Change for the better

CHANGE FOR THE BETTER

Capitalize the Arts: A Tool for Change, A Source for Healing

Arts Council in Buffalo and Erie County Annual Conference

Shea's Performing Arts Center

Buffalo, New York

October 17, 2000

KAREN VANMEENEN

The second year of the conference,

"Capitalize the Arts," programmed to coincide with Arts and Humanities month, enjoyed an audience of more than 70 educators and medical and arts professionals. This year's two-part theme, "A Tool for Change, A Source for Healing," brought together an array of experts and practitioners for presentations aimed at validating the work of both arts educators and medical professionals who use the arts in their healing work. The placement of the event on the main stage of Shea's Performing Arts Center, facing the audience as performers do, provided a concise metaphor for viewing the importance of arts education from the inside, of seeing the beauty of the arts from the position of an artist.

Broken into a morning of speakers on arts education and an afternoon of presentations focusing on the healing power of the arts, the day began with a presentation entitled "Art DOES Matter: New York Models/National Notes" by Sydney Waller, Executive Director of the New York State Alliance for Arts Education. Waller opened her talk by citing a recent National Association of Arts Education study finding that 40% of schools in the United States did not have art teachers. Her organization combats these statistics through initiatives such as the partnership with Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, aimed at training teaching artists and placing them in schools. Waller praised three New York State schools in particular for their innovative programming: Franklin Magnet School of the Arts in Syracuse, which integrates art and technology with a daily newsmagazine and partners with local museums; Mill Road School in Red Hook, which has a long-standing arts program in collaboration with Bard College; and District 25 in Queens, an ethnically diverse district where sixth-grade students speak more than 70 languages but have successfully worked together to produce a digital opera. Waller described the major lesson she and her colleagues have learned from studying school districts that value arts education: the single most critical factor for maintaining arts education programs is the involvement of the entire educational community.

Sharon E. Dunn, Senior Assistant for the Arts at the New York State Board of Education, spoke of how "Art Education Mandates Promote Teaching and Learning in All Areas." She addressed how the arts become a common frame of reference and provide multiple points of entry into complex forms of knowledge, effecting passion for lifelong learning. She pointed out the historical tradition of studying by looking, and how the most effective means of study use more than just verbal or written text, specifically that children need to use their whole bodies to learn. She cited statistics showing that both verbal and mathematics SAT scores increase for students who have taken four or more art courses. She claimed that arts education is the "great equalizer"that private schools demand and provide a rounded education and that public school students are entitled to the same benefits. Dunn also stated that arts programs must be implemented during the school day and not relegated to after-school activities for that equal opportunity to exist. She also gave a rundown of the learning standards requirements for the arts in New York State: creating, performing and participating; understanding materials and using resources; responding to and analyzing works of art; and understanding the cultural dimensions and contributions of the arts. She explained that these standards can be taught by different people within the school system and that the process is most effective if the whole school works together to "cross-pollinate," such as when teachers of history, writing, science and art can coordinate in the formulation of a multidisciplinary study. "These collaborations," Dunn said, "are what makes learning useful, lasting and meaningful."

Robert Horowitz, Associate Director for the Center for Arts Education Research at Teacher's College at Columbia University in New York City gave specific examples from "Champions of Change," a collection of research studies, in "Learning In and Through the Arts: Implications for Partnership." The studies address three questions: what is arts learning, does it extend to other kinds of learning and what conditions in schools foster it? With factors such as social and economic status taken into account, the overwhelming result of the study in 28 New York City schools (with a focus on 12) was that students who experienced the arts were more creative and expressive, took more risks and had more self-esteem. Horowitz shared a bar graph illustrating the difference in "self-concept" between these two groups: children receiving arts education think that they are better in reading and math, which other studies have shown correlates with actual achievement. When the study group was divided into quadrants according to the type and amount of arts instruction and the degree of overall integration provided, as well as the differentiation of arts experience in school and out of school, the results were even more striking: the "high arts" group outscored the "low arts" group, especially in such areas as elaboration, attention to detail, focus, persistence, resistance to closure and risk-taking. Teachers assessed for this study reported increased job satisfaction and interest in professional development, a deeper connection to their students and their workplace and an increased likelihood to engage in (and be allowed by administrators to pursue) innovative teaching strategies.

In summary, Horowitz asserted that learning in the arts can successfully transtar to the cognitive, social/cultural and personal realms of student development and believes it a "false and destructive debate" to question whether art should be taught for its own sake or as instrumental to other learning. Horowitz recommended that along with the need for arts educators to work together, for administrators to be supportive and for government entities and other funders to be educated, there is a significant need for innovative assessment tools. Although Horowitz's presentation of supportive facts and findings was much like preaching to the choir, and the bar graphs used to support the findings fairly dry, the type of empirical evidence that his research provides is crucial for obtaining and maintaining funding for art programs in the schools and elsewhere.

