{"id":23012,"date":"2025-03-13T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/de\/2025\/03\/13\/an-experts-perspective-on-arts-education\/"},"modified":"2025-03-13T17:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T17:00:00","slug":"an-experts-perspective-on-arts-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/de\/2025\/03\/13\/an-experts-perspective-on-arts-education\/","title":{"rendered":"An Expert\u2019s Perspective on Arts Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Photo: Marlowe, Featured Artist, 2025 Global Art Show<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-left is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201c[Participation in the arts] allows you to really fulfill your full self in terms of creative expression and your self-identity. And I want to encourage anybody who hears this who is creative to not be shy about it but throw yourself wholeheartedly into it.\u201d \u2014 Ben Johnson<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Each year, Clonlara\u2019s <strong>Global Art Show <\/strong>celebrates the artistic talents of our students and staff from around the world. In preparation for this year\u2019s event, we sat down with <strong>Ben Johnson, director of the Arts &amp; Cultural Affairs Department for the City of Minneapolis,<\/strong> to talk all things arts education. Ben shares his thoughts on the power of the arts to improve the lives of individuals, communities, and the world\u2014and gives some advice for our student artists!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"interview\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Interview with Ben Johnson\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1065583908?h=96efed8116&amp;dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Importance of Arts Education<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Ben believes that arts education helps students develop their mind and emotions. He describes how the arts can help us enter into different points of view, deepening our knowledge and giving us a stronger ability to communicate authentically with a variety of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cJust the art of practicing music will teach you how to have a skill set and the discipline you\u2019re going to need to be successful,\u201d adds Ben.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He notes that arts education can support students\u2019 future success academically, socially, emotionally, and even economically! \u201cYou just have to have a hustle, be creative, follow your bliss and your passion, know what inspires you, and be unapologetic about it,\u201d Ben says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Suggestions for Schools and Families<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Ben believes that schools and families should expose kids to the arts early, teach them to participate in public life, and advocate for the arts in their local community!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He recommends that schools invite artists to visit, especially with younger students, because it might be their first opportunity to meet an artist. After witnessing an amazing guest percussionist play or collaborating with a visiting artist on a mural or play, kids might find their passion for the arts!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI really think that participation in the arts is a learned behavior,\u201d notes Ben. Schools and families can put together field trips to go see art shows or plays, teaching their students how to appreciate art and participate in public life. And if we want our communities to have robust arts ecosystems that we can access, Ben says we need to advocate for arts funding and programming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ben\u2019s Message to Global Art Show Participants<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCongratulations on your work!\u201d Ben says to our students preparing to showcase their work this weekend. \u201cI hope that you are all really excited about it. And if you\u2019ve never been told that you\u2019re incredible, you\u2019re incredible because you\u2019re an artist\u2014and so hear it from me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ben encourages our artists to support and ask questions about their friends\u2019 work, and to invite questions about their own work, as well, so that they can think about it even more deeply. Put aside any thoughts of shyness, embarrassment, or fear, he says, and own your creativity with confidence!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lessons from Ben\u2019s Professional Journey in the Art World<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"#interview\">Watch the full interview<\/a> to hear more about Ben\u2019s journey in the art world and some of his most memorable professional projects, like founding the Arab World Music Festival in Michigan and collaborating with the best gospel singers in the city of Detroit! Ben also discusses a global perspective of art from his world travels and the role of digital media and technology in art. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Thank you, Ben, for sharing your knowledge and experience with our community! We\u2019re looking forward to celebrating with everyone at our Global Art Show this Saturday, March 15, 2025.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Photo: Marlowe, Featured Artist, 2025 Global Art Show &nbsp; \u201c[Participation in the arts] allows you to really fulfill your full self in terms of creative expression and your self-identity. And I want to encourage anybody who hears this who is creative to not be shy about it but throw yourself wholeheartedly into it.\u201d \u2014 Ben [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}