Why are the visual arts important?

The visual arts provide students the opportunity to perceive, respond to, and create and communicate through images, allowing them to observe, experience and apply these skills across curriculum and throughout their lives. Art gives people the power to express ideas and emotions through images, theater, music and 

Art teaches and supports: motor skills, language skills, social skills, critical thinking, decision-making, risk-taking, inventiveness, problem solving, stress relief, self-expression, communication, collaboration