Why Make Art?
What do I learn in art that will matter even if I don't become an artist? Arts learning builds strong cognitive habits -- creative and critical thinking skills and habits of mind. Art Habits of Mind answer the question: What do good artists do? What do successful people do? Whether students become artists or choose another profession it is important that lifelong Habits of Mind are learned in and through the arts. Click the button to download the findings from Project Zero of Harvard University about eight Habits of Mind the arts purposely foster and develop. |
Art Habits of Mind Survey Results and DiscussionStudents collectively defined the Art Habits of Mind and connected them with careers and occupations. Students then chose which Habit of Mind was most important for their own future careers or occupations. Finally, students reflected on a favorite project from the semester and which Habit of Mind was most important for that project. Below are some of those reflections.
Clay: Develop Craft -- You have to be able to develop different ways to build different things.
Clay: Reflect -- You had to reflect on your work and keep changing things in order to get the final product. Clay: Engage & Persist -- Stay with your idea and finish. Clay: Express -- Even though we had to do the 3 things (coil, slab & pinch) we still got to express ourselves and choose what we wanted to make. Clay: Envision -- Because I needed to picture it in my head before I created it. Ink Painting: Observe & Express -- Observing a picture and expressing what it looks like. Ink Drawings: Envision -- because I had to envision the dancers to draw them and do my own interpretation of them. Painting: Engage & Persist -- I have never been very good at painting but when I worked harder on it and was persistent about it my painting actually came out the way I wanted it to. Painting: Observe -- I had to observe a picture and copy it onto a grid. Then I had to observe the colors and highlight of her face. Grid Identity Drawing: Express -- because you had to express your identity in a drawing. Grid Identity Drawing: Observe -- We had to copy and image onto a piece of paper. We had a grid but we had to make sure we got every last detail right. Look thoroughly at it. Observe it. Artist Piece: Engage & Persist -- because it took a lot of work to find a way to get the look and it was hard finding the right supplies for the job. Artist Piece: Develop Craft -- because I like the hands-on experience and it was fun. Repousse: Express -- because you had to try and make the person feel the atmosphere of the music. Color Wheel Painting: Express & Develop Craft -- I expressed my love of soccer and I had to make different colors. |