How does art affect your life? How important is it? Art is everywhere, yet it is still severely underappreciated in the classroom.

“I can’t draw,” or “I’m no artist,”are two common phrases teachers use along with students. Why is it acceptable to be poor at art, but insufficiency in other subjects is unacceptable? You need to have sufficient Math skills to succeed in Chemistry, yet you do not need to be an artist if “it is not an art class.” It can be argued that all subjects are important, yet fine arts are still pushed to the side. 

Conversation, fashion, music, photography, and acting are all examples of art. Art is what the words this article is composed of, yet many people do not consider how relevant creative arts are to various aspects. For example, graphic arts play a huge factor in most businesses. Some arts may even work with one another (such as Literary Arts and Graphic Arts. Written works often have a cover design, and some literary works may even include illustrations inside.) Art has its play in everything around us, and it still goes unappreciated. 

Students will often rely on rote memorization rather than meaningful learning in the classroom. Rote learning relies on repetition to remember things, while Meaningful learning allows a student to be active and reflect upon a topic to learn. Some may argue that Rote learning is more efficient than meaningful learning, but it does not last. Meaningful learning lasts- the use of creative arts provides perfect opportunities to make lessons meaningful. Acting things out, doodling, or even recognizing and discussing different art forms can help students exponentially. Creative arts are still not utilized to their full potential. The representation of art and the overall appearance of meaningful learning in the educational system still have a long way to go in many classrooms. 

Even in an art class, a student’s creativity is held back and restricted. “I used to think art was fun, but I was always making what the teacher wanted, not what I wanted,” Junior Lina Cintron said. She also mentioned how she felt the implementation of the Arts in the classroom is not as effective in terms of expression. These are not feelings specific to her, a lot of other students feel this way. What’s the point of doing something if it’s not what you want to do? Art is all about the freedom of creating what you want. In the classroom, you don’t get the same kind of freedom. 

Creativity and self-expression are important in and outside of school; learning about art can help students utilize their creative expression better. With the flexibility of art, there is no excuse not to include art in a lesson. It is always challenging to start doing something initially, but progress comes when one puts in the effort. It is not hard to integrate art into the classroom, especially once the efforts are made. “Art is something that can easily factor into every subject if we take the time to let it.” Freshman Madeline Painter said, “Things that take just a little class time can really be good for art appreciation and learning more.” 

Art is everywhere, Art is necessary. Art deserves a place in every classroom.