For several semesters I was given the opportunity to teach the Arts in Learning course at the Tyler school of Art. This course is a required course for the College of Education students at Temple University. With the cut-back of Arts funding for visual art or music classes in the schools, this class looks to support ways in which classroom teachers may integrate arts into the daily curriculum. This class also is geared toward helping build or re-build positive connections to art making in general. Many of us have been the unfortunate patrons of two opposite and equally detrimental ideas: a. that Art making can only be done by the talented and: b. that “Art” is anything you make. Both of these ideas do damage to our perceptions of who can make Art and how that Art is made.

How many times have you heard a teacher or anyone say, “ Oh, I can’t make Art..I am not talented.” This statement frustrates me because of course some people are born with greater aptitude for certain activities, but that does not mean they are completely incapable or should not venture to try. If I am not that great at throwing a basketball do I not play the game? Can I practice and get better? Of course I can. The same can be done for Art making. Most artists don’t just wake up and suddenly know how to draw a picture in 3 point perspective. What people discredit when they say, oh he/she has “ talent” is the fact that it actually took time, energy and work to become “talented.” Although he/she may have self-selected drawing because for some reason he/she finds it pleasurable, he/she more than likely draws all the time i.e. Practices, learns, perseveres.

Quite frequently I would have a student who would complain about the price of Art work. My stock answer would always be…when you see a doctor for a visit..how much do you pay for 5-15 minutes of their time? What are you paying for? Their expertise. It is the same with Artists. We do not say that a doctor’s skills are “innate.” Why should we wrongly handicap Artists with that brand? Artists work lifetimes to achieve the skills and understanding that they bring to their work. In fact sometimes artists work lifetimes and find that their one best piece of work was a painting, print or something done in an hour. Don’t great gymnasts find the pinnacle of their careers in single performances? There are moments when all things come together, all the work, the frustration, the perseverance the practice and then there is Art; the nexus where truth and beauty come together. Beauty, not in the sense of something pretty, but as in something awesome.

I don’t believe that “Art is anything you make.” When a child makes a drawing, any drawing, a line on a page a quick sketch of a dog, I would not be so quick to label it as Art. As an educator, when we make this blanket statement we are discrediting any work or standards or level of thoughtful editing that is a necessary process in the pursuit of making great “Art.” Can a child make a great work of Art? Yes! But, and of course there is a but in an educational setting the journey and process toward making that “work” qualifies it’s value as Art.

These ill founded perceptions about Who makes Art and How it is made greatly effect the general perceptions of what “Academic” skills are necessary in schools. If only the “talented” can really make art and or it is just a matter of giving a child some paint or some crayons well then naturally anyone can teach it. Art then becomes valued merely as an accessory to actual learning. In a September, 2007 article, Art for our sakes,¹ published by the Boston Globe Two researchers for Project Zero at the Harvard School of Education, Lois Hetland and Ellen Winner write about a study they conducted in the Boston Public schools In their article they suggest a reframing of how we understand the value of Arts education in schools. What they found is that there are certain important skills taught in Arts classes that are not necessarily taught in the academic subject areas. They identified 8 distinct habits of mind that are taught specifically in Arts learning classes; visual and performance based. These habits of mind may be understood as tools for learning and thinking. They are as follows: persistence, expression, making connections between the school and world, observing, envisioning, innovating through exploration, reflection and self-evaluation.

What the researchers focus on as distinct to re-valuing our understanding of Arts learning were the last four modes of thinking: observing, envisioning, innovating through exploration and reflection and self-evaluation. These habits of mind they pose represent skills that are essential to becoming successful as scientists, inventors, doctors and any other profession that requires one to critically analyze something and come up with diagnosis, prognosis, and solutions whether they be aesthetic, cultural or scientific.

Clearly we who are Art educators know that these habits of mind are taught and addressed in the best Art classes, but what we need to remind educators, administrators and parents who choose schools is that Art isn’t just about making pretty pictures that anyone can do. Simply because you don’t think your child is talented or motivated to make art doesn’t mean he or she does not have important value added to their repertoire of skills as a thinker when they engage in Arts learning.  Art is something everyone can and should learn to create, understand and value. The value of art making and education is not that of a handbag on the well constructed suit of knowledge, but rather an essential thread of learning. Arts learning creates the opportunity for students to engage in “vital modes of thinking: seeing, and envisioning.”² These modes are useful and I would pose, necessary to all their pursuits as learners and thoughtful adults.

As a parent it is not because I am an artist that I want my sons to have access to great Art programs. It is because as an educator I have practiced, witnessed and been part of the transformational learning that happens for all children when they engage in creating and thoughtfully expressing themselves through Arts media. When my students design a picture that tells a story about their family, sew a pillow stitch by stitch eagerly anticipating its 3dimensional form, sculpt a ball of clay into a magical creature imagining how it will change once fired, I know and they know how much thought, how much energy, how much love went into their work of Art. Whatever my sons become, study, or develop a passion for, it is that type of engagement or approach to learning and thinking that I believe in and will always fight for.

Now if the person who just received 43.7 million dollars for the purchase of their Warhol painting of “200 one dollar bills” ³could donate just one percent of their profits to Public school Art programs in Philadelphia then perhaps our most wealthy one percent might have some competition in the future. Or better yet if someone would donate 43.7 million dollars to The Public Schools of Philadelphia’s Art Education programs then perhaps Administrators and parents would have the opportunity to witness and realize the true value of Arts learning in schools and education.