Not too long ago someone (from Europe I think) on the forum asked if kids were taught art in schools here or where ever we were. This article doesn't give us a definitive answer but cites recent studies in the Netherlands and the USA that provide insight. The unwritten bottom line is if you want your kids to be exposed to art you're going to have to do it yourself. I hope you will find this beneficial to you and your family.
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/07/the-diminishing-role-of-art-in-childrens-lives/532674/
Comments
Students have art classes in primary middle and secondary school here, either as electives or mandatory courses. It seems pretty decent to me. At the younger grades students often opt for drawing or colouring whenever they have free time.
And whether art is taught to the masses or whatever that mostly depends on the individual teacher and class.
I think young people need to make connections with their interests (and be given free choice) and then be shown how to apply those interests and choices to artmaking.
And then, not everyone thinks visually, auditorily or kinesthetically (Howard Gardner's learning modalities). My husband is strictly a mathematical/logical thinker. Art (visual or performing) is not his gig, except music. Shrug.
This is sort of related to the topic at hand but sort of popped into my head this morning so I thought I would mention it. Sometimes I think that the act of painting itself is not really all that creative and let me clarify this because I don't mean that in a negative way.
The act of painting especially in the way taught on this site is actually more about skills related to spatial relationship awareness and color perception than creativity. Rendering a still life, copying a photo etc is more of a skill set.
I think once you master this skillset you can use it creatively in the same way once you master grammar and understand proper writing structure you can write creative stories.
So maybe painting is just a difficult craft that once mastered can become creative once you start doing things like invent scenes as opposed to just copying them. Until you get to that point maybe you are just a craftsman learning the craft of painting.
Top Stories: Can you teach a 5yo to paint like Van Gogh?
The belief of many teachers that they lack artistic talent is denying children the opportunity to speak the "language" of creative expression and improve their quality of life, says one early learning expert.
Read the full story
http://ab.co/2vz9HcX