A Study of the Development of Young Artists: The Emergence of on Artistic and Creative Identity

Abstract

This study explored what children have to say about making art and the sense of self as they begin to make art. Thirty‐nine children, ranging in age from 8 to 11 and enrolled in a private after‐school art enrichment class, participated in this study of young artists. The study involved individual interviews with all participants, inviting them to describe the focus of their painting projects, experiences in the process of making art, what it means to them to be an artist, and what it means to be creative. Two independent raters summarized the transcribed interviews, revealing age‐related qualitative changes in skill development as well as in ‘participants’ conceptions of what it means to be an artist and what it means to be creative. The investigation further revealed that conceptions of what it means to be an artist and to be creative reflected the artistic focus, just as the artistic focus reflected conceptions about being an artist and being creative. The motivation to work hard at developing skills was clearly evident in the young artists' descriptions of their artistic focus, and in their conceptions of just what it means to be an artist.

The Computer Paint Program

“…Productivity tools, of which story writing and publishing media are examples, are software environments that provide different capabilities to the user from their traditional counterparts. Research on the development of creativity in children reveals that it is not simply an expression of cognitive processing, but in fact evolves in the context of an environment that fosters its emergence (Rostan, 1998). With respect to the creative process, Rogers (1995) identified internal and external conditions of creativity.…”

Difficulties in the neuroscience of creativity: jazz improvisation and the scientific method

“…Although not all creativity takes place within the domains of art, it does appear that the domains of art are always areas characterized by enormous creativity. In a sense, artists are creative experts—highly trained in the skills needed to enable creative states of mind—that can offer scientists a golden opportunity for study . For the development of a prototypical model to study creativity, certain features of artistic behavior are more suitable for examination than others.…”

Careers of the Creatives

“…Creative people are unique from their colleagues in that they possess a constellation of personality traits and characteristics not found in others. They also tend to have an identity that is strongly linked to their work, and will intensely involve themselves in their work because of this relationship (Rostan, 1998). (p. 710).…”