As Macaulay students we are all required to take a class that focuses on art. From my own experience and from what I’ve heard, many students find such a class to be a waste of time-especially Baruch students. Many are majoring in finance, or accounting, or something in the field of business. How is analyzing a piece of art going to help me in my career? What skills can an arts class provide me with that I can utilize when I’m an employee or employer? A variation of these questions and comments have been uttered after class on a near consistent basis but the value of an arts education should not be underestimated.
The article Art Makes You Smart makes a case for the importance of an arts education. In Bentonville, Arkansas, a new museum called the Crystal Bridges of American Art has opened. The authors of this article used the opportunity of a new opening of an arts institution to examine the relationship between an arts education and desirable outcomes that range from higher test scores to social responsibility. The researchers used students from schools in order to conduct this experiment. They drew from a lottery which school groups would come in for tours due to an overwhelming number of applications and afterwards administered surveys to both students who were in groups that had won a tour (treatment group) and those who did not (control group). The survey consisted of items that assessed knowledge about art, as well as measures of tolerance, historical empathy and sustained interest in visiting art museums and other cultural institutions. The results were as follows; students who had undergone a tour experienced an increase in critical thinking skills of 9 percent of a standard deviation, an increase in historical empathy of 6 percent of a standard deviation, and an improvement in tolerance of 7 percent of a standard deviation. The students from the control groups who were from rural or high-poverty regions had even larger gains, of 18 percent of a standard deviation in critical thinking, 15 percent in historical empathy, and 13 percent in tolerance.
The results of this study shows that an arts education is far from a waste of money and time. The part of this study that truly struck me was the effect art exposure had on students who come from poor backgrounds. Often, the first things administrators of schools in low-income neighborhoods seek to cut is the arts section. But this can greatly harm students and leave them at a disadvantage-not just in academics but also in social skills and general knowledge about the world and cultures around them.
Nationwide studies that have been conducted by independent groups and researchers over the years have also found that students who invest in an arts education tend to do better than those who don’t-both academically and socially. Art equates to creativity which is essential for innovation which in our day and age is critical as times are constantly changing and there is a rush for the next new, big thing. Arne Duncan, the US Secretary of Education says that to be successful one can no longer be relegated to only being proficient in the technical sense-one must now also be inventive, resourceful and imaginative.
Comprehensive studies have also showed that children who have music education do better in math, and economically disadvantaged students who have arts classes are far less likely to drop out.
So after reading this (and the article and whatever subsequent online articles you may or may not have researched after reading this) has your view of an arts education changed or are you still adamant that it is a waste of time?
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/opinion/sunday/art-makes-you-smart.html?_r=0
http://educationnext.org/field-trips-to-art-museums-improve-critical-thinking-promote-historical-empathy-and-increase-tolerance/
Christine, this is a very interesting article and something that is very relatable to Macaulay students. You mentioned in your article how certain schools usually cut the arts section first if they need to. This is very true, as apparent for a school near me called Ramapo High School. Here is a series article to what’s going on there: http://www.lohud.com/section/news03&template=theme&theme=eastramapo&keywords=eastramapo&title=East%20Ramapo:%20A%20district%20divided
The points you make are valid and point to an arts education having positive effects on one’s psyche. However, my main issue with an arts course like this one is that by having a grading system and a series of projects, art is associated with tedious and exhausting. Art is supposed to inspire with no real right answer readily apparent. However, an arts education often contradicts these values. Therefore, one must question if they are truly learning more about art and critical thinking or if they are writing what the teacher wants to hear.
I have always wanted to take an art class, but the only ones I ever was allowed involved learning to paint and draw. With the IDC classes we are able to explore the entire world of art and the many topics it contains. I think it is important for children and even college students like ourselves to experience art for ourselves. As Kevin showed in his article, art programs are being cut and I found that, “These cuts mean you’re more or less giving up on the arts. Under the proposed budget, several other groups of teachers, like librarians and physical education teachers, are expected to be cut by the same percentage, while career teachers and technology are likely to be cut by 19 percent.” So it isn’t only art, but any kind of aspect of school that doesn’t concern the basics is being cut and I don’t think this is right because we should be able to have these enrichment programs to further our learning and future generations.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/even-before-layoffs-schools-lost-135-arts-teachers/?_r=0
I think art education is very important. Like you said, many people disregard art as an irrelevant subject to their professional careers, but I find art to be relevant in many ways. First, it helps me expand my horizons. For instance, if it weren’t for IDC class, going out to watch plays and ballets would be very unlikely. I also had a lot of fun doing the creative media projects. Second, I believe art helps to develop cognitive skills. Art makes me question, wonder, and imagine. These skills can very well work alongside business skills.
