It’s a vast chasm – teaching art to kids vs teaching arts to adults. When teaching art to kids, I am the bearer of something wonderfully fun, akin to extra recess – an opportunity to play, an invitation to express, explore, create, discover, and dabble. When teaching art to adults, I am the bearer of something unknown and often threatening. Some adults perk up and enthuse when they see the art cart a comin’. Others look visibly stricken, as if they would like to run hard and fast in the opposite direction. What causes this rift between childhood and adulthood when it comes to the creative arts?
From my observations as an arts facilitator and mental health professional, kids engage with art with abandon until they hit about the 5th grade or age 10 or 11 – that dreaded onset of adolescents where social acceptance becomes paramount to survival. This is a critical stage of development when decisions are made about who we are, what we like and what we don’t, the activities in which we believe we excel and those in which we are sure we have no hope. Unless adolescents are skillfully guided through this minefield of self-examination, hard and fast decisions risk being made about whether or not one enjoys doing art and whether one decides he or she is good or bad at it – it’s the black and white thinking of adolescence that can bleed into adulthood if left unchecked.
Most adults claiming they are terrible at art remember the crucible moment well: a teacher scoffed at their efforts, told them that art is not their strong suit, or gushed over the greatness of another’s creation; classmates laughed at something they created; or family lore dictated that they were not the creative one in the family (I got this one from my grandmother!). As a result, decisions were made at a very early age to avoid the shame by not engaging with art at all. This, my friends, is a travesty.
ReimagineArt Mobile Art Studio believes in the beneficial properties of the creative arts for people of all ages and creative inclinations. We have a special place in our hearts for those adults who hold onto the belief that they are not gifted in the creative arts and that it is a dreadful undertaking. Our creative art activities are thoughtfully designed and instructed to be enticing, pleasurable, and successful for people of all skill and comfort levels – we promise. We create a judgment-free, relaxed, and supportive open-studio environment where participants enjoy an opportunity to play and an invitation to express, explore, create, discover, and dabble – like an extra recess, only for adults, just the way it was meant to be.
“ When I first saw what we were doing I wasn’t so sure, but it turned out to be a lot of fun! It brought back some great memories.” Cassie – Office Administrator