Artistic Development Among Young Children

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the artistic development of young children enrolled in the comic class as part of the Saturday Morning art workshops. I wanted to understand whether the children's artistic identity, confidence and ability in the comic workshop increased over time. Methods: I used a case study method to evaluate development among five participants, 9-10 year olds, in the comic workshop over seven weeks. I observed the children and interviewed them during the workshops, and I also evaluated the drawings they created in the workshop from the first and last weeks using a rubric. Results: It is possible that the Saturday morning art workshops influenced four of the participant's artist development. In terms of artistic identity John and Gabe may have been influenced by the workshop; they appeared to have experienced increased motivation and confidence. Ethan, John, and Dalton seemed to have developed skills that made them better artists. One participant, Liz, appeared to be confident and identify as an artist prior to attending the workshop. Conclusions: While the methodology I used could not demonstrate an increase in children's artistic development definitively, the results show that some children developed as artists over the seven weeks. In the Discussion, I describe how instruction could be improved in the Saturday Morning Art workshop to better assess and promote children's development. A future study investigating artistic identity, confidence, and ability in children utilizing semi-structured interviews in a private location and with a pre and posttest measures might prove to be useful determining whether the Saturday Morning art workshops influences artistic development. vi