Keep Art in the Schools

Art in the Schools

Creative teachers integrate art with classroom instruction because the arts engage students' imagination, cultivate skills, and lead to improved academic learning. “Art in the Schools” aims to reach every elementary student in Cabrillo Unified School District with high-quality art supplies.

Farallone View Elementary Celebrates Student Artwork

At Farallone View, every classroom participated in this school wide project. Kindergarten teacher and VAPA specialist, Rebecca Jeffs, created a hallway gallery full of color and joy.

Art activities involve fine motor skills, coordination, and hand-eye coordination. These are important skills for overall cognitive development, especially in early childhood.

Art enhances learning in various ways by providing a multisensory and multidimensional approach to education. Art activities encourage creative thinking and problem-solving.

Incorporating art into educational settings recognizes the diverse ways individuals learn and provides a holistic approach to learning that goes beyond traditional methods. It encourages creativity, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of various subjects.

How Art Helps Children Learn:

Personal Identity
Communication
Motor Skills
Language skills
Self-Expression
Critical Thinking
Problem-Solving
Academic Gains

Visual channels dominate children's learning styles. Elements such as colors, shapes, and patterns help learners to understand and remember information.

Creative activities make learning more engaging and enjoyable. When students are motivated by creative activities, they are more actively involved in the learning process. Art can be integrated into various subjects, promoting interdisciplinary learning. For example, incorporating art into science or history lessons makes the material more engaging and memorable.

Art challenges individuals to consider multiple perspectives. Collaborative art projects can improve communication and teamwork skills. Working together on creative endeavors fosters cooperation and exposes individuals to diverse cultures, histories, and perspectives. It fosters an appreciation for diversity and contributes to a more inclusive and globally aware education.

Creating art can provide psychological benefits for people of any age. Art provides a non-verbal means of expression, allowing individuals to communicate ideas, feelings, and concepts that may be challenging to convey through words alone.

Art fosters self-discovery and identity, helping individuals understand themselves better and explore their personal identity. Engaging with art can help develop emotional intelligence by encouraging individuals to understand their own emotions as well as the emotions expressed in artworks.

Different forms of artistic expression may resonate with different individuals. Art can be a social activity, fostering connections with others and contributing to a sense of belonging.

Creating art provides a sense of agency and control. Art offers a constructive way to process difficult experiences. While art can be a valuable complement to mental health strategies, it is not a substitute for professional mental health care when needed.

Research on the Effects of Arts Education
from Americans for the Arts
https://www.americansforthearts.org/by-topic/arts-education
10 ARTS EDUCATION FAST FACTS

Students with high arts participation and low socioeconomic status have a 4 percent dropout rate—five times lower than their low socioeconomic status peers.[1]
Students who take four years of arts and music classes score an average of over 150 points higher on the SAT than students who take only one-half year or less.[2]
Low-income students who are highly engaged in the arts are twice as likely to graduate from college as their peers with no arts education.[3]
A recent study showed that arts education experiences reduce the proportion of students in school receiving disciplinary infractions by 3.6 percent.[4]
91 percent of Americans believe that the arts are vital to providing a well-rounded education.[5]
19 percent of superintendents used the Title IV well-rounded education provision of the Every Child Succeeds Act (ESSA) to fund music and the arts. This is more than the percentages who used Title IV to fund physical education, foreign language, and civics combined. [6]
The arts are recognized as a core academic subject under the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and, as of 2020, all 50 states plus the District of Columbia have adopted standards for learning in the arts.[7]
Two-thirds of public-school teachers believed that the fine arts are among subjects getting crowded out of the school day by a focus on math and English.[8]
Black and Hispanic students lack access to quality arts education compared to their White peers, earning an average of 30 and 25 percent fewer arts credits, respectively.[9]
As of 2020, only 19 states include arts as a key area of their state accountability system, and just 13 have done a statewide report on arts education in the last 5 years.[10] The last comprehensive national arts education report by the U.S. Department of Education is over 10 years old.

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
—Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, stage designer, and playwright