Is the lack of attention to arts in schools a bad thing?

[ZenzybaR]

I've been thinking about this for a little while and I'm just not sure I have enough knowledge to factor in all the things that would give a sure answer.

The fact that little attention was given to art in the school system and even looked down on to some degree, would create a type of elite artist who was willing to go out of their way to get to the needed levels.
But is that different now?

Considering the increase in the human population, the number who enjoy art and would like to do it, and the fact that the internet gives limitless information to ANYONE with even dial up, kind of makes it far easier to get to higher levels or aspire to get there.
If art was paid proper attention in the school system, almost everyone might start to aim for it.

Like, lets say 50 years ago, were there as many artists to a lets just say 'decent' level or today's artist.
If you go to www. there's tons of pretty all right artists IMO.

And with website like this that allow low level people such as myself to get wisdom and berating from high power level artists, it just kind of sets everyone to an even footing.
It's like giving EVERYONE the Captain A super serum and then letting them compete.

I guess it's more than just about the school system but about the future of the Illustrative art world. And I know it might sound a little 'cowardly' or even like i want an excuse to be lazy, but it's just something I've been thinking about.

[pretentieuse]

lol, hey, I didn't want to become a punchline!

It's absolutely a bad thing. Hell, we wouldn't need to "shut up and draw" if we didn't feel that art wasn't culturally irrelevant, if greater funding existed, if people placed legitimately skilled visual artists on the same plane as famous actors and athletes, and if the government--specifically American; I don't know about arts funding in other countries--didn't view expression as an extraneous luxury but instead something core to human existence.

[pepokish]

The problem with dwindling attention to the arts is not that there will be fewer artists around, but that the general public will continue forgetting all about art in general.

Fine art has been completely lost in my opinion -- very few people appreciate a painting, anymore. Why would they, when they can flip on the TV and spam their brains with what has become modern day "art" -- more action-packed, more engrossing, more entertaining. People are thriving on entertainment junk food these days, because they don't understand the importance of art.

This is why we need art education -- not in the hopes that there will be more mediocre artists popping up everywhere, but in the hopes that art is not forgotten completely by tomorrow's population.

[TASmith]

And it's not just that a painting format is more intellectual than a televised message, it's that the messages on TV are primarily "consume", whereas the original point to art from previous centuries was more along the lines of, "Hey, I think this is worth recording, or examining in detail."

A lack of art education is bad, but so is the prevalence of poor art education.

[Ragdoll85]

I think art accompanied by activism or a platform will always rise to the top (just look at Banksy).











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[Psychotime]

I feel like I'm supposed to report the post above me.

[Black Spot]

I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that schools should stay well away from art. They killed my eldest's interest and are now doing a fine job of killing my middle child's. Stupid head of department has her own graphics company but must be so bad that she has to teach and act all snooty about it without actually teaching the kids anything other than their work is bad and have no idea how to improve it.

Sorry - personal rant.

[armando]

Real art instruction is very valuable. In school they make it appear that art is something that kids do, it's to play around and have fun and that's it. Once you grow up you're supposed to put it aside.
At it's simplest art can be defined as making: making something happen, making something take form. The vast population doesn't realize that everyone is perpetually making art, but the thing is that they aren't artists because they aren't consciously aware of their making activities.

[ENNEX]

I dunno, maybe I got lucky, but at my high school my art teacher was very intense when it came to his classes. Rarely did we have days where we drew whatever we wanted, since he said we could do that outside of class just as well. He was more focused on really teaching us the basics and how to actually draw what we see. As the classes progressed, they were left with nothing but people who wanted to be there. XD Everyone else who were treating art class as an "easy A" were long gone.

[AdventDawn]

that's because (based on my experience) art class was nothing more than an old lady scolding us for drawing something that interested 'us' than the pretty fucking flower she would have wanted instead.

[Laurice]

Well for me, it's a bad thing..

A lot of people have been taking art for granted, and true enough, just like what pepokish said, people don't really appreciate paintings anymore. It's like paintings aren't valued as much now compared to before.

I'm currently in an art school and it frustrates me how most students are taking a lot of things lightly. I've seen it in an exhibit we had recently and everyone just did a crappy rendering of pictures, printed it out on paper then posted it up. Even graphic design work, people don't see how we put so much effort in it and just dismiss it because our price is "too expensive."