Valerie Plasmati’s daughter enrolled in fourth grade at a Flushing elementary school in 2010. Her daughter participated in organized afterschool activities, but Plasmati was unable to find anything in her neighborhood where her daughter could express herself more freely. As a result, Plasmati decided to create an art studio in the basement of her home where her daughter could explore a variety of art media.
“My daughter was doing all kinds of structured activities, such as swimming and piano lessons. I was looking for something where she was completely free to be herself and express herself,” Plasmati recalls. “I didn’t want to go into Manhattan, and locally, I couldn’t find what I was looking for, so I started the studio myself with the types of classes that I was interested in for my daughter.”
Teaching out of her basement with two other artists since 2010, Plasmati has created a children’s art program called “The Art Studio for Kids.”
Queens is full of adult artists, and the public support of them is apparent by the various exhibits throughout the borough. What is also apparent, however, is the pressure children feel to excel academically in schools and, consequently, put extracurricular courses aside such as art and music.
“Many parents are foregoing art and focusing only on academics,” Plasmati observed. “Academics is and should be of primary importance, but a high grade point average does not guarantee success in life. Children need other skills to succeed later in life in a work environment. A lot of children today are in school programs after school and on weekends — the programs are regimented, structured, and lack creativity.”
Better students through art
Plasmati’s observations are quite similar to research findings published this year by the National Endowment for the Arts. Using data gathered during the last 20 years from the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor, researchers have repeatedly found that young adults and teenagers studying an art-intensive curriculum are generally better students than those with a course load lacking in the arts.
“Over the past four decades, budget pressures and an increasing focus on just reading and math have crowded the arts out of too many school days,” says Rocco Landesman chairman of the organization. “What’s lost? The chance for a child to express himself, the chance for the idiosyncratic child who has not yet succeeded elsewhere to shine. A sense of play, of fun, of discovery.”
Landesman’s comments reflect the research data that discovered, in comparison to the students who did not have an arts enriched education, that arts-oriented students had higher grade point averages, were more likely to enroll in and succeed at competitive colleges, and pursue graduate or professional degrees.
Better citizens through art
One of the authors of the research findings is James Catterall, who is a professor at the University of California Los Angeles’s Center for Culture, Brain, and Development. For more than two decades, Catterall has been researching children’s cognitive development in the context of learning the arts, and last year, he founded the Centers for Research on Creativity, which he describes as “a new organization dedicated to inquiry into human creativity.”
Catterall published a book titled “Doing Well and Doing Good by Doing Art: A 12-Year Study of Arts Education” in 2009. Employing similar statistics that the National Endowment for the Arts relied upon for its report, Catterall, moreover, found that arts-oriented students in the eighth through 12th grades later became more actively engaged and civic-minded citizens.
Unfortunately, the available research follows these students’ lives only up until they turned 26, but their behavioral tendencies show that they were more likely to vote, volunteer, and become involved in local politics than the students whose studies were not focused on the arts. The study also indicates that these students were more likely to read newspapers, visit libraries, and pursue professions in teaching and healthcare. In addition, it was more probable that their career paths would ascend to the executive and managerial levels.
Coping skills developed
These research findings correlate to Plasmati’s thinking that art students inevitably learn lifelong coping techniques as they progress in their classes.
“These kids unwittingly gain invaluable skills,” she described. “They don’t even realize that they’re learning how to problem solve creatively. They’re using critical thinking, decision making. They’re learning to collaborate with other children and these are things they use throughout life.”
During her three years teaching, Plasmati has also had parents approach her and tell her the positive effects her art classes have had upon their children.
For example, one parent told her that her child became more patient, while another parent admitted that her energetic child had finally found an outlet into which he could direct his energy positively.
“My son is a very active boy, and through art, he channels his energy in a positive way,” the parent confessed. “These are not just classes but a playground of creativity. It’s very pleasing to see him bring home new surprises every week — projects that are truly amazing and precious.”
Another parent who spoke with Plasmati expressed her disappointment in her daughter’s art program at school. Consequently, the family needed to search beyond the academic classroom and find an environment where she would be able to express herself more creatively.
“Our daughter has always enjoyed the creative arts, but her middle school does not offer a dedicated program,” the mother explained. “Therefore, we feel very fortunate to have found a program providing access to talented instructors just around the corner. We are thrilled that she’s learning a variety of techniques, has the opportunity to solve creative challenges, and is building an impressive and varied portfolio at the same time.”
Like the parents of her students, Plasmati enjoys seeing her students benefit from their hard work.
“You really can’t fail at art,” she mused. “I see it all the time. Children derive immense gratification from their artwork and really take pleasure in feedback from adults and their peers.”
Allison Plitt is a contributing writer for NY Parenting Media and lives in Queens with her husband and 6-year-old daughter.