Patricia Reitkoff, Director of Performance/Prevention Education Workshop Programs for Hospital Audiences, Inc. (HAI), began the afternoon session with "The Emerging Role of HAI in Health Maintenance and Managed Care," a history of HAI's programs and methodologies. At the forefront of recognizing the emotional impact of attending live performances on those "shut out of the cultural mainstream," the 30-year-old organization remains committed to placing audiences at performances and events they wouldn't otherwise have an opportunity to experience. HAI offers numerous outreach programs whereby the elderly, the blind and visually impaired, the bedridden and wheelchair-bound, seriously ill children and those suffering from mental illness are able to visit theaters, museums and outdoor concerts or have the performers come to them. HAI also facilitates a successful 10-year-old prevention program using role-playing and theater techniques to educate young people about HIV, violence and housing readiness. Picking up on a previous comment by Horowitz, Reitkoff closed her report by saying she believes that "art for art's sake is important."

In a presentation entitled "Medicine and the Arts: A Partnership for the 21s Century," Naj Wikoff argued that art is too often put into "wonderful, pristine places" such as theaters and museums, making them akin to "zoos." He believes that the community has a responsibility to provide similar experiences in the spaces outside of those institutions. Decrying the fact that "a lot of people in health care see the arts as fluff," Wikoff works to counteract that attitude as Director of the Healing and the Arts Project of the C. Everett Koop Institute at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, which seeks to "support the process of healing, improve doctor-patient relations, communicate health care messages and enhance the well-being of health professionals and medical students." Wikoff explained that our current health care system, driven as it is by money, leads to numerous problems. These include shorter patient stays, patients attended to in less time, the mergers of hospitals and the closing of medical schools. These events in turn lead to medical personnel layoffs, feelings of guilt in those who remain (both for not being let go and for not being able to provide the same quality of patient care), longer commutes and patients too often being referred to simply as body parts or illnesses instead of as individuals. All of these circumstances result in communication difficulties, issues of community and compromised self-worth-"all things artists are good at [working with]," said Wikoff. He believes this to be an opportune time for the further implementation and acceptance of the arts in health care.

Wikoff has seen first-hand how the arts improve the patient-provider relationship by increasing patient satisfaction; by alleviating provider burnout; as an effective means of communicating health information; by helping to serve underserved populations; by providing jobs for artists; and by promoting self-expression, community-building and a sense of personal value. Programs offered to medical students and personnel in the Dartmouth program include life drawing, creative writing, pottery classes, language classes, filmmaking, staging plays and courses in literature and medicine. Reading series are offered for patients and staff. Under Wikoff's direction, medical interns have produced a series of cartoons aimed at curbing teen use of alcohol and other drugs. Wikoff is currently working on a plan to allow doctors and medical students access to filmmaking and editing equipment for the expression of their experiences in and out of the hospital. Wikoff is careful to qualify his enthusiasm and expectations for the arts in medicine: "We are not talking about curing. We are talking about the use of the arts in healing, developing a sense of balance."

Wikoff's impassioned comments segued directly to the even more patient-centered work of two Buffalo-area art therapists. Artist Molly Rich became involved in art therapy after a serious fall from a horse left her psychologically fragile and "on the other side of the mental health fence." Rich found that her artwork helped her to express her frustration and feelings of depression. She now works in a day treatment setting and is a co-founder of "Breaking the Circle of Stigma," a program that travels to high schools, colleges, churches and adult groups to educate about the realities of mental illness. In her presentation "Art is Many Things," Rich explained that she can "take these people and show them the artist within and create a studio-like atmosphere for them to come to every day." Rich concentrates on building self-esteem and confidence by drawing out the innate creativity of her clients. The process also strengthens clinical skills such as hand/eye coordination and the ability to work in a group.

Elizabeth Davis takes a different approach. As an academically trained art therapist, she works with children ages 6 to 16 with emotional and behavioral difficulties at a residential and day treatment center as well as with adults with mental illness, HIV and AIDS. Davis revealed that she used her artistic talent as a child "as a way of feeling special, getting attention and finding a way out of [her] circumstances," and believes there is "something sacred about the doing of art." In her presentation "Art Experience: A Tool for Accessing Depth and Realizing Meaning," Davis cited examples from her own clinical practice of triumphs in using drawing to help a dementia patient communicate, and using art and poetry to help a victimized teenage girl express her true emotions about her situation. Davis, who holds an MFA in Photography, has also successfully used photography and memory books to foster stability in clients.

"A Tool for Change, A Source for Healing" provided something for everyone: pertinent background information for those new to arts education and the use of the arts in therapeutic settings, as well as both powerful anecdotal accounts and scientific statistics for those seeking validation for their work. Whether individuals believe that art education is important "for art's sake" or as a means to another educational or sociological end, it is indisputable that art does have a positive effect on the educational process in addition to its benefits when utilized in psychological counseling and medicine. Continued research, practice and promotion of the arts in both areas can effect both positive change and healing for all populations, and gatherings such as these to exchange such information are an important initial step.

Ed. note: Afterimage is planning a special issue on "Using the Media Arts as a Therapeutic Tool" for publication in Fall 2001. See the Call for Papers in the Notices section of this issue.