The Benefits of Art Education with School Age Children
April 2024 – As seen in Brookfield Neighbors Magazine – The arts have long been associated with nurturing emotional expression, enriching lives, and expanding connections. Whether creating, participating, or otherwise engaging in them, the arts heighten our sense of wellbeing and strengthen our communities.
Two agencies that support and encourage communities to connect through the arts are the Wisconsin Arts Board and the National Endowment of the Arts. The Wisconsin Arts Board fosters creativity, cultivates expression, and supports the arts in education. The National Endowment for the Arts recognizes the important role of the arts in educating, engaging, and empowering youth, while also supporting the social and emotional learning needs of students, helping them to succeed both in and out of school. Both agencies support the local community with grants to support arts education.
One program that embodies and exemplifies art education in the community is the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center’s Beyond the Classroom student field trip series. For children pre-K through middle school, the Wilson Center student field trip performances allow children to engage in and experience world-class guest artists who bring a focus on education, emotional growth and student enjoyment through their performances. The shows selected for Beyond the Classroom are designed to enhance curriculum and engage students in learning through the arts.
Many students who attend these field trip performances are being introduced to performing arts for the first time. A trip to the theater is very special and creates a life-long passion for performance and storytelling.
In the next season of the Beyond the Classroom student field trip series, students can learn how to practice emotional regulation tactics when things don't go as planned with the adventures of Peter Rabbit; be introduced to the techniques of operatic singing and learn how music can enhance the telling of the classic story of Cinderella performed by the Florentine Opera; journey through the solar system with a ride on the Magic School bus which brings science to life through performance; learn how great books can inspire young people to read and become authors of their own lives with The Giver; or let your imagination soar as you explore the great woods with The Gruffalo’s Child.
2024/25 School Field Trip Schedule:
Peter Rabbit – Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Cinderella/Florentine Opera – Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System – Wednesday, February 12, 2025
The Giver by Lois Lowry – Thursday, February 20, 2025
Gruffalo’s Child – Thursday, March 13, 2025
Educators interested in reserving group tickets, go to www.wilson-center.com/beyond-the-classroom