- About Us
Creativity is the key to self-discovery
Painting, drawing with pastels and creating clay pinch pots are a few of the projects that students at Panther Lake Elementary School in Federal Way have accomplished for art lessons in a
- About Us
Creativity is the key to self-discovery
Painting, drawing with pastels and creating clay pinch pots are a few of the projects that students at Panther Lake Elementary School in Federal Way have accomplished for art lessons in a gifted third, fourth and fifth-grade class.
The kids are fearless about tackling new art projects. With a smile and twinkle of curiosity in their eyes, these students are all too eager to jump in and get started even before the directions have finished.
Teacher Brian Rosands classroom of students at Panther Lake is intelligent, but I doubt that this class is any different from other classes. These students are unafraid to use art as a medium for creativity. They relish rather than fear the idea of adding lines and color to a blank sheet of paper. In fact, many of the kids look forward to the art lesson on Friday mornings. Children want to create, regardless of whether the task requires a sharpened pencil or paintbrush.
Compared to adults, children are more than eager to accept the challenge of using their imagination. In contrast, I think about how many adults would fear any request of artistic design, bemoaning their inadequacies and lack of talent before they have begun.
Why does this change take place? When as adults do we start to doubt our own creativity and artistic abilities?
Sometime during adolescence, our curiosity is replaced by uncertainty and fear that we are not capable of the task or will be negatively judged by others. At about that age, many young people decide they have no artistic ability and will embarrass themselves by trying. Instead, adolescents give up the innocence of creativity and all of the gifts they have to offer. Before adulthood is reached, our internal critic becomes so loud tha