There always has been a struggle between advocates of the arts and those who make arts-based policies, as to how to define and explain the benefits of arts education and exposure to the arts to the general public. For many, the arts hold an intrinsic value independent of any “useful” function – art for art’s sake. Others, particularly those asked to fund the arts ask for justification for public support. They ask for proof of the value of the arts to society. It is in an effort to provide some answers to these people that this thesis is written.
This paper will briefly discuss the history of creativity and how societal views of creative thinking have evolved over time. It will explore the history of creativity and the relationship between the arts, creativity, and learning. It will examine how we as human beings learn, and how exposure to the arts and arts education is vital for growth and development, cognitively, creatively, academically, emotionally, socially, and from a societal perspective. Finally, this paper will examine what Newsweek identified as the “Creativity Crisis” in America today with particular interest in how arts education can be utilized as vital tools of growth in all areas of life. This project will serve as a broad scope research paper, the purpose being to explore a number of topics in the field of creativity, cognition, and the arts, to build a bibliography that will be of assistance to those interested in this area of study, and to serve as an advocacy piece for creative learning and exposure to the arts and arts-based education.