WHY ART??? I have some family members (that know me very well) that were surprised when I stated my school major was going to be Art Education. At that time, I might have just been choosing something I thought was fun and sort of met my interests, but since then I have grown more passionate about kids, art, and our future.
Webster's Dictionary defines creativity as: "Ability to produce something new through imaginative skill, whether a new solution to a problem, a new method or device, or a new artistic object or form. The term generally refers to a richness of ideas and originality of thinking. Psychological studies of highly creative people have shown that many have a strong interest in apparent disorder, contradiction, and imbalance, which seem to be perceived as challenges. Such individuals may possess an exceptionally deep, broad, and flexible awareness of themselves. Studies also show that intelligence has little correlation with creativity; thus, a highly intelligent person may not be very creative."
To me, creativity is problem solving. Our world needs problem solving more than ever.
A friend described a "real" artist as "someone who does art all the time, no matter what, even if they are not in a class". By that definition, I would not be a real artist. Even in college I was not the student who stayed in the ceramic studio or painting studio all night long to get more practice, or just for fun. I called those students "art or die" students, and I was not one of them. I balanced my time with other activities like swimming/exercise, work, and hanging out with friends. I thought maybe I wasn't as good of an artist because I made those choices. I know now, even though I rarely have time to make art for art sake still, that this alone doesn't make an artist. Anyone can be an "artist" when they live in a way when creativity can help solve problems. I know that tapping into ones creativity can open new doors. I teach that to my students by rarely giving them another piece of paper if they have "messed up". I know this sounds silly, but in most cases of a "mess-up" I have students fix it. This is problem solving at it's best! And problem solving is the key to our future!! There are so many problems that need new and creative solutions and we are the ones to unlock the keys to creativity with our kids!
Webster's Dictionary defines creativity as: "Ability to produce something new through imaginative skill, whether a new solution to a problem, a new method or device, or a new artistic object or form. The term generally refers to a richness of ideas and originality of thinking. Psychological studies of highly creative people have shown that many have a strong interest in apparent disorder, contradiction, and imbalance, which seem to be perceived as challenges. Such individuals may possess an exceptionally deep, broad, and flexible awareness of themselves. Studies also show that intelligence has little correlation with creativity; thus, a highly intelligent person may not be very creative."
To me, creativity is problem solving. Our world needs problem solving more than ever.
A friend described a "real" artist as "someone who does art all the time, no matter what, even if they are not in a class". By that definition, I would not be a real artist. Even in college I was not the student who stayed in the ceramic studio or painting studio all night long to get more practice, or just for fun. I called those students "art or die" students, and I was not one of them. I balanced my time with other activities like swimming/exercise, work, and hanging out with friends. I thought maybe I wasn't as good of an artist because I made those choices. I know now, even though I rarely have time to make art for art sake still, that this alone doesn't make an artist. Anyone can be an "artist" when they live in a way when creativity can help solve problems. I know that tapping into ones creativity can open new doors. I teach that to my students by rarely giving them another piece of paper if they have "messed up". I know this sounds silly, but in most cases of a "mess-up" I have students fix it. This is problem solving at it's best! And problem solving is the key to our future!! There are so many problems that need new and creative solutions and we are the ones to unlock the keys to creativity with our kids!