69ý

Opinion Blog

Ask a Psychologist

Helping 69ý Thrive Now

Angela Duckworth and other behavioral-science experts offer advice to teachers based on scientific research. Read more from this blog.

Student Well-Being Opinion

Art Can Be Transformational, Even If You’re Not ‘Artistic’

The benefits to the brain are significant
By Susan Magsamen — June 07, 2023 1 min read
Why should students who aren't artistic still make art?
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

Why should students who aren’t artistic still make art?

Creating art has so many benefits, even for those who may not see themselves as having a particular talent. Here’s something I wrote about the topic for as a :

I had just finished a collage—images of flowers and sunrises and words cut out of magazines, glued in layers along with beads and glitter—to express how I felt that day. Then I showed it to someone close to me.

“That looks like something a 5-year-old created.”

Those words crushed and shamed me. I was 15 years old, and they made me feel like making art was a waste of time and worse, that sharing my feelings was dangerous.

Too often, the world reserves the arts for the gifted. By the time kids reach their early teens, they aren’t encouraged to draw, sing, or dance unless they have displayed a special talent and could become an accomplished musician or artist. Mood boards and collaging? Better to direct that time and energy to something more useful like homework, parents might think.

But creating art has a significant impact on the brain. finds that the process of making art activates the prefrontal cortex, helping build executive-functioning skills such as planning and organizing. And there are other rewards to creative expression—for example, humming activates the vagus nerve, engaging the parasympathetic systems to make you feel good. Plus, you don’t have to be good at art to reap the benefits.

To this day, I create collages to work through and express my feelings, and I garden, write bad poetry, and sing in the shower when struggling with a particularly knotty problem at work. When someone judges what I’ve created, I shrug it off. I now know that no one can tell me how to feel about my art.

ٴDz’t believe you have to be artistic to make art.

Do make time for the arts every day. Hum, doodle, color, dance, garden, knit, and cook. Create enriched environments at home, work, and school to encourage playful exploration and heighten awareness of the sensory world around you. Creativity and the arts are not just nice to have; they are a necessity. Art creates culture. Culture creates community. And community creates humanity.

Related Tags:

The opinions expressed in Ask a Psychologist: Helping 69ý Thrive Now are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

Events

School & District Management Webinar Crafting Outcomes-Based Contracts That Work for Everyone
Discover the power of outcomes-based contracts and how they can drive student achievement.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Harnessing AI to Address Chronic Absenteeism in 69ý
Learn how AI can help your district improve student attendance and boost academic outcomes.
Content provided by 
School & District Management Webinar EdMarketer Quick Hit: What’s Trending among K-12 Leaders?
What issues are keeping K-12 leaders up at night? Join us for EdMarketer Quick Hit: What’s Trending among K-12 Leaders?

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Student Well-Being Download Traumatic Brain Injuries Are More Common Than You Think. Here's What to Know
Here's how educators can make sure injured students don't fall behind as they recover.
1 min read
Illustration of a female student sitting at her desk and holding hands against her temples while swirls of pencils, papers, question marks, stars, and exclamation marks swirl around her head.
iStock/Getty
Student Well-Being How Teachers Can Help LGBTQ+ 69ý With Post-Election Anxiety
LGBTQ+ crisis prevention hotlines have seen a spike in calls from youth and their families.
6 min read
Photo of distraught teen girl.
Preeti M / Getty
Student Well-Being 69ý Are Eerily Quiet About the Election Results, Educators Say
Teachers say students' reactions to Trump's win are much more muted than in 2016.
6 min read
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump greets Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center on Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump greets Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center on Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Evan Vucci/AP
Student Well-Being Student Journalists Want to Cover Politics. Not Everyone Agrees They Should
Student journalists are grappling with controversial topics—a lesson in democracy that's becoming increasingly at risk for pushback.
7 min read
Illustration of a paper airplane made from a newspaper.
DigitalVision Vectors