By Gail Parsons ~ for The Daily Union ~ Sunday, March 16, 2008

USD 475 elementary school art teachers have displayed, at the Junction City Art Gallery, an array of the work that their students have made during the past several months.
Art comes so natural to children, and those who are being encouraged and provided the guidance that these teachers provide are given tools that will assist them in any field they move on to in the years to come.
When children are in elementary school is when we need to begin fostering their art education.
A recent poll by Lake Research Partners adds more evidence to the growing piles of evidence that the arts are a vitally crucial part of our society. But art is not something that can be ignored for the formative years of a person’s life. It is also not an academic that can simply be relegated to classroom teachers to teach. Teaching art is more than simply giving students paints and crayons and a piece of paper.
The LRP poll show that most Americans, 89%, recognize that using imagination is important to innovation and one’s success in a global knowledge-based economy and essential to success in the 21st century.
March is always a good time to revisit the lack of art education that not only Geary County youth, but youth across the country are getting. This past year, formal art education was eliminated for USD 475 kindergarten children. Rather than eliminating art or merging it with other academics, we should be looking for ways to increase the arts offerings, visual and performing.
Developing the imagination and providing an artistic outlet for students sets the groundwork their later success in life – that goes far beyond the proven effects that art has on a student’s ability to learn math, reading and science.
One of the numbers that I really liked in the poll (of 1000 likely voters) was that 56 percent said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who came out in support of more funding for the arts.
I invite the community, even those who don’t have young children, to stop in and see the fabulous work that these children are doing under the expert tutelage of the elementary school teachers.
These children are learning more than techniques, they are learning how to use their imagination and that their imagination and their creativity is important.
In the Studio
Whether it is for youth or adults the need for more arts offerings is quickly becoming more obvious as the JCAC’s new Studio Coordinator begins coordinating classes and workshops.
Our elementary classes especially popular, in these classes the artists of tomorrow are connected with the artists of today and yesterday. These young people are learning about artists who have made great strides in the fields. We’re doing a lot of three-dimensional work, but have a healthy mix of painting and drawing.
These classes are designed to teach the children about different the lives and the styles of the artists, while giving them a chance to experience the media that artist worked in.
For information about the JCAC please visit our Web site at www.junctioncityac.org.