What do we mean when we say "the arts"?
To some, "the arts" means classical music, dance. poetry, painting, sculpture - art which has stood the test of time. To others, "the arts" means folk art - music, storytelling, or a craft that evolves and is passed on through generations, imbued with the history and traditions of a particular culture. Some think of "the arts" in terms of innovation - cutting edge performance, visual art or film. Others think of popular entertainment -- movies, musicals, rock or folk music.
"The arts," of course, are all of these and more. They are all the different ways we express ourselves. All the ways we tell our stories, convey our emotions, explore the issues which are important to us. All the ways we create and craft and design images, words, movement and sounds that communicate our past, our present and even our future.
exerpted from The Arts Impact: Education, Community and Economic Development, developed by ArtServe Michigan, an Alliance for Arts Education, Artists, Volunteers and Cultural Advocacy, Southfield, MI. Used with permission.
For more information:
248/557-8581
www.ArtServeMichigan.org
Cynthia Vascak, Ph.D:
A Definition of Arts
The word "Arts" has many personally and culturally connotative and associative meanings. I have been asked to compose a definition which will provide a foundation for discussion within the context of a common understanding. Let me begin by establishing a definition of language, since language is considered our most fundamental and primary meditational tool with which we construct meaning, develop our understandings, and communicate to ourselves and one another.
I use a definition of language based on my studies of Howard Gardner and Vygotsky.
Language is a symbol system, shared by others, with which we reflect upon, Communicate, and express experiences, ideas, and feelings about ourselves and our world.
I believe it is of utmost importance that we develop an understanding of the arts as universal languages, each representing a complex symbol system. These rich and diverse symbol systems serve as essential means of conceptualization and for presenting and sharing our experiences and understandings, our thoughts and feelings, and the stories of our lives. Through language, we make meaning, reflect upon our experiences of the world, conceptualize, and communicate to others. To do so fully, we need diverse forms of representation - each offering unique epistemic opportunities for making meaning, communicating, and interpreting. Each form of representation provides a unique lens of perception and understanding, giving us access to unique and to shared worlds.
When we consider language in this manner, our understanding of Literacy can also be expanded. The essence of literacy is being able to decode and encode a symbol system for the purpose of, once again, reflection, problem-solving, communication, envisionment, imagining, and the expressing of one's experiences and understandings of experience relative to Self- Other- and World. Ultimately, being literate enables us to make meaning and construct knowledge.
The arts are highly universal yet individualistic symbol systems through which we reflect upon, communicate, and express our experiences, ideas, and feelings about ourselves and our world. At times, the language of the arts are better able to express our ideas and feelings due to the often ineffable nature of our responses to experience. The more language systems we can use, the more multi-literate we become, the more we are enabled to learn, understand, and communicate.
I use the analogy of a bridge relative to the arts since the arts have the quality of connecting us with one another - of bringing us together and crossing the boundaries of situated time, context, culture and individuality - bringing us together as human beings sharing and celebrating our common humanity. The arts give us languages which can further connect all areas of learning, address our multiple intelligences, invite our imaginations and creativity, and provide all students with enhanced opportunities of learning which are highly sensitive to their needs, capabilities, and interests, and which further provide children with multiple opportunities and diverse vehicles for demonstrating their understandings.
The arts give us multiple and sensitive languages through which we can re-create and re-present our life experiences, giving actual form to thought and feeling. Forms which, significantly, can be universally understood without the necessity of having a common verbal language. As John Dewey so aptly wrote, "Art is the fusion of felt thought." There is another quote which I share with all my students, which I believe profoundly speaks to our most fundamental educational vision and concern:
Having eyes but not seeing beauty,
Having ears but not listening to music,
Having minds but not perceiving truth,
Having hearts that have never been set on fire,
These are things to fear . . .
SoSaku Kobayashi
Dr. Vascak is willing to be a resource to other educators.
Contact:
Dr. Cynthia Vascak, Coordinator of Art Education
Art Department
Plymouth State College
Plymouth, NH 03264
phone: 603/726-4008 fax: 603/535-2938
email: vascak@eagle1st.com
