Process-based art benefits preschoolers and teachers

The setting where most people openly accept the idea of process-based art is preschool. Young children are constantly exploring the world around them. They’re literally experiementing through life - what happens when I drop this metal pan, will I get hurt if I touch this item on the stove, what is the green vegetable on my plate, etc. It makes sense that we wouldn’t expect 4- and 5-year-olds to create art products that all look the same, follow the same exact procedure or even sit still long enough to complete every art project.

If you want to read more about how process art is used in a particular setting at the Frankfurt International School in Germany, I invite you to read this post from the National Association for the Education of Young Children: https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/winter2023/what-will-we-make

The piece that I want to reflect further on is the idea the process-based art and open exploration with art supplies should end when humans reach primary or secondary school and definitely by the time they reach adulthood. The NAEYC post highlights something that is observed globally in preschool classrooms but why does this stop? Part of the reason is a shift to product focused art, everyone following the same steps to create the same artistic outcome, which we know leads to comparison, feeling of failure and an eventual dissatisfaction with creative pursuits. What if we didn’t center art education in this way? What is we trained our primary and secondary teachers to continue artistic inquiry in the classroom? We just might have more creative adults.