UnifiEd Member Reflection: Art Matters

Art Matters
​by Keelah Jackson-Harris

​The “so what” to everything is that art really does matter. Period. As teachers wind down from this roller coaster-of-a-hybrid year, the school systems are deciding whether art should remain in the weekly rotation. Curricula is now being created and curated to include only the “basics” convenient to accommodating virtual learning options, but educators and administrators must remember that the arts should not be discarded in the planning process.

Art within itself is a broad subject to define, but visual art (which includes drawing and painting)
is a form of art that lends itself well to immediate benefits. Miriam Webster provides one
meaning of art as “the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature, and
dance.” These varied forms of art may be looped into cross-curricular lessons, which will also assist
in reinforcing the retention of the material. Studies show that children are more likely to remember
creative content that they enjoy and can connect to real-life experiences. Enfuse your standard STEM with a little art, and watch your STEAM take off in the hearts and minds of your students!

​The importance of keeping creative outlets for youth within a curriculum is invaluable. Not only
are children able to express themselves in ways that words cannot express, but they are allowed
the freedom to be imperfect in a seemingly structured world. In a scheduled set up of blocks,
units, and measured chapters, art will enable children to be free. Creativity is conducive to brain
connections, forming new ideas, and imagining ingenious ways of problem-solving.

​Honestly, ultimate healing occurs in the magic cerebral zone of creativity, and we as a nation are
seriously serving our youth and future leaders a severe detriment if we strip them of the
importance of art. Art provides an experience or valued sets of experiences that will empower
our children as individuals and collective beings to the whole of society. Their hearts and souls
matter as much as their minds, and art is the gateway to their most authentic selves through their
unrestricted forms of expression. Let's keep art in the public and private sectors of schools--for
the students’ sakes and ours, too.