Art is Important to human development

Ashford University
Art and Human Development

For as long as I can remember, art has been a part of my life. Growing up, I noticed that art is a part of everyone’s life. Humans use art in so many different ways. Art is used to communicate, to conflict, to reflect, to learn, and to describe. There are many different forms of art that humans have created. Painting, drawing, and sculpting are the basic forms of art, but other categories include poetry, literature, film making, and music. Art has so many powers that impact who we are today. Therefore, art is necessary for human development.
Learning to create and appreciate visual aesthetics may be more important than ever to the development of children as they grow up. Powerful educators believe that children need to be taught with hands-on materials, and visual communication. Studies have shown a more effective learning process is used with the arts and using art as a stimulant for learning (Day/Hurwitz, 2010). Art also can illustrate feelings and emotions which help teachers, parents, and therapists to better understand children. Art has many developmental benefits. One benefit is the aid to motor skills. To create art you have to grasp a utensil like a paint brush, marker, or crayon to scribble on a page. Around three years old children should be able to draw a circle and use safety scissors to cut it. By age four, children should have the skills to draw a square and cut it in a straight line. Many preschool programs stress the use of scissors because it develops the skills children will need for writing. (Judith, 1997). Another benefit to art in childhood development is that it helps with language development. Talking about art gives a lot of opportunities to learn new words to describe colors, shapes, and actions. By elementary school, students can use descriptive words to discuss their own creations or to talk about what feelings are produced when they see different styles of artwork. Decision making is also a benefactor of art. Art influences decision making by making choices when art is created. That also carries into more than just artwork. But thinking of creative decision making with art triggers the mind to make creative decisions and solutions in life. (Kohl, 2001). Art helps with inventiveness. Inventive people seek new ways and improvements which is important to the future whether it’s a new invention or an improved way of doing something.
Abrams, D. M. (1974) has discovered that there are four defined stages of artistic development, and these stages can be witnessed in the artworks of children. The first step is known as the scribbling stage, where children at this age (1-3 years old) are first exposed to and engaged in physical activity of drawing. At this stage, there isn’t a connection made between the marks and representation. The next stage, known as the preschematic stage is when the child begins to see connections between the shapes that they draw and the physical world around them (Abrams, 1974). These objects drawn, like circles and lines may be described as people or objects that are present in the child’s life. The third stage is the Schematic stage (5-6 years old), where a child at this stage starts to clearly assign shapes to objects that they are attempting to express (Abrams, 1974). Drawings at this stage have a clear separation between the sky and the ground, and the sky is often drawn as a strip of blue at the top of the paper, and the ground would be a strip of green. Objects are now placed on the ground instead of floating in the air, depicting the importance that they now understand structure (Abrams, 1974). The last and final stage of artistic development is age 7-9 years old where children begin to become more critical of their own work. A structured order to drawing objects is no longer good enough for the child as they become a better artist (Abrams, 1974). The stage of artistic development is perhaps one of the most important to a developing artist.
Art doesn’t only help with motor skills, language development, and inventiveness, but also aids in psychological issues and answers. Socially, art therapy helps a person open up and illustrate how they feel in a form that is better than words. It helps them understand their emotions and helps them face certain emotions that might be verbally challenging. Art therapy potentially can improve social skills by becoming more in tune with their own emotions and feelings and have a better understanding of how to communicate that. Especially in children, art therapy is effective because children’s drawings are the gateway to their imagination and the interpreter can understand the child through this form of visual communication. Art therapy helps by stimulating your brain by putting your emotions into colors and lines which children are good at making. Socially and psychologically, art therapy helps by opening your eyes to your emotions and seeing it in front of you. I believe by understanding your emotions you can be confident and be more social.
Art is important to the stages of faith. Faith can be a kind of imagination. Faith forms a way of seeing our everyday life in relation to holistic images of what we may call the ultimate environment. Humans tend to shape their actions, which are responses and initiatives, in accordance with what they see to be going on (Boozer, 1983). Faith binds us to the centers of value and power and also joins us into communities of shared trusts and loyalties, giving us the imagination of the ultimate environment (Boozer, 1983). Faith is a process of imagination that feeds off of the interactions between images, symbols, rituals, and representations in our everyday common life. Therefore, faith is an active mode of knowing, of composing a felt sense or image of the condition of our lives take as a whole, which unifies our lives’ force fields (Boozer, 1983). Faith connects with imagination.
The term demiurge is a concept from the Plantonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy for artisan figures responsible for the fashion and maintenance of the physical universe (Crites, 1979). The word “demiurge” is an English word which commonly meant “craftsman” or “artisan”, but over time meant to be a “producer” or “creator” (Crites, 1979). Since the demiurge was the creator of the universe, it was important for people to have an imagination in knowing that this one person was able to create something as big as the Universe. The need for an imagination is important because it feeds into art and imagination needs to take place in human development. To go through the stages of life, art and imagination need to take place to illustrate feelings, knowledge, and growth.
