancient indigenous Aboriginal tribes working in the outback using materials from the earth to the artists of the Italian Renaissance such as Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci. With more art in schools, we could learn to become more innovative people, which would benefit all our studies.
© 2008 Newcastle Herald
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