SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE ARTS
Art Makes Us Healthier
The National Endowment for the Arts recently released research from the University of Michigan, which notes that: “Older adults who both created art and attended arts events reported higher cognitive functioning and lower rates of both hypertension and limitations to their physical functioning than did adults who neither created nor attended art.”
It’s nice to know continued involvement in the arts doesn’t just benefit youngsters. Even when you’re grown, art literally makes your smarter, stronger, and faster!
Art Makes Us Smarter
A student involved in the arts is four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement.
Students with high arts participation and low socioeconomic status have a 4% dropout rate—five times lower than their low socioeconomic status peers.
Students who take four years of arts and music classes average almost 100 points higher on their SAT scores than students who take only one-half year or less.
Low-income students who are highly engaged in the arts are twice as likely to graduate college as their peers with no arts education.
Art Makes Us Happier
The arts can make your kids smarter, they can make you stronger, and they can put money in your pocket, but they’re not done yet—they can also make you feel better too.
Research from the University of Western Australia suggests that exposure to the arts for just two hours every week can drastically improve your mental health and overall well-being. It can be active exposure, like painting a picture, or passive exposure, like strolling through a gallery or museum.