"The rock 'n' roll lifestyle at a Kingston care home that shows it's never too late to party
They love drinking prosecco for lunch and bustin' moves to Lady Gaga"
I had enormous fun teaching life drawing to a group of interested ladies and gentlemen at the Sherwood Grange Care home in Kingston. We had great press coverage and all in such a good cause, The Big Draw, which promotes life drawing for good brain health and staying young.
Care Home Professional Magazine
The arts make self starters and develop emotional intelligence
All require the student to set their own agenda from within themselves, rather than follow set topics as in other subjects. They have to make independent decisions all the way, and be self-critical. They also need to be brave in exposing their creations, and accept criticism. Working in teams makes students into good communicators.
The arts are stretching
Music, art and drama require long hours of hard work and dedication. Students have to pay great attention to detail, to perfect and redo. Putting on a play, exhibition or concert takes strong organisational skills.
Arts students are highly sought-after by employers
Many employers now actively seek those who have studied the arts. Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, was fond of saying his success was due to his hiring artists and musicians fascinated by technology rather than computer geeks. Top talent management agency, The Curve Group specialising in financial and business services, concurs: “Employees with an arts degree have developed more quickly in their roles from the start. They have discipline, confidence and can accept criticism.”
Arts ‘reach the parts other subjects can’t reach’
The arts develop the broader dimensions of the human being – mind, body and soul. The arts can express the inexpressible and make sense of things that otherwise do not seem to.
Arts ‘reaches the students other subjects can’t reach’
Teachers find arts subjects particularly beneficial for two groups: those who struggle with traditional subjects and those who are high achieving. Less academic students can become defeatist if they feel they can’t achieve: drama, music or art can help them to blossom.