The arts education is more valuable today than most people think. I think that art is very important in culture and that everyone should have at least a little background in studying the finer points and the history of art. There is even a recent wallstreet journal article about the value of an arts degree
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304402104579149060054918936
This is an interesting topic. For instance, I’ve taken several art classes before. I’ve had the drawing classes, and I’ve also taken art history as well as art appreciation. This class is sort of a combination of all of them, since we’ve visited the museum and have played around with different media to create varied art.
I think this class is beneficial because even if we are majoring in business, it’s always nice to know more. It helps garner conversation when you’re with others, and simply gives you more knowledge which is always a plus. I think any type of enrichment is a positive, and this class is quite enjoyable.
I think it’s important for students to receive an arts education to some extent. Art isn’t just about looking at pretty pictures or drawing a nice painting; it’s about learning to be more open minded and experience the world in different perspectives. I appreciate this class for allowing me to do so, especially by attending the Opera, which seems like a once in a lifetime opportunity. After doing some research on the outcomes of an arts education, I found this article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-whitacre/defining-outcomes-in-arts_b_4371815.html
It highlights the benefits that come from receiving such an innovative education, such as fostering the integration of arts in other subjects, such as science and math. Students, especially children, can build and develop important skills that can help them analyze in a more productive way. I hope that schools continue to include arts in the curriculum, whether it be theater or visual or even music, because it’s part of the different cultures that surround us on a daily basis.
This is incredibly interesting! I never really thought like this until reading this article. Arts never really seemed that necessary, and like you said, I always heard that arts were the first thing to get cut from schools (I’m pretty sure it was a big issue a few years on the tv show Glee as well!). This article proves my beliefs wrong. Studying arts actually improves your education. I think this issue needs to be pushed even harder. Stories like this article – that I have posted a link to – need to end! Thank you for posting such an informative article! http://www.eugeneweekly.com/20130411/shortchanging-our-schools/budget-cuts-affect-music-arts
It’s true that more and more it’s been proven that an arts education is necessary in order for an individual to be well rounded. How can someone be innovative in any field if they do not have any experience in producing creativity or studying it? With an arts education, students get a chance to see what it’s like for something to be created from scratch and become a real story and work that is used to portray a message. A lot of schools are now implementing the programs for this reason. I read an article about New York schools that are now incorporating the arts into their education now. Coming from a performing arts high school I obviously appreciate the arts and know what values they hold for me, but it’s cool to see that they also give me an advantage in my education as well! Here’s the link to the article: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304747004579224003721262792
Unfortunately, I think I’m one of the people who doesn’t really like art education, with one exception. Whenever I think of art education, the first thing that pops into my mind is “art history” or “music history,” both of which I’m not very interested in. It seems as if this is just something that I can’t change my mind on. However, there are different forms of art education. In middle school I took a Graphic Arts class in which we designed things on Photoshop. I believe this class was extremely helpful because before this class, I didn’t even know what Photoshop was. But after three years of using the program, I can’t use any other photo-editing software other than Photoshop. That class has taught me the basics for a wonderful program, one that I’m sure I will continue to use. Therefore, I think some types of art education are not really useful for me, like art history, music history, music theory, etc. I have no interest in those topics, and therefore I would go into the class with the mindset that I hate the class and probably act in every way that reflects how much I dislike the class, and thus not learn anything. If it’s an art class that is related to design or something, then maybe I would be interested. But other than that, I’m not the biggest fan for art education.
This is an awesome take on how important art is in our society. I think all students should be taught about art, techniques in creating art, and overall being encouraged to be artistic because it helps students to open their minds. In world that is more focused on creativity rather than just the technical part, art may be the answer. With many people learning technical skills, there is a shortage of creativity in many industries which means that anyone that is capable of being creative has a serious stronghold. I even think that sometimes we should be hiring street artists to do some advertising and engineering jobs because they have a creative mindset of what something should look like and how it supposed to look like. This article exemplifies the various skills and lessons that we can learn from any street artist.
http://www.good.is/posts/10-things-we-can-learn-from-street-artists
I think the biggest lessons are 1 and 2: It’s important to take risks, and
This is an awesome take on how important art is in our society. I think all students should be taught about art, techniques in creating art, and overall being encouraged to be artistic because it helps students to open their minds. In world that is more focused on creativity rather than just the technical part, art may be the answer. With many people learning technical skills, there is a shortage of creativity in many industries which means that anyone that is capable of being creative has a serious stronghold. I even think that sometimes we should be hiring street artists to do some advertising and engineering jobs because they have a creative mindset of what something should look like and how it supposed to look like. This article exemplifies the various skills and lessons that we can learn from any street artist.
http://www.good.is/posts/10-things-we-can-learn-from-street-artists
I think the biggest lessons are 1 and 2: It’s important to take risks, and give without expecting a return. If many more people thought like that, then we could seriously expand the way we create and what we create. It could be a revolution in world in itself just because more people think like that.