Why Teach Visual Arts?

Visual art, vocal music and physical education have been called specials within the elementary school where I taught for thirty years. All of these subjects are vital for educating a well rounded child. I do agree they are special, but I personally prefer the word essential. This article will focus on the visual arts as that is my area of expertise. Why, exactly, should we teach visual arts?

When I first began teaching, I noticed that a large portion of my oldest students, who were sixth graders, had a different mindset than my younger students. Their frame of mind had to do with their personal identity. The few older students who already identified as artists or creative types had confidence in their ability to make art. Whereas, the remaining students who had not pictured themselves this way felt unsure or afraid to deviate from their comfort zone. Nurturing a creative mind set takes time. I felt that these particular students were dealt an unfair hand by not receiving any art classes until sixth grade.

This is the first year in nearly four decades that our local school has not had an elementary fine arts teacher. A school which neglects this subject greatly saddens me. Our local school is not alone in failing to provide that which I consider essential – the visual arts. Crafts, incidentally, are not fine arts instruction. A key difference is that crafts typically follow a pattern rather than utilizing an artist’s knowledge and creativity. (Our elementary now has a STEAM teacher. This stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math. The arts are a part of it by encouraging creativity, however, STEAM is not fine arts based.)

Key Learnings in the Visual Arts

The last month of my teaching career, I took an impromptu, quietly done appraisal of several of my classes. In questioning my students one-on-one, it was eye opening to notice that student answers fell neatly into one of three areas. My only inquiry to them was, “What was the most important thing I taught you?” One category of responses was something along the line of “I am creative” or “I can use my imagination”. A second was “There is no such thing as a mistake”. “Famous artists” apparently made an impact for a third category.

First Visual Arts Learning

Let’s look at the first, “I am creative” or “I can use my imagination”. Apparently, my population of students from my first year to my last year of teaching dramatically changed. Simply by having a regularly scheduled time to receive fine arts instruction and practice the skills, students can create a new identity!

Seeing oneself as creative and imaginative opens up a world of possibilities for a student, no matter what they decide to become later in their lives. Even if they do not continue in the visual arts field, visualizing themselves as imaginative serves to greatly expand their horizons. There is probably not one type of job which could not benefit from viewing it through the lens of creativity.

Second Vital Learning

The second response was, “There is no such thing as a mistake.” Sometimes a student may call something on their artwork an “oopsie”. It is fun to encourage new view points. I would ask a question such as “What else could be done with this to turn it into something you would like?” This is especially important when drawing with permanent markers!

In fact, I had a random sketch I had done as an example. I asked my students, “Where was the “mistake” I made?” Sometimes they could find it, sometimes not. If not, I would point out what was once my stray line. I had asked myself, “What else would that line want to be?” The metamorphic magic occurred by adding more details!

This can be a fun and thoughtful lesson in creativity. Additionally, it stretches the imagination to examine one’s life. Just think how it would feel to redefine what we may have termed as mistakes. The act or the art of choosing to change our viewpoint from a mistake to an on-purpose is a much healthier attitude and practice.

Third Visual Arts Learning

Thirdly, I must say I was pleasantly puzzled as to why so many students were impressed with the famous artists. They were a big part of my classroom. I focused on three artists each quarter. We had three large tables for seating with a display area behind each one. The displays featured my large collection of laminated images of famous artists’ works. During the school year, my students would be exposed to many masterpieces of twelve different artists important to the world of art history.

Additionally, this also became a turn taking method. I may have asked the Michelangelo table to get their paints. Perhaps the Leonardo table would have been directed to acquire paper. Maybe the Raphael table could be the first to line up. This served to make these famous artists’ names stick to my students!

With a new quarter’s beginning, all my students would be invited to gather at one table. We had the most marvelous discussions about each artist’s work. Sometimes students would have an insight that I had not noticed. It would be empowering for them to teach the teacher!

I would always give a brief biography of each artist. One student, though, explained why he was so taken with the famous artists. Many of those iconic figures had quite challenging and difficult lives. However, these artists learned to cope and live successful lives. This boy told me that these stories gave him hope that he could be successful as well!

Concluding Remarks

In conclusion, the visual arts, that essential of which I’ve been writing, is conspicuously absent from many school districts. Where will our youth learn to value and utilize their imaginations? How will they be exposed to the concept of no mistakes? Will they believe they can be successful? Could they recognize some of the most important art works from art history? Students need a teacher who can show them why the arts are important. See ARTS A Bridge To Life. This, in addition to meeting the goals of visual arts standards https://www.arteducators.org/learn-tools/national-visual-arts-standards, may be sorely lacking in schools without visual arts teachers. Here are some fascinating statistics on arts participation: https://www.americansforthearts.org/by-topic/arts-education/10-arts-education-fast-facts. If this inspires you to take action to insure school arts are available for youth in your area, BRAVO!

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