Why Art?
Arts: Wellness, College and the Job Market
Art can access a part of your brain, body, spirit, mind that nothing else can.
Art + Wellness: Aside from being a wonderful creative outlet, participation in the Arts is clinically proven to reduce stress (even for the novice artist). In fact, 45 minutes of art-making a day (any type of art), is proven to significantly reduce the stress hormone levels of participants. Students with Art within their school day have an opportunity to think in divergent ways, to stretch their expressive potential, to “speak” without words, to connect with their culture/history and personal identity… Having the quiet place to breathe, relax, de-stress, open-up, explore and express is a HEALTHY choice within any student’s schedule.
College: Colleges want to see balanced, well-rounded students who can prove their aptitude in various areas of study. Colleges appreciate talent, passions, community involvement/service and connections to your peers. Colleges want to see diverse ways of thinking, and students who can solve problems in various (new) ways. The Arts offer all of these assets and more. While you may not be pursuing a creative field of study in college, a class in the creative Arts is beneficial for ALL types of learners and will apply to any future study.
Creativity, Problem Solving, Work Ethic, Problem Solving: The job market is in SOFT SKILL demand. Creativity continues to be one of the top two, in-demand job skills of 2019-2020. These “soft skills” are taught, honed and fostered through creative Arts exposure. The more exposure you have, the stronger the skills will become.
Some other important points to consider:
A research study of undergraduate students conducted by Sandra Walsh et al., showed that a creative arts intervention in the classroom was "effective at lowering stress, reducing anxiety, and increasing positive emotions."
In "The Healing Power of Art," Harvard Medical school asserts that creative activities can relieve stress, aid communication, and help arrest cognitive decline; art can even “help people with depression, anxiety, or cancer.”
