In all of my years of teaching I never once questioned the benefits of art education for kids. It is almost an axiom, something that you accept as a given without a need for proof. As a mother of two, I do however question the benefit and the value for parents and I don’t mean the obvious i.e. our innate desire to create the best opportunities we can. What is in it for us the parents? Here are the top three reasons I came up with. Maybe your reasons are different; I’d love to know about them. Use the comments on this blog to voice your opinion.

Reason number 3: art lessons cost less than most other after school activities

Let’s face it, even though we would spare no expense for our children, cost does matter. Both of my girls are competitive dancers and they love it. I love it as well, but dance is putting a serious dent in to our budget. To begin with, they do about 11 hours of dance a week each. You know these fees alone are quite hefty. Then we have costumes. These can easily be $200/piece and they will need about 5 each that is at least $2,000. Competition season starts in the Spring and we get to travel almost every weekend. Gas, hotels, food quickly add up to thousands of dollars. A couple of years ago we went for competition in New York. That is $2,400 for the airline tickets alone. nd if you think this is expensive, talk to hockey parents. You will multiply it by at least two. But we do love our kids. Compare it to art lessons where you will typically spend $27 for a two-hour session per week. Art supplies are relatively inexpensive and our gallery trips are a real bargain. For most parents, the cost of art classes are a rounding error in the overall budget for kids after school activities. Do you see it this way?

Reason number 2: art lessons are less hassle

We are sometimes called a “sandwich generation” because we are squeezed between our kids and the need to care for our aging parents. That is in addition to the ever mounting pressures of a job and organizing a family life. I think that being a parent has never been more difficult than it is now. Our kids activities have turned us in to underpaid taxi drivers. Wasn’t the minivan category created as a “family taxi”? They don’t call us “soccer moms” because we play soccer. Ever heard hockey parents talk about “ice time” at 6am?
In my Art School we don’t do anything at 6am except sleep. I am pretty sure the same is true for any art school. Classes are always conveniently offered on weekdays after parents are back from work and if you have siblings it is not unusual for their classes to be at the same time. And we do offer classes on weekends. I can’t tell you how many times we had to sacrifice family plans because kids had to be in extra rehearsals. The weekends end up being Tim Horton’s outings where we wait for kids to finish their fittings, rehearsals etc. But we love our kids and we love to see them dance or play soccer or swim or … We make sure that art lessons are much less taxing on you. If you want to wait, we have free wi-fi so you can get your email done or waste some time on Facebook and we are steps away from Young Street.

Reason number 1: Art pays

The typical image of an artist we often conjure is that of a “starving artist”. Nothing could be further from the truth. Today, Toronto is a center of computer gaming employing thousands of artists designing scenes for the latest block busters. I spent good part of my career doing web design and graphics work … very well-paying work. And it was not paid for my math skills. Architecture, interior design, advertising, fashion are all demanding at least some level of proficiency in art and illustration. Just look at your TV programming and compare the number of reality shows dealing with design. What are the chances of your kid becoming the next olympic swimmer or getting in to NHL. I am not saying that you should not get your kids in to swimming lessons; I have my daughters swimming. And playing hockey is really great. We love our dance school (Soul in Motion). Art lessons are a good supplement. They are inexpensive, less taxing on you and your time and they have a great potential to give your kid valuable skills that may very well become handy one day and lead to a great career.