| I received this statement in an email not long ago and it really struck a
chord in me. It puts so elegantly into words what I have believed and tried to
articulate for so long. I believe everyone should read this and pass the
message on to anyone else who has ever thought art to be unimportant to the
growth and maturity of today’s student. As a matter of fact, I think it should
be passed on to anyone willing to read it. It’s a great statement in support
of art in all of its forms.
WHY TEACH ART?
ART IS A SCIENCE
In many cases creating art demands exact, specific mixtures as a variety of
compounds such as: silica, wax, oil, and pigment. Artists develop hypotheses
on the result of these combinations and how they will affect their art. This
experimentation is done with note taking in a journal to
record successful and sometimes not so successful results. Artists look for
absorption rates, appropriate catalysts, dissociation points, and causes of
devitrification. Artists are keen observers and recorders of their environment
just as a scientist is. Artists are scientists.
ART IS MATHEMATICAL
Artists translate a complex three-dimensional world in to two-dimensional and
three-dimensional images and sculptures. This requires a keen understanding
of spatial relationships, linear perspective, technical shading of form,
symmetry and asymmetry, and knowledge of geometrical and organic shapes. Many
works of art require the artist to develop exact measurements of size and
weight. Artists are mathematicians.
ART IS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Many of the terms commonly used in art originate from a variety of languages
like: Italian, German, Latin, and French. Words such as: appliqué’, Bas
Relief, tromp l’oeil, chiaroscuro, monochrome, gouache, and sgraffito.
Vocabulary in art is a blend of many cultures and therefore
becomes its own unique language. Artists speak a foreign language.
ART IS HISTORY
Art reflects the environment, culture, and often the political conditions of
the time and place in which it was created. The artworks of the world are
mankind’s’ greatest records of his history on planet earth. The cave
paintings of France, the pyramids of Giza, the urns of Greece, the
sculptures of Michelangelo, the masks of the Native Americans, the narrative
paintings of the 19th century, and the characters of Grant Wood, have all
remained as a record of communication of times gone by. History is simply not
history without the artifacts that support its existence.
Artists record history.
ART IS LANGUAGE ARTS
Art is a higher form of communication. As artists translate the world around
them, stories of bravery, heroism, valor, sorrow, and hope emerge into
narratives of imagery, characters, and settings. Artists research,
brainstorm, rough draft, create preliminary drawings, keep journals, date
title, and sign their works, and create works based upon a theme or series.
Artists have made images inspired by poems, music, stories, and events.
Artists are communicators.
ART IS PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Art requires fantastic coordination of the fingers, hands, arms, and body. The
hand and the eye must work in perfect harmony in order to create. Many forms
of art require great physical strength, balance, and coordination such as
sculpting large structures from stone, metal, and wood, and throwing hundreds
of pounds of clay. Painting, drawing, and sculpting require great physical
stamina. Artists are fit for life.
ART IS TECHNOLOGY
Great works of art are now created on computers requiring artists to have
highly developed computer skills and knowledge. Graphic arts and
communication professions have changed dramatically with the use of this tool.
Artists are visionaries.
ART IS ALL OF THESE THINGS, BUT MOST OF ALL,
“ART IS ART”
It allows a human being to take all of these dry, technical, and difficult
techniques and use them to create intense beauty, and powerful emotional
response. This is one thing that science cannot duplicate, mathematics
cannot calculate, foreign language cannot translate, history cannot legislate,
and physical education cannot replicate.
THAT IS WHY WE TEACH ART!
Not because we expect you to major in Art.
Not because we expect you to create art all of your life.
Not so you can relax or just have a hobby.
WE TEACH ART
So you will be human.
So you will recognize and appreciate true beauty.
So you can communicate from the very depths of your soul.
So you will be sensitive to life and the peoples within it.
So you will be closer to an infinite beyond this world.
So you will have more love, more compassion, more gentleness…
more life.
By Tina Farrell
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