Accessibility, an issue that impacts all people, might not be what you’re thinking about when engaging with the Arts. Stereotypically, Art is seen as a luxury and not a necessity. When told to ‘imagine Art’ you might think of lavish operas filled with fancy guests, large pristine museums with golden frames, or extravagant viewing parties that the typical person doesn’t bother dreaming about attending. Art is more than just a privilege for the wealthy, and throughout the ages the most accessible art has been enjoyed and loved by many.
Leanne Dawson, a professor of gender, sexuality, and class at The University of Edinburgh, believes that as Art is made less and less accessible, we face the risk of a “Culture in Crisis”. Her paper ‘Culture in crisis: A guide to access, equality, diversity, and inclusion in festivals, arts, and culture‘, reports that when Art is made accessible to a larger audience, for example, by creating easy to access online spaces or lowering the price of entry, the producers of said Art generate more engagement which creates more profit and exposure for the Artists. Dawson found that aside from supporting the Artists, accessible Art creates better local environments and can create a “community” around the creative space.
That’s all very nice, but what does it have to do with STEAM, Art education for children, and our definition of accessibility? If Art creates a better sense of community for adults, then imagine the good it could do in schools by bringing students together over a shared love for creativity. This isn’t just speculation either, Cheri Sterman, a principal with the National Association of Elementary School Principals (naesp) claims that “Art infuses joy and student voice into daily instruction” in her article ‘Arts Integration Improves School Culture and Student Success‘. She states that when classrooms use Art, in both Art based lessons and other academic curriculum, students respond better to challenges and engage in more conversation about the topic with their teachers and peers. She also found that students who didn’t usually engage with ‘typical’ teaching methods were more likely to enjoy and recall lessons that included the Arts.
In short, accessible Art isn’t just a good thing for those who don’t or can’t normally access the Arts, it also improves the overall classroom structure and builds better community foundations between students and teachers.
