• Wellbeing: after 25 wonderful years of teaching art and observing my students, I feel I can say with absolute confidence that taking part in creative activities lifts mood and reduces stress levels. From the excitement before a lesson through to the purposeful activity and sense of achievement at the end, it seems clear to me that all aspects of the process feed our crucial human need to create. 

• Connection: one of the things I have always loved about art lessons is the discussion, laughter and connection between the students. Some prefer to work quietly and with focus whilst others like to joke, chat about their week and discuss their art. Either way, an art classroom is a space where people can relax, let off a bit of steam and create bonds. 

• Innovative and Critical Thinking: I always feel that so much of our life, whether young or old, is dictated to us. For children, this can take the form of highly directive learning at school and for adults it may be a repetitive, unchallenging job. Art exercises both sides of the brain and it has always brought me great joy watching students make decisions, manage projects, select materials and cheerfully learn from their mistakes. It’s all about having a safe space to take risks and truly enjoy the process of learning. 

• Self-Expression: I’ve found that this one is particularly important to teenagers who are often dealing with many changes, workload and friendship pressures along with a lack of control over their lives. Some use art as a way of expressing their emotions as well and exploring and defining their identities. Parents have often said to me that art lessons have benefited their children in much the same way as a good counselling session might. Of course this can be true for many adults too! 

• Learning New Skills and Improving Spatial Awareness: It’s normal to be frustrated when our first sketches don’t emerge as we’d like but, like anything else, the brain learns with practice. The more we draw the more we learn to see. The same goes for using new media – with experience, we learn how materials behave, building confidence and becoming increasingly skilful and ambitious with how we apply and combine media within our artwork. 

• Having Fun: In many ways, this is the most important of all! We can all get stuck in routines and weighed down with the pressures and demands of modern life. Carving out some space for ourselves to connect, laugh and have fun helps us to rediscover parts of us which may have become lost over time. 

There are so many more reasons to study art including developing cultural awareness, learning to tolerate ambiguity, gaining new perspectives and building confidence. Everyone gains something different but I’ve always seen it as a real privilege to be able to bring such a positive, enriching subject to others.