Children's Creativity: Why the Visual Arts Matter

PNCA hosts the city’s first Children’s Creativity Symposium, November 11-14, focusing on the relevance of artistic processes of inquiry, reflection, and expression to the cognitive, emotional, and social development of children.

A range of symposium activities—including workshops and lectures—will report on and explore the growing body of evidence that the arts nurture and develop complex thinking and communication skills. Featured speakers include authors/professors Dr. Ellen Handler Spitz and Dr. Lois Hetland.

Lecture | “Art for Our Sake,” by Dr. Lois Hetland
6:30 p.m. Thursday, November 12
PNCA Main Campus Building, Swigert Commons, 1241 N.W. Johnson Street

Why do we teach art? Join PNCA as it welcomes author and professor of art education Lois Hetland for a discussion on arts education. Hetland is the co-author of the influential book Studio Thinking: The Real Benefits of Visual Arts Education.

Keynote Address | “Reflections on Space and Childhood,” by Dr. Ellen Handler Spitz
6:30 p.m. Friday, November 13
PNCA Main Campus Building, Swigert Commons, 1241 N.W. Johnson Street

Dr. Ellen Handler Spitz discusses the complex and powerful role the visual arts play in the emotional and cognitive development of children. Spitz is a writer, lecturer and scholar who currently holds the Honors College Professorship of Visual Arts at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is the author of Art and Psyche, Image and Insight, Museums of the Mind and more.