Arts Education Examined in Lecture Series

Saturday, December 1, 2012

— Art education was under the microscope Friday at a lecture at the University of Arkansas.

The consensus after Kim Sheridan’s presentation was art does have a place in America’s schools.

Sheridan is an assistant professor of art education and educational psychology at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. She discussed “Art and Thinking: The Real Benefits of Art Education” as part of the university’s education reform department lecture series.

In the face of limited resources, communities need to question if they want art education taught in their schools and examine why they want it, Sheridan said.

Preschoolers invent ways to represent forms and as children get older, they spend more than 10 hours a day with some kind of media, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, she said.

Sheridan has been involved in various studies of visual arts and the role they play in education as an advocate for teaching arts in schools.

Fayetteville Superintendent Vicki Thomas said Friday arts integrated into the curriculum is critical to provide a well-rounded education for all students.

“Arts and athletics are the hooks to keep kids engaged in school,” she said. “Either helps them develop their own gifts and talents.”

Research suggests students involved in music in school probably do better on math tests, Thomas said.

Misty Newcomb, executive director of the Prism Education Center in Fayetteville, said about 30 percent to 40 percent of the instruction at the center is in art. The center is a new private school serving students in preschool to seventh grade. More than half of the 75 students receive tuition assistance based on socioeconomic status.

Art education is important in helping children in their overall development as they grow into adulthood, Newcomb said.

When it comes to making a decision to teach art, Jay P. Greene, who heads the education reform department, summed up by saying, “Why don’t we say the arts are important and we should teach the arts for their own sake.”