The after school (and lunch hour) Artmania program provides opportunity for learning important life skills. The art program this term begins with the creation of a Sculptural Painting. Students will learn color theory, layering and spatial modeling to create their own multi-layered masterpiece. We’ve begun with scraping liquid acrylic on cradled wood panels. The next layer is a mystery.
How can this project possibly challenge anxiety? How can art help alleviate one of societies most troubling and perplexing human problems? How does Artmania provide the opportunity to challenge a developmentally appropriate emotion for young children: fear of the unknown? But, wait, if it’s developmentally appropriate, why do we have to do anything about it?
Fear of the unknown is a worry children should grow out of, but not all children do. Anxiety is the number one mental health problem facing children and adolescents today, despite it being treatable and (sometimes) preventable.
How can art help? It can provide the opportunity for slowly building a child’s tolerance to the unknown. An art program can offer a safe place for children to face the unexpected.
The structural painting class led by Artmania is a multistep project. The piece is difficult for the children to envision and they have no idea what to expect. But that’s okay. They trust that the project will evolve…somehow. We’ve given them that safe place to be okay with the unexpected. What a beautiful gift; to help children grow out of their fear of the unknown; to help children naturally develop. They think we’re teaching them art….but we are teaching them something more important; no matter what happens in the next few weeks, it’ll be okay and it will be beautiful.
For more information on anxiety, visit: anxietybc.com
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