The importance of art education

"Man is a maker. This is part of what it means to be in the image of our Creator God. As we learn to collaborate with Him, He confirms and mightily blesses the work of our hands...When we allow God to bestow His favor and beauty and delightfulness on the work of our hands, He makes artists of even the humblest among us." ~Leanne Payne

I love art. I love drawing, painting, arts and crafts, studying artists- the whole gamut. My boys have been a little reluctant to catch the fever, though. One loves to build, solve mazes, and put together puzzles. The other loves to tell stories and write. Neither seemed to really enjoy anything that requires a long amount of attention to detail.
I prayed about this little dilemma while I was planning for our home school year. After all, one of the big advantages of being their teacher is providing a tailor-made, individualized education. I thought maybe we could just stick with art history and minimize artwork projects.

After some research and prayer I decided to not only incorporate art projects into our curriculum, but also to do regular artists' studies and picture studies. We also have one drawing lesson a week. The boys go to our neighbor's house for art class once or twice a month, too. The reasons I chose to press forward and treat art with the same type of importance as math, reading, and writing are the following:

~Artwork reflects the creativity we are endowed with by our Creator God. We bring Him glory when we study His world and try to recreate it. We also see how majestic, enormous, and intricate His creation really is which inspires worship.

~Brain research confirms that art education strengthens student problem-solving and critical thinking skills, adding to overall academic achievement, school success, and preparation for the work world (aka their calling).

~Art classes provide opportunities for the advancement of creative skills useful in communication, writing and other areas.

~Artwork helps with fine motor skill strengthening.

~The arts teach us how to have respect for all types of cultures. It is a window into parts of God's world they may never visit. And, it is a bridge connecting our customs with others around the world, giving us a sense of humility and respect for different people groups.

~When working together on a project, students develop crucial skills in cooperative decision-making, leadership, clear communication, and complex problem solving .

~ Both artwork and writing are good mediums for learning to do things in a process. This type of work leads to patience, self-discipline, persistence, and the knowledge of how to make multiple revisions to create high quality work. In other words, art projects build character.

To my surprise, my boys have learned to enjoy our art projects. Although Toot would still rather play with his art teacher's rubix cube than participate in a complex art assignment, we are making progress. I have noticed that not only are they spending more time on the art projects that I assign, but they are drawing spontaneously almost on a daily basis. I am so glad that God gave me the insight to make artwork a non-negotiable part of learning in our home. Maybe one day they will love it as much as I do! But if not, they will surely reap some wonderful benefits along the way.

Pictures: Toot's drawing from movie night (Journey to the Center of the Earth), Jaybird's pasta lion made after studying Babylon and Daniel