Urban Art

In my paper, I plan to answer the question “How can an art program have serious life-changing effects on young students in urban areas?” My working thesis statement is that by incorporating the arts in urban area schools, students can help remove violence from their lives, help build secure relationships with teachers and families, and help improve their learning experiences within the schools. I do not know a great deal about my topic but I do know that the arts are in serious need of help in school districts. As an easily removable target in schools, arts are often eliminated due to a cut in costs in a district. I am also familiar with high violence rates in urban settings. I realize from personal experience that artwork can help relieve stress and express yourself in ways that may otherwise be hard to do. Therefore I found it extremely interesting that when you combine art and urban school students, the results are quite amazing. Art influences these young kids and young adults to be better people and in return helps them to be more successful in school. I still would like to find out more statistics and case studies for these art therapies working in cities. Arguments that may oppose the one I plan to make may be ones such as saying that strictly educational subjects such as math or science make a student better at learning and building life skills. That art does not affect a student’s educational experience, but is simply a break in classes for arts and crafts. Although most people see art as just arts and crafts, it can have immense effects on not only the artist but also the viewer. I have looked at many different sources up until this point. They all vary in topics and media forms. From academic journals, to case studies, to a video on YouTube, I have come across many interesting resources. Journals include “A Renaissance on the Eastside: Motivating Inner-City Youth Through Art”, “Art and Anger Management”, and “Art from the Heart: A Relational-Cultural Approach to Using Art Therapy in a Group for Urban Middle School Girls”. Books and newspapers include “Working with Traumatized Youth in Child Welfare” and “Peters Township principal receives 'creative' award”. Finally, included is a video titled “The Art Therapy Connection”.