Creativity & Artistic Vision

I've had a bit of an arty farty couple of weeks. I've been to the Kate Malone pottery exhibition at Waddesdon, seen "Peter Pan in Scarlet" at the Playhouse theatre, been to the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibition at the Tate & finally to Craft in the Bay in Cardiff.  Driving to Wales & back I listened to Bizet's "Pearl Fishers". My life is enriched by art, music & drama & always has been since I was a child.

I can remember art lessons in primary school, but not a lot else about my primary school. I enjoyed playing the piano & developed a love of classical music. We weren't a family who had the money or inclination to go to the theatre, but I do remember loving the pictures & actually bunked off school to do it.

In my Primary teaching career I loved giving children opportunities to be creative & displaying their work. Doing music with young children is really fun from singing games to percussion. All children can be creative if given opportunities & encouraged. All children enjoy the Arts in one form or another.

It is wonderful to see the world through the eyes of an artist or hear a musical interpretation by a musician. You realise that there are no limits to what humans can achieve with creativity & vision.

So isn't it a shame that so little curricular time is given to the Arts. We are so driven by SAT's, Maths & Reading that we end up with an imbalance in what we call education. The Warwick Commission Report, which I had never heard of, puts it very well.
s://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/feb/17/arts-and-culture-systematically-removed-from-uk-education-system

We need creative people with vision in all aspects of society. We need a varied diet in education, just as we do in the food we eat. The Arts are the food of the soul, they are also a billion pound UK industry. The Arts are not just for the rich & middle class white population. Think of Vivienne Westwood in fashion, Oasis in Pop, Albert Finney in Film, David Hockney in painting.....The list is endless.

We are diminished individually & as a society if we do not value the Arts. Creativity & vision are not respectors of colour, creed, class, wealth or any other label you might put on sections of society. Everyone benefits from a rich culture. Everyone can & should participate.