Art Education’s Impact on Civic Engagement

Elijah Mcclain’s violin vigil

Photo by ABC 7 News - NY

Ignoring the precautions of medical professionals and the sentiments of a majority of educators and parents, President Trump pushed schools to reopen. Since then, many schools have decided to push back and reopen remotely. With school ramping up again, art becomes increasingly important as a way to process recent events. In a way, it has grown to be more conducive to being taught at home. Students, ideally, have the space to spread out, privacy to think, to take risks, and learn with school provided tools and guidance. Enhancing artistic opportunities for students and honoring art by BIPOC has gone historically unrecognized and could foster a sense of community for schools, while students have to social distance. The positive effects could extend beyond schools if teachers partner with local cultural organizations once conditions are safe to re-open.

A majority of the public in the United States supports art education. However, access is uneven, with BIPOC being less likely to receive an art education, according to the United States Government of Accountability Office. For adults, artistic involvement has been shown to increase behaviors that contribute to the health of society. This includes increased civic engagement and inclusive behavior as well as overall enhanced social tolerance. Similarly, a study from the Brookings Institution, of 10,000 third to eighth grade students demonstrated that those exposed to the arts (e.g., “dance, music, theater, and visual arts during before and after school programs, field trips, school performances, and sessions with resident artists”) displayed “fewer disciplinary problems [and] better writing scores.” Furthermore, students showed dedication to their school, became more likely to consider higher education, and exhibited more compassion toward peers and even teachers.

In such divisive times, art brings people together to start a conversation on social issues.

For example, EBAYC, a nonprofit, civic and social organization that began in the Bay Area, upholds a mission to raise lifelong builders of a just multicultural society. High school participants within the programs recently premiered short films that encapsulate thoughts and feelings regarding COVID-19’s impact and the Black Lives Matter movement. I attended the event, and it was incredibly powerful to see projects presented with pride that documented the lives lost to COVID-19 and police brutality. Attendees were able to donate to internet access and video editing tools for the students.

Additionally, art education encourages students, teachers, and parents alike to take responsibility and ownership in beautifying their surroundings, whether that be at school, at home, or in their neighborhood. To design a more youth-friendly station, Oakland Coliseum’s BART features a mural courtesy of the UC Berkeley Center for Cities + Schools Y-PLAN (Youth-Plan-Learn-Act-Now) initiative and African American Male Achievement (AAMA) Program.

Art history teaches visual analysis, written communication skills, and valuable information on any career in “academia, museums, art galleries, and auction houses, as well as to careers in architecture, preservation, finance, consulting, advertising, law, and medicine,” according to the University of Chicago art history department.

New initiatives coinciding with art history education that pay for resources to BIPOC artists are often overlooked. They are able to support and inspire young artists respectively. Art serves as a way to illustrate and respect individuality while unifying communities. It can be a means of activism when it embraces an anti-racist education with a curriculum rooted in diversity, equity and inclusion.