Awakening Creativity

Introduction

Art education in our public schools lacks adequate funding to provide a sound arts program, especially at the elementary school level. As an art education major at Northern Arizona University, it is my objective to raise awareness in the tax-paying public of the importance of the arts in our children's education.

I am requesting $4,340 to support necessary research to create and implement a workshop that uses hands-on experiences to release the fear of artmaking and elevate the characterization of the arts in education. This funding will allow me to spend two summer months conducting this workshop at locations throughout the state of Arizona. Upon completion, I will present a lecture on the Northern Arizona University campus and exhibit art produced during the workshop in Ardrey Auditorium.

Purpose

The purpose of my proposed workshop series is to raise awareness of the importance of the arts in education in order to improve the quality of education in our society and therefore prevent some of the social ills of our culture. In order to reach as many people as possible, I would like to offer these workshops for free to the participants as well as offer a variety of workshop schedules and locations throughout the state of Arizona. If possible, I would like to begin presenting my workshop, which I have named "Awakening Creativity: Exercises to Overcome the Fear of Artmaking and Support the Need for Art Education," during the summer of 2000.

Hypothesis

It has been established in countless studies that motor skills and problem-solving techniques practiced while accomplishing an art lesson reinforce skills needed for academic activities. Many students learn non-arts subjects more easily when a hand-eye coordination connection is made, such as is practiced in the arts. In addition, students who have trouble functioning in a "left-brained" world find their niche in "right-brained" activities, raising their self-esteem and avoiding self-destructive activities. Added to these educational and social benefits is the fact that societies throughout history are remembered for their artifacts. What we create today says something important about our culture to future generations.

It is, therefore, to our detriment that American schools, presently and historically, have viewed the arts in education as a frill, either totally unimportant or not as important as academics. This attitude has resulted in a lack of adequate funding for the arts in public schools, which depends on a school district's economic status, the attitude of the individual school boards, and changes in these two factors from year to year. In order to reverse this trend and insure that all schools address the importance of the arts in our daily lives, taxpayers - the parents of children in public schools - need to become aware of the benefits of a sound arts program.

Methods/Description of Activities

Pictionary:

A game that uses art to communicate a specific, randomly chosen word idea.

Conversation Pieces:

Collaborative art in which two people explore watercolors while taking turns adding to the dialogue.

Claymunication:

Use of modeling clay to create a symbol that communicates a specific message.

Moody Blues:

Blind choice of one color to create a picture that expresses how that color makes you feel.

Mandalation:

Mandala creation of combined symbols and colors that express an aspect of the self.

Rohrshach Reinvented:

Art created by mounting inkblots onto a blown-paint background.

Junkture:

Free-form sculpture created from household junk.

Art Teaches Academics:

Discussion of children's art and copies of lesson plans to try at home.

Pointillist Paintings:

A science lesson in which children discover how the human eyes and brain blend small dots of color to make new colors.

Story Ads:

A lesson in language arts in which children practice their comprehension skills and learn to prioritize and organize information by creating an ad for a story they've read.

Graph a Wall Hanging:

Children practice math skills of geometry, spatial sense, patterns and relationships by transferring a graphed design to a beaded wall hanging.

Art Masterpiece Exploration:

An American history lesson in which children explore the Westward Expansion period through analysis of Westward the Course of the Empire Takes Its Way, a lithograph by James Merritt Ives and Fanny Palmer, and related activities.

Slide Lecture:

Throughout the series of workshops, selected student work will be photographed and the participants will each complete a survey questionnaire. The slides and the findings of the questionnaires will be presented in a lecture.

Art Exhibition:

All 24 of the workshop leader/volunteer demonstration pieces of "Conversation Pieces" and one participant piece of each of the nine remaining art projects will be exhibited.

Potential Importance

Our culture has long endured a separation of the arts from daily life. Bridging this gap with hands-on experiences that make art more "user-friendly" for adults in the general public will raise awareness that the arts in education are at least as important as academics. Increased awareness will result in increased funding for art education; increased participation in the arts in public schools will in turn improve students' skills in all other areas of education, resulting in a better educated and skilled workforce, as well as preserve students' self-esteem, resulting in less drug use and other destructive behavior.

Agenda

Each parent is invited to bring one child along for this six-hour workshop. For the parents, the first half-hour is dedicated to icebreaking, during which they will play "Pictionary," a game that uses art to communicate a specific, randomly chosen, word idea. The children will be divided into groups of ten to begin a series of age-appropriate art activities that support academic lessons in science, language arts, math and history. Emphasis is placed on having fun, both for the parents playing Pictionary and the children creating artwork.

After the icebreaker, the workshop leader will ask for a volunteer to help demonstrate the first art activity, "Conversation Pieces" (10 minutes), and then the participants will follow suit (20 min). "Claymunication" is the second art activity (30 min), followed by "Moody Blues" (30 min). "Mandalation" will wrap up the first half of "Awakening Creativity."

The workshop will break for lunch or resume another evening.

The second half begins with "Rohrshach Reinvented" followed by "Junkture" (1 hour each). Children are encouraged to assist their parents. The workshop ends with "Art Teaches Academics" during which the children's artwork will be displayed and discussed (45 min). Children are released to the playground during this discussion, and then return to share what they learned with their parents (15 min). The participants are then given a "homework packet" of art lesson plans to try at home, along with a portfolio of their completed works of art.

Throughout the workshop, participants are encouraged to explore their artistic urges, recapture their creativity esteem, and make art fun again! They are also challenged to recognize the importance of the arts in our daily lives and their children's education, and to promote funding for the arts in their public schools.

Workshops held at locations outside of a seventy-five mile radius of Flagstaff, AZ will be scheduled to take place on two weekday evenings for three hours each session. When located within that area, the workshop will take place on a Saturday, for six hours with a break for lunch after the first three hours. Participants are expected to provide their own lunches.

Selected References:

Silvano Arieti

Creativity: The Magic Synthesis

Brunetto, Carolyn Ford

Math Art Projects and Activities

Carbonetti, Jeanne

The Zen of Creative Painting

Chertok, Hirshfeld and Rosh

Teaching American History with Art Masterpieces

Eisner, Elliot W.

"Is the Artist in the School Program Effective?" Art Education - Journal of the National Art Education Association, February 1974

Fowler, Charles

Strong Arts, Strong Schools: The Promising Potential and Shortsighted Disregard of the Arts in American Schooling

Gablik, Suzi

Conversations Before the End of Time

Fowler, Charles

Strong Arts, Strong Schools: The Promising Potential and Shortsighted Disregard of the Arts in American Schooling

Hudson, Kathi and Joanne Ivins

Language Arts: Super-creative Art Activities That Build Language Arts Skills and Engage Kids of All Learning Styles

Kuhn, Marylou

"The Child and His Art," Art Education - Journal of the National Art Education Association, October 1962

Irma G. Middup

"If You Say You Can't, You Stop the Only You That Can Do It," Art Education - Journal of the National Art Education Association, March 1969

Schecter, Deborah

Science Art: Projects and Activities That Teach Science Concepts and Develop Process Skills