In opposition to faith, Orcs were born full sized “monsters” and did not go through any stages of faith, hence their mindset to kill and obey the creator. Orcs oppose Hobbits and Elves because they were raised and went through the stages of faith (Tolkein, 1954). I believe that if you skip certain aspects of the stages of faith, you miss out on moralities, and fulfilling your human potential.
Dating back to as far as the Stone Age, art was used by humans in a visual way of communication. During the Paleolithic, man practiced hunting and lived in caves where cave painting was developed. The first traces of man-made objects were during the Paleolithic, which were found in southern Africa. During the metal age, elements such as copper, bronze, and iron were now used. Over time visual art has been classified in several ways, starting from the medieval ways between liberal arts and mechanical arts, to the modern distinction between fine arts and applied arts, or to the many contemporary definitions, which define art as a manifestation of human creativity (Davies, 2011). The expansion of art has progressed to nine different forms since the twentieth century including: architecture, dance, sculpture, music, painting, poetry, film, photography, and comics (Davies, 2011). The twentieth century includes forms of art like video, computer art, performance, advertising, animation, television, and videogames. Video art includes video games. In today’s society, there are many different video games from leisure to educational. Educational video tools include learning new languages on technologies like Roseta Stone. Also, computer games are available for children not only on discs, but to be available to download on devices like smart phones or Ipads. These games and learning tools are visually appealing and can make the game or educational video fun and more interesting to do or read. Technology is an important way of communicating art.
Technology allows people to communicate information in an artistic way. Finite resources are being depleted and global warming is currently happening around the world. Media is helping educate people about this serious global issue. This issue gives architects an opportunity to express themselves and show their talents by creating and developing “eco-friendly” inventions. For example, smart cars. Car companies like Toyota, Chevrolet, and Ford have combined their mechanics’ ideas with their architectures talents to invent eco-friendly or green cars. These cars are designed to either run on just electric power, or both electric (charged) power and gasoline. These cars were also designed to be pleasing to the eye so costumers are driving something that is beneficial to the environment which won’t emit pollution, and are designed in a fashionable and modern way. Architects are also designing modern cities in different parts of the world like Masdar, India. Masdar is one of the most sustainable cities on the planet, which offers a creative atmosphere, providing the highest quality of life leaving the lowest ecological footprint. Masdar City has a modern appeal, whose buildings were designed to circulate wind flow around the entire city, even on the calmest days. Art is also communicated through technology for entertainment purposes. Movies are now digitally animated and they look so real that it is hard to tell it’s even animated by using technology. This software helps create dynamic and visually pleasing scenes or action shots in movies like Avatar, Iron Man, After Earth, and The Hunger Games. This technology is also used in video game that can make characters on games so real, to where you can see the sweat dripping off of their face.
Technology including the television and internet can help spread artistically talents like singing and dancing. Today’s society has interfaces like YouTube and different television shows like, Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance?, The Voice, American Idol, and America’s Got Talent that give people with musical talents the opportunity to shine and perform in front of millions of people who watch these shows. YouTube is also an internet site that allows anyone who has account to upload a video of whatever they may like to share with people. Some people have hopes of getting discovered on there so they can make it big someday. Artist Justin Bieber got discovered that way, and I personally have uploaded a few covers onto YouTube. I also use the internet for advertising my personal artwork and it has definitely helped me build a name for myself and my talents. The internet also helps communicate art by having webpages. Webpages can help display a beautiful and creative site for businesses, companies, and markets. Webpages are convenient, they are cheaper and more flexible for advertising, they can help improve credibility, and customers can quickly give some feedback.
The twentieth century has created museums and galleries in both public and private places to show off and express the sacred artistic creations including sculptures, drawings, paintings, etc. that have been captured by the most famous artists like Pablo Picasso, Frida Khalo, Salvidor Dali, and Leonardo da Vinci. The rise of media has been improving the progression and expansion of art. Humans turn to art because art is universal. Art communicates feelings and emotions that words don’t express. Artists also use art to communicate a certain idea or feeling to viewers. Art can be interpreted no matter your language, culture, or age. Pablo Picasso painted not only bright and colorful pieces, but blue and dark pieces, mostly illustrating war.
There are many materials and techniques an artist may use for expression. Drawing media can include any of the following but not limited to chalk, charcoal, conté, crayon, graphite, human finger, marker, pastel, pen and ink, pencil, sand, watercolor, acrylic paint, oil, and paint. Traditional drawing media includes everything but not limited to canvas, card stock, human body (typically for tattoos), metal, paper, plaster, scratchboard, walls, wood, glass, and fabric. The different methods that can be used include action painting, aerosol painting, airbrush, batik, cloth, palette knife, sponge, and stick. These materials and techniques are just a few named compared to the endless options.
