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02 WHY
ChildArt | Art for Health ART FOR
HEALTH
We never dreamed we’d wear masks every together, while maintaining our own health and
day, wash our hands thoroughly at each turn, safety. Whether it’s in the stories you tell, the
or avoid meeting our friends instead of greet- interactions you have with others, your night-
ing them. These are surreal times, when the time doodle, or in your curiosity for the world
unimaginable becomes the daily reality. No around you, creativity flows freely. Your sense
hugs or handshakes. No playdates or outings. of optimism will bring that creativity out in
Zoom birthday parties. Will schools reopen everyone else. You have to use all available
this fall? What will I do if I test positive? These tools to keep yourself busy learning every day
are heavy questions for anyone to carry. How and staying hopeful and inspired.
can that weight be lessened in a world full of
This special issue of ChildArt opens with an
question but few answers?
essay by Mary Anne Carter, Chairman of
One pathway is art! Everyone has creativ- the National Endowment for the Arts, on the
ity inside of them and expressing that importance of the arts for students’ cogni-
is often a cathartic experience. Not only tive development and academic performance.
does partaking in the arts allow us to explore A seminal neuroscientific study by the Nation-
our own emotions and minds, but it also has al Institutes of Health involving 12,000 students
been proven to have a positive impact on our over ten years which is outlined in this issue
mental and physical health. Sharing and ex- also attests to the value of the arts for brain
ploring art with others is a great way to create development.
community and understanding, and luckily
This magazine’s second section is about U.S.
during this time of limited social interation,
cultural diplomacy through the Arts Olympi-
art is something we can all create and enjoy
ad—a free-of-charge school art program of
