Why Teach Art?

Art Inspires Creativity 
Think of spring season without any color, all of the flowers, and the blooming trees. What if they were gray? In my eyes that is what the world would be like without creativity. Gray. I feel like teaching art in grade school, helps students develop creativity.

"We teach art in the 21st century because the 21st century needs creative minds that can face the complexities of a multilayered reality, offer solutions, and follow through their completion and successful outcomes." (whyteachart.com)

Art helps open the door to creativity. It helps students develop a sense of individuality and express themselves.(Wochiak, and Clements 6) Art establishes a sense of individuality and expression, because each student no matter the art project will always have a unique individual twist. Art is a way of expressing your ideas and sharing them with others to create an all around colorful world.
Art Helps Students Develop a Sense of Community

 The definition of community states:

"a unified body of individuals"

Developing community through the arts is a way to help students become unified. It will help students learn and grow through one another, and help them share their creativity and ideas. In the Creation Mind Chapter 4 it says; 

"It(art) is also a function of what they(students) learn from others as they become member of a community."

Art helps students establish a sense of community, and what is learning without sharing what you know with others to help them improve. Without teaching art in the schools a lot of that sharing would have gone to waste. Art helps students express their individual ideas collectively.  In the creation mind they compare the community of learners to that of a little league team. Being a part of a community helps the students feel that their ideas are coming together to create something beautiful. Sharing ideas helps students feel comfortable around their peers making it a lot easier to share ideas and thoughts in other subjects.
Art Creates Opportunities in Other Subjects

"Art helps teachers teach abstraction. Abstraction in subjects like Math and English is a hard thing to teach. Art helps me, as a teacher, teach my students the more abstract concepts." -4th Grade Teacher Wendy Patton

As I researched this I found that what Mrs. Patton said was exactly right. In the champs report it gives the following information on art groups.

• a five-fold increase in use of if-then statements,
  scenario building following by what if questions,
  and how about prompts
• more than a two-fold increase in use of mental
  state verbs (consider, understand, etc.)
•  a doubling in the number of modal verbs
  (could, might, etc.)

Using the arts in English gives students the opportunity to describe what they have created. In math the arts can help things become more logical. In science the arts can help things feel and look more real. Think of any fake volcano that you have ever made, and then tell me how using art was not a part of it. Art is a part of life, and it is a part of learning.


References
"Why Teach Art." N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan 2011. <www.whyteachart.com>.
"Websters Dictionary." Community-Definition. Merriam Webster, 2011. Web. 28 Jan 2011.   <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/community?show=0&t=1296262010>.
Patton, Wendy. Intervew by Laurel Patton. Print. 28 Jan 2011.
Wochiak, Frank, and Robert Clements. Emphasis Art. 9th. 2010. 6. Print. 
"Creation Mind." What arts teach and how it shows. 93-115. Print.
 "The Impacts of the arts on learning." Champions of change. 1-114. Print.