The greatest thing about self-expression and communicating in an artistic way is that there is no right answer or way to create anything. Art can be something as simple as mud molded into a weird shape that may not even resemble anything relatable. Colors are a big factor in expression, not only for a painting or drawing but in fashion as well. Warm colors can present a happy mood as opposing colors like blue, gray, or black can represent a sadder mood. Peter Jackson is no different than an artist, he’s just a film artist and when there were battles and fights, he did the same in using dark hues in the scenes. Other artists can be a photographer because they capture beautiful, sad, bright, real, distorted images and can do many unique techniques with angles and shadows to depict an image. In The Lord of The Rings, the art of the ring communicated with the holder. Frodo didn’t know the language on the ring, but he could feel it, see it, and understand it.
I believe that art is a reflection of society because when society is struggling, that has an impact on the thoughts of the world. Art reflects how one feels, it could also reflect how a society feels. Some famous war artists like Emanuel Leutze and Pablo Picasso felt the effects on war in their society and illustrated it. Today, in these paintings we feel a burden of war. However, art is necessarily a painting or drawing. Art has many different forms. Literature is a very powerful form of art, as illustrated in the Lord of The Rings. Author J. R. R. Tolkien did exactly what Picasso or Leutze did but through writing. Peter Jackson then took the work of Tolkien and created a cinematic masterpiece but using many elements of art and creation from the costumes to visual effects.
Art inspires and feeds the imagination. Through the stages of faith and development, humans have created art. From that, humans have developed creative ways to make art. Art has been a domino effect since the time of the cavemen. Throughout history, art has continually grown, molded, transformed, and blossomed off into so many different directions. Art is so general because there are so many different ways to express art. Art has blossomed into many different branches to communicate, teach, and explain many ideas today.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology by Abraham Maslow who expanded on different ideas in order to include his observations of humans’ innate curiosity (Rosenblatt, 1977). His theories compare to other theories of human developmental psychology, some focusing on describing the stages of growth in humans. These terms included physiological, safety, belongingness and love, esteem, self-actualization, and self-transcendence, which all described the pattern that human motivations generally move through (Rosenblatt, 1977). The human mind and brain is complex and have parallel processes running at the same time, where many different motivations from various levels of Maslow’s hierarchy can occur at the same time (Rosenblatt, 1977).
Physiological needs are the physical requirements for human survival. If these aren’t met, then the human body simply cannot function properly and will fail. Clothing and shelter provide necessary protection from the elements. Art connects with these physiological needs because if the expression of art is not present, a person may become unhealthy (Rosenblatt, 1977). Health problems may consist of an unbalanced diet, no appetite, binge eating, psychological issues may occur, and anything can happen that throws the body out of whack (Rosenblatt, 1977).
With physical needs being mainly satisfied, an individual’s safety needs take precedence and dominate a person’s behavior (Rosenblatt, 1977). In the absence of physical safety, due to war, natural disaster, family violence, childhood abuse, etc., people may (re) experience post-traumatic stress disorder or trans generational trauma (Rosenblatt, 1977). This level is more likely to be found in children because they generally have a greater need to feel safe and safety security needs include: personal security, financial security, health and well-being, safety net against accidents/illness and their adverse impacts (Rosenblatt, 1977). Art relates to having safety needs because music, for example, as a form of art can help calm a person down if they just went through something where they didn’t feel safe. For example, like a natural disaster or if someone just lost their job music can help cheer someone up.
The third level of human need is interpersonal and involves feelings of belongingness. According to Maslow, humans need to feel like they belong to a certain group, whether that is a club, co-workers, family members, religious groups, or sporting teams. Humans need to love and to be loved; it’s a part of human nature. This can be both sexually or non-sexually. If love or a feeling of belongingness isn’t present, humans may be susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and clinical depression (Rosenblatt, 1977). Art connects with being loved and having a sense of belonging because both are definitely a form of expression. As we know art is an expression of our innermost emotions, feelings, and thoughts conveyed on a blank canvas. The famous painting titled A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte can be interpreted as a representation of how art can be expressed as having a sense of belonging. This shows how every person can contribute to the grand scheme of the artistic community. Pointillism is a form of art that utilizes small, distinct dots of color to create a beautiful piece of art. Each dot is important because it represents how different artists have different contributions and without these contributions, the grand portrait of art would not be as complete.
