Whether it’s a child drawing their family in kindergarten, someone listening to their favorite song or dancing at a party, everyone has a personal experience or connection to art. Throughout the U.S., art is an often neglected skill since American society generally regards it only as an unreliable financial route or unnecessary class taught in schools: a narrative that most people agree with. However, whether it’s done for work, in a class or simply as a hobby, the arts help to ease issues people face, such as mental health. Overall, people need art in their lives.
Art allows people to develop their creativity. Simply put, art has many forms and is easily accessible for anyone to create, and it teaches people even from a young age how to develop their imagination further. For example, organizations such as the East End Arts explain that children further learn how to be original through art by utilizing both colors and textures to create something new. This also develops children’s abilities to consistently tackle the same task and continuously find ways to improve their work. By starting art at a young age, it gives children the opportunity to have a solid foundation for skills they will utilize throughout their lives.
Art is an emotional outlet, which helps strengthen mental health. Americans for the Arts explains the stress hormone cortisol can lower by 25% after creating art for only 45 minutes. 60% of Americans express how creating such pieces of artwork helps them to cope with emotional distress. These two factors provide further reasoning behind how exactly art can console individuals. During moments of anxiety, making music or painting are two ways people can process complicated emotions and gain comfort by directing those feelings into an artistic creation.
The most notable benefit of art is that it strengthens cognitive abilities. According to Science News Explores, exposure to forms of art like music can trigger plasticity, a process that causes the brain to reorganize itself and the connections between neurons. As a result, this makes systems of the brain that are responsible for executive functions more flexible, and children in music programs become better at executive-functioning tasks in comparison to children who are not. However, some people like Danny Gregory from Kappan argue that schools should get rid of art in their education systems. While acknowledging its cognitive benefits, Gregory says that art is an elitist luxury that doesn’t help children develop skills in the future. This is far from the truth as it was statistically proven that it helps children in tasks and furthers the development of their brains.
Overall, art is essential and has a positive influence on people’s lives. Engaging in different forms of art like music or sculpting fosters creativity and enhances mental health and cognitive abilities. People throughout the U.S. should be able to continuously reap those benefits art instills. Therefore, fine art classes should be a requirement for schools nationwide.
