Kentucky Art Education Association
Supporting the arts in Kentucky schools since 1958.
Welcome to the Kentucky Art Education Association!
From The President:
“For hundreds of years it has been known that teaching the arts, along with
history and math and biology, helps to create the ‘well-rounded mind’ that
western civilization and America have been grounded upon. We need that
‘well-rounded mind’ now, for it is from creativity and imagination that the
solutions to our political and social problems will come.”
Richard Dreyfuss, star of Mr. Holland’s Opus.
I have students that ask me why they need to learn about art because “they’ll never use this stuff again” and I always tell them that when they learn to create, they learn skills that they can transfer to any other area of study because learning to create is learning to problem solve, learning to think about things a little differently, and learning to take everything they know and put it together to make something work. I often will begin a discussion with students about this by having them envision a world where the arts and creativity do not exist. As they start to describe the world, I have to keep reminding them that things wouldn’t be there because someone had to create them. Eventually, they come to the conclusion that they can’t imagine a world without the arts. They start to understand that every man made thing around them whether it is aesthetically pleasing or not is a direct effect of the arts. Most importantly, students think about a world without the arts and understand that it is the arts that help define us as humans.
In times of economic hardships, it becomes vitally important to advocate for the arts; to remind decision makers that academics do not simply include reading, writing, and arithmetic. It is through the arts that we train thinkers who will continue to build our society and create our future. No great invention ever was created by a completely logical mind, but rather by someone who understood that they needed to step away from common theory and test what people said could not be done. These great minds were creative minds; the kind of minds that the arts nurture. We need to help legislator and decision makers to understand this and help us to embrace the arts in our society.
I challenge each of you to make this a year of advocacy for children and our future.
Michelle Lustenberg
KyAEA President
“For hundreds of years it has been known that teaching the arts, along with
history and math and biology, helps to create the ‘well-rounded mind’ that
western civilization and America have been grounded upon. We need that
‘well-rounded mind’ now, for it is from creativity and imagination that the
solutions to our political and social problems will come.”
Richard Dreyfuss, star of Mr. Holland’s Opus.
I have students that ask me why they need to learn about art because “they’ll never use this stuff again” and I always tell them that when they learn to create, they learn skills that they can transfer to any other area of study because learning to create is learning to problem solve, learning to think about things a little differently, and learning to take everything they know and put it together to make something work. I often will begin a discussion with students about this by having them envision a world where the arts and creativity do not exist. As they start to describe the world, I have to keep reminding them that things wouldn’t be there because someone had to create them. Eventually, they come to the conclusion that they can’t imagine a world without the arts. They start to understand that every man made thing around them whether it is aesthetically pleasing or not is a direct effect of the arts. Most importantly, students think about a world without the arts and understand that it is the arts that help define us as humans.
In times of economic hardships, it becomes vitally important to advocate for the arts; to remind decision makers that academics do not simply include reading, writing, and arithmetic. It is through the arts that we train thinkers who will continue to build our society and create our future. No great invention ever was created by a completely logical mind, but rather by someone who understood that they needed to step away from common theory and test what people said could not be done. These great minds were creative minds; the kind of minds that the arts nurture. We need to help legislator and decision makers to understand this and help us to embrace the arts in our society.
I challenge each of you to make this a year of advocacy for children and our future.
Michelle Lustenberg
KyAEA President
Coming Next Fall: The 2009 KyAEA Annual Fall Conference
ART 4 LIFE!
October 16 and 17, 2009
Rosa Parks Elementary School
Lexington, KY
A focus on 'Arts Advocacy' and why we NEED the Arts in our schools.
Visit our "Conference" page for more information!
NEW UPDATES!
- Visit our NEWS page for Winter '09 KyAEA Announcements!
- Visit our TEACHER RESOURCES page for lessons, assessments and curriculum maps contributed by KyAEA members!
- Visit our CONFERENCE page for news about our 2009 Fall Conference!