All humans have a desire to feel respected, to have self-esteem, and have self-respect. Being recognized is important in making a name for one self and that is typically why a person engages in a certain hobby, profession, or dabbles in a career field. If a person has low self-esteem, they typically are always looking for respect from others and seek glory (Rosenblatt, 1977). Maslow states that there are two levels of self-esteem: low and high. For the higher self-esteem, the person may have a need for strength, competence, mastery, self-confidence, independence, and freedom (Rosenblatt, 1977). The higher version of self-esteem is said to take over the lower version because it relies on the inner soul which has been established through experience. Art relates to self-esteem because an artist can portray their present mood in their art. It can be easy to read an artist’s self-esteem because if you know that cooler and darker colors represent a sadder mood, and brighter colors represent a happier mood, it may not be difficult. Also, if a musician creates a song or an entire album of slow, sappy music then it’s pretty clear that he or she is in a sad mood with low self-esteem.
I have proved that art is necessary in human development for many reasons. Art plays a major role in childhood development, because educators believe that children need to be taught with hands-on material, and visual communication. Studies have shown a more effective learning process is used with the arts, and when art is used as a stimulus for learning. There are four stages of art development that a child goes through when learning. Since children do not have the vocabulary to put their thoughts into words, the best way for them to communicate may be by drawing what they feel or see. Drawing and painting can help adults communicate and understand children better. Art is also important in the stages of faith. Art is an expression and can be characterized principally in terms of behavioral, physical, social, and emotional change. Art is also a form of communication, and it has been observed that it is natural for humans to need visuals, and use them to communicate.
Art has been traced all the way back to the cave man era and the first forms of life. All humans turn to art because it is a visual representation that is universal. The beautiful thing about art is that it can be interpreted no matter what language you speak, culture, or age. Art galleries are present all throughout the world and are available to capture the oldest and most beautiful pieces created by the most famous artists. Art is also a reflection of society because it can show when a society is successful of struggling. Art reflects how one feels and how society feels. Emanuel Leutze and Pablo Picasso are famous artists that were known to depict the effects on war in their society and illustrated it.
The Lord of The Rings connects to art through literature and describing a vivid story that comes to life before your eyes. The book written by J.R.R. Tolkien was then made into a series of films by Peter Jackson, who took the words and transformed them into a visual masterpiece. Millions of people have been captivated by both the book and the movies, showing how art is necessary in human development.

References
Abrams, D. M. (1974). a psychological study of the artistic process. . The Arts and Human Development, 6(2), 42-47. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1477607
Boozer, J. D. (1983). Stages of faith: The psychology of human development and the quest for meaning by james w. fowler; trajectories in faith. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 15(1/2), 89-92 103-139. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40024833
Crites, S. (1979). The demiurgic imagination in art and experience. The Problems of Reading in Contemporary American Criticism: A Symposium, 8(1), 285-308. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/303154
Davies, P. J. E. (2011). Janson 's History of Art- Western Tradition. (8th ed., pp. 1-12). Pearson. DOI: cengage.com
Day/Hurwitz (2010). Children and Their Art: Art Education for Elementary and Middle Schools. (9th ed., pp. 7-21). Cengage Learning. DOI: cengage.com
Fichner-Rathus (2013). Understanding Art. (10th ed., pp 1-9, 20-36, 57-79) Cengage Learning. DOI: Cengagebrain.com
Judith, S. K. (1997). Scholarly discourse on art and human development. Human Development, 40(3), 181-188. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/224012899?accountid=32521
Kennedy, J. M. (1974). The arts and human development. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 33(2), 228-231. doi: 10.2307/429096
Mattern, M. (1999). John dewey, art and public life. The Journal of Politics, 61(1), 54-75. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2647775
Rosenblatt, H. S. (1977). The humanness of two abrahams. Journal of Religion and Health, 16(1), 22-25. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27505376
Tolkein, J. R. R. (1954). The lord of the rings. (Vol. 1,2 and 3). New York: Ballantine Books.
Vogelsang, J. D. (1983). Journal of religion and health . Personality, Faith, Development, and Work Attitudes, 22(2), 131-138. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27505728

References: Abrams, D. M. (1974). a psychological study of the artistic process. . The Arts and Human Development, 6(2), 42-47. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1477607 Boozer, J Crites, S. (1979). The demiurgic imagination in art and experience. The Problems of Reading in Contemporary American Criticism: A Symposium, 8(1), 285-308. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/303154 Davies, P Day/Hurwitz (2010). Children and Their Art: Art Education for Elementary and Middle Schools. (9th ed., pp. 7-21). Cengage Learning. DOI: cengage.com Fichner-Rathus (2013) Judith, S. K. (1997). Scholarly discourse on art and human development. Human Development, 40(3), 181-188. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/224012899?accountid=32521 Kennedy, J Mattern, M. (1999). John dewey, art and public life. The Journal of Politics, 61(1), 54-75. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2647775 Rosenblatt, H Tolkein, J. R. R. (1954). The lord of the rings. (Vol. 1,2 and 3). New York: Ballantine Books. Vogelsang, J. D. (1983). Journal of religion and health . Personality, Faith, Development, and Work Attitudes, 22(2), 131-138. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27505728