The presidential election has been on our minds for a long time and is now over and we can now give a lot of our time to other issues that are also important. One of the things that we do not think about is the amount of creativity that was needed to keep the issues of these national elections relevant to everyone. You may wonder what creativity is. How is creativity evident in our lives everyday?
Most people think creativity is found in the arts. Like painting, dance, music, theatre, writing, and sculpture. Yes, the use of creativity is found in the arts, but creativity actually is part of everyone’s life. The enemy of creativity is fear. Creativity has a lot to do with a willingness to take risks. The potential of creativity exists in everyone. What is needed is “imagination.” We need to open our minds and let imagination be nourished with ideas of how our creativity can be developed. Components of creative thinking are the ability to produce a number of ideas. For example: How many uses can you think of for a brick, or how many objects can you make using a circle? These simple exercises allow for the opportunity to express ideas. To develop creative thinking is one of the important components of teaching art education in a child’s life. When public school boards and classroom teachers’ open their minds to the importance of having art education, elements taught in their classes provide students the ability to question, to seek answers, find form and order, rethink and restructure new relationships. These are qualities that are not generally taught, but frowned on and this is where creativity is introduced and makes an art program important to be part of the school’s general curriculum.
Jaylene Armstrong is a retired Art Teacher from Madison, Wisconsin, a former National Art Education Association Western Region Vice President and President of Wisconsin Art Education Association. For more information contact Jaylene at 661-255-3050.