The Happiness of Art Education

By Allison Watkins

Art Education Program

The Art Education program at Seton Hill combines a strong liberal arts education with stateof-the-art art teacher preparation, making its graduates exceptionally well prepared to teach. Excellent studio instruction, comprehensive art history instruction, exposure to studies in criticism and aesthetics, combined with opportunities to work with children and adolescents, will have you graduating from Seton Hill well rounded both personally and professionally.

K-12 Certification Art for Life Approach Choice-Based Art Education

Careers in Art Education

Public School Teacher Private or Parochial School Teacher Charter or Magnet School Teacher Montessori School Teacher Museum Educator Studio Professor

Why Arts Education is Crucial

Helps meet demands of academic achievement, social and emotional development, civic engagement, and equitable opportunity Gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skills Improves motivation, concentration, confidence, and teamwork Connects people more deeply to the world and opens them to new ways of seeing

Does Art Make Us Happy?

Art as a means of
Expression Self-discovery Storytelling/sharing Religion/spirituality Catharsis Kinesthetic experience Problem solving Creativity Critical thinking Therapy Activism/awareness Understanding /meaning Etc.

The Science of Art

Neuroaesthetics
Subjects shown paintings and asked which they found the most pleasing or beautiful Strong response in multiple areas of brain to these paintings
Left medial prefrontal cortex, left substantial nigra, left hippocampus
Regions involved in higher order cognitive processing, emotion, and memory

Increased blood flow as much as 10% to medial orbitofrontal cortex, part of the brain associated with pleasure and desire
Same response as gazing at a loved one

Speculate that prefrontal cortical areas integrate the emotional and aesthetic reaction

Recognition
Interpreting meaning arbitrary Clear representation of familiar aspects of everyday life, such as people, animals, plants, food or places Symmetry
Symmetry indicates life
Important to survival

Faces
Infants prefer face-like patterns those that don't resemble anything

Abstract
Distorted to the eye, but pleasing to emotional center of brain

Happiness is an Inside Job

Practice 3
We must try to fulfill our needs for relaxation, exercise, and nourishment

Practice 4
We must make our lives an act of love

Practice 5
We must stretch by stepping out of our comfort zones

Practice 8
We must learn to communicate effectively

Practice 9
We must learn to enjoy the good things of life

Conclusion
Involvement in the arts can enrich our daily lives in a variety of ways. The happiness created through the arts is undeniable, even when studied scientifically. As an art educator, I hope to aid students find such happiness. It is my goal to share the knowledge I have gained via my study of the arts to help students become creative and critical thinkers, capable of creating change in the world around them.

Works Referenced
Joyce, Christopher. In Evolution, a Taste for Beauty Has a Purpose. NPR. NPR, 04 Oct. 2004. Web. 04 Nov. 2012. <http://www.npr.org/2004/10/04/4057069/in-evolution-a-taste-forbeauty-has-a-purpose>. Landau, Elizabeth. What the Brain Draws from Art and Neuroscience. CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 04 Nov. 2012. <http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/15/health/art-brain-mind/index.html>. Mendick, Robert. "Brain Scans Reveal the Power of Art." The Telegraph. Web. 04 Nov. 2012. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/artnews/8500012/Brain-scans-reveal-the-power-of-art.html>. This is Your Brain on Art. This is Your Brain on Art. Web. 04 Nov. 2012. <http://www.science20.com/measuring_mind/your_brain_art>. Why Arts Education Is Crucial, and Who's Doing It Best. Edutopia. Web. 04 Nov. 2012. <http://www.edutopia.org/arts-music-curriculum-childdevelopment>.