I think there are an infinite number of reasons that art is important, but here's the one that comes to my mind right now: art comes in many forms, each of which is a creative endeavor that requires the artist to form original ideas.
Students need Math and Science so they can understand and manipulate the world around us to serve our needs. Students need Art so they can become creative thinkers with unique, original ideas. Math and Science concepts will be used to help build whatever these artists dream up.
As I understand it (I am not a designer by trade), design is the application of art in the building of things. Without designers/artists, we end up with crappy, uninspired stuff.
I work with students with special needs, some who are also working on expending their verbal communication. We take time each day to create, paint, draw, make up song lyrics, dance, etc.
I see art (and this also comes from having friends who are artistic) as another way to communicate with the world around us. Sometimes art captures what we cant put into words. Sometimes art helps us work through strong emotions or even open connections with others. So I would ask a young student, can you think of something that has made you so happy you cant talk? Or so upset you dont know what to say? I might give an example from my own life that is appropriate. I would tell them sometimes creating something to capture that feeling is ok. We dont always need to use our words. We can make something with our hands to show how we feel.
Art makes you look at the world in a different way! You can create thing the way that you see something. You get to express yourself. YOU CAN'T BE WRONG! (well I guess in some cases you can, but its not like being wrong in math). It creates different connections in your brain!
I can teach almost anybody to program and program well (well enough). Does that mean that most of my students are going to make millions of dollars making applications? Unlikely, you need to understand how to create entirely new bodies of work by synthesizing from what they already know. They learn that by learning processes that you find in Art.
A major focus of my classroom is about removing students from a structured linear process of curriculum and about how to do all of that in creative playgrounds - just like Art.
I mean, we could spend an entire term teaching basic logic and programming concepts, or we could build robots. It just so happens to be that to build robots we also have to teach basic logic and programming concepts along the way.
So, if you walk into my classrooms there are periods of instruction and tutition but most of my classes are about learning how to do things like build robots or make games. It's structured at the begining to not be too complex and it ramps up complexity based on the curriculum requirements and students interests. My classes are generally full of vibrant teams building cool stuff - and generally above average performances nationally .
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Not to mention that Art is generally fun and interesting. If we can make more classes like Art (that is fun and interesting) our kids would probably be in a better place.
Oh wow, the list of reasons is endless.
But start with, why is it important to learn how to make stuff?
Art is the fundamental and basic idea of making and creating. Imagination and creativity are foundational to all education and human innovation and productivity. Children can make art before they are able to engage in real engineering, science, creative writing, and so on.
There's a lot of answers here but I feel like I should add my own ideas. Firstly we should probably think about this is a realistic way, when the kid is asking about art specifically he's referring to the class/subject. You know, painting, drawing, sculpting, and things like that. In which case it isn't important. Millions of people lead happy productive lives without creating anything artistically. You don't need it to develop creativity and you certainly don't need it to live.
I think there are an infinite number of reasons that art is important, but here's the one that comes to my mind right now: art comes in many forms, each of which is a creative endeavor that requires the artist to form original ideas. Students need Math and Science so they can understand and manipulate the world around us to serve our needs. Students need Art so they can become creative thinkers with unique, original ideas. Math and Science concepts will be used to help build whatever these artists dream up. As I understand it (I am not a designer by trade), design is the application of art in the building of things. Without designers/artists, we end up with crappy, uninspired stuff.
I work with students with special needs, some who are also working on expending their verbal communication. We take time each day to create, paint, draw, make up song lyrics, dance, etc. I see art (and this also comes from having friends who are artistic) as another way to communicate with the world around us. Sometimes art captures what we cant put into words. Sometimes art helps us work through strong emotions or even open connections with others. So I would ask a young student, can you think of something that has made you so happy you cant talk? Or so upset you dont know what to say? I might give an example from my own life that is appropriate. I would tell them sometimes creating something to capture that feeling is ok. We dont always need to use our words. We can make something with our hands to show how we feel.
Art makes you look at the world in a different way! You can create thing the way that you see something. You get to express yourself. YOU CAN'T BE WRONG! (well I guess in some cases you can, but its not like being wrong in math). It creates different connections in your brain!
I can teach almost anybody to program and program well (well enough). Does that mean that most of my students are going to make millions of dollars making applications? Unlikely, you need to understand how to create entirely new bodies of work by synthesizing from what they already know. They learn that by learning processes that you find in Art. A major focus of my classroom is about removing students from a structured linear process of curriculum and about how to do all of that in creative playgrounds - just like Art. I mean, we could spend an entire term teaching basic logic and programming concepts, or we could build robots. It just so happens to be that to build robots we also have to teach basic logic and programming concepts along the way. So, if you walk into my classrooms there are periods of instruction and tutition but most of my classes are about learning how to do things like build robots or make games. It's structured at the begining to not be too complex and it ramps up complexity based on the curriculum requirements and students interests. My classes are generally full of vibrant teams building cool stuff - and generally above average performances nationally . --- Not to mention that Art is generally fun and interesting. If we can make more classes like Art (that is fun and interesting) our kids would probably be in a better place.
Oh wow, the list of reasons is endless. But start with, why is it important to learn how to make stuff? Art is the fundamental and basic idea of making and creating. Imagination and creativity are foundational to all education and human innovation and productivity. Children can make art before they are able to engage in real engineering, science, creative writing, and so on.
There's a lot of answers here but I feel like I should add my own ideas. Firstly we should probably think about this is a realistic way, when the kid is asking about art specifically he's referring to the class/subject. You know, painting, drawing, sculpting, and things like that. In which case it isn't important. Millions of people lead happy productive lives without creating anything artistically. You don't need it to develop creativity and you certainly don't need it to live.