START USING SMART ART.

How can art enhance learning?

Here is a your tube clip I created showing the results of a year 7 class lesson in writing sentences, using golden words (descriptive adjectives etc). The children wrote these after they created artworks and then saw these sentences in their art pieces.

(Please excuse the few errors in this You Tube clip and the fact that this ends so abruptly, need to learn how to fade the music out...also I know it is a little fast on some slides and you will have to pause it to have time to read. )

I believe passionately that artistic people see the world in a different way and that having the ability to create can not only enhance learning but add to the quality of life. Teaching children to value and love creativity is the first step.

But why do some embrace this and others reject this?

Can all people become artistically creative?

I guess it is the same as singing. Can nearly all people sing? Yes! But can all people sing well? No. So how does this affect people?

I know from experience that, while I love singing, I am not good enough to feel that I could stand in front of my peers and sing a song, however I will sing a song with my closest friends and have fun singing with family or with people that I know will not judge my voice or lack of. So I am a private singer. Do I enjoy singing? Yes! I love belting out (murdering) a good song that I love, particularly in the car.

So how does this relate to say...painting a picture?

Can all people paint a picture?

Yes! Of course you can...you pick up a brush and just start putting colour onto the canvas.

Anyone can create a piece of artwork.

Will it be amazingly realistic or another Picasso?

Possibly not, unless you are classified as gifted...talented...etc.

Does this mean that you would not enjoy painting?

No...given the right opportunity and encouragement most people enjoy playing with paint just like most people enjoy belting out a song.

Okay then, what happens, why do most people who do not feel artistic refuse to pick up a brush? Young children never refuse.

Give a very young child a brush and some colourful paint and they will paint until your fridge collapses under the weight of treasured 'masterpieces'.

Then one day they look at a peer's perfectly painted roses... or a person picks up their drawing of... a dog in a park with a tree in the background... and asks them.. "why is a crocodile in the park and what is that thing in the background?".. as this person views the artwork sideways through squinted eyes.

Suddenly the embarrassed child makes a decision.

I can't paint and I am not artistic.

So just like the person that won't sing in front of the class, they wont draw or paint in front of the class.

Okay...so why do I think it is it important that children all feel safe enough and confident enough to pick up that brush?

Because art can enhance learning.

Being creative should not rely on having an amazing talent, being creative should be something we all enjoy.