Art Exposure for Underprivileged Children
The following pieces were written by volunteers in All The Same’s Writing Department, which covered multiple topic questions relating to Cultural Fetishization.
ON THIS PAGE YOU’LL DISCOVER:
– Perceptions on art as a subject
– The importance of art access
TOPIC QUESTION: Do you think art is often viewed as a “nonessential” subject in schools? What do you think are the consequences of this perception?
Written by: Yumi Dela Cruz
Art is frequently viewed as a “nonessential” subject in schools, and this mindset has significant consequences for students’ creativity, emotional development, and academic performance as a whole. Reading about the different donations made by All The Same towards supplying art supplies to underprivileged schools have encouraged me to focus on this specific topic. These children are the future of this generation and I want them to feel encouraged that art is a crucial aspect of life and to remember that it is not something that is ‘unimportant’ or ‘useless’.
Schools often prioritize math, science, and literacy due to testing requirements or in Australia, subjects such as chemistry and physics are known to offer decent scaling in HSC. Meanwhile, Visual and Performing Arts are known to scale your marks down. The subject is seen as less quantifiable and therefore less valuable. When administrators adjust schedules to accommodate standardised testing prep, art classes are frequently shortened, merged or even made optional. Subject scaling sends an implicit message that art is supplementary rather than foundational to education so students may receive fewer opportunities to develop creative thinking. The reduced presence of art in the curriculum can shape how students perceive its value as they get older and start to consider their subjects for senior year. Art programs are often the first to be cut during financial shortfalls within schools or fewer resources and monetary distributions will be provided to arts departments. Even the staff are shared between schools or eliminated entirely.
In terms of wellbeing, art fosters imagination, innovation and creativity. I’ve met many classmates in my time that lost their passion for art due to being encouraged to partake in more ‘stable’ subjects. When I was younger, people would compliment me for my drawing skills but later on I deemed art as unuseful or too complex so I dropped it. It acts as an outlet for self-expression and stress relief so it’s crucial for students who struggle in traditional academic subjects. As a struggling perfectionist, I wish I could pick up a brush and paint how I feel but I want it to look perfect but due to my lack of skill since dropping it, I just get more frustrated. Education may become more technical and less human-centred while disconnecting students from having diverse perspectives. Art can be a tool for creative problem-solving because it encourages experimentation and for students to think beyond one correct answer.
Therefore, labelling art as ‘nonessential’ or ‘unstable’ reveals the narrow understanding of what education is meant to accomplish. When schools and parents prioritise what can be measured in testing, they risk neglecting the qualities that allow students to thrive later on; creativity, emotional intelligence and cultural awareness. Students may become less innovative, and unable to understand diverse perspectives. Art is not a distraction from ‘real’ learning, it is actually a vital part of it. If education is meant to prepare young people for thoughtful participation in society, then art must be recognised not as a luxury, but as a fundamental and indispensable component of a well-rounded education.
Written by: Nan Fang Wan
Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ argues that there are 2 types of freedom: freedom from and freedom to. In modern society, we reward ‘freedom from’ hunger, danger or disease while neglecting ‘freedom to’ choose, create and express. Art programs are repeatedly the first to be defunded in times of financial crisis, such as when the UK’s University for the Creative arts suffered a 50% cut in funding last year. This is not an isolated case. Between 1982 and 2008, the National Endowment for the Arts found a staggering 23% decline in the number of 18-year olds who have received art education. Human expression is being systematically erased in lieu of practicality, although practicality itself is defined through a transactional, economic lens that only recognises what can be packaged, sold and consumed. This raises a controversial question: what defines a subject’s utility?
In an interview with Mrs. Kothari, a secondary school art teacher, she considered the core purpose of modern education to be to ‘turn out specific kinds of people based on the industries that require jobs’. Her perspective reflects what economists call ‘human capital theory’, the idea that education progresses the economy. Using this model, governments invest more in school subjects that create profitable citizens, increase employment rates and GDP.
This reductive view of learning reinforces an arbitrary view of productivity that measures our children’s worth by their output; productivity culture has infiltrated the safe confines of our homes to find us in our most human state and remind us that we are workers. Therefore, subjects like art which exist outside the profit margins of our society cannot be quantified, leading to the incorrect assumption that they are nonessential. While GDP measures production and the education system’s standardised testing measures academic success, they fail to consider soft skills and meaning. Mrs. Kothari states, ‘I think a lot of parents and a lot of students still feel that their productivity in school should be measured by the numbers that they get or the grades that are at the end of the term… what’s written on a piece of paper. Art doesn’t feature into that, because it’s so subjective. Because it’s so hard to get a number from art, I think people underestimate how useful it actually is.’
However, art is undoubtedly vital to both our education and our future. Mrs. Kothari believes education should account for soft skills such as resilience, communication and collaboration. According to her, ‘the amount of things people can get from art are a lot more transferable than other subjects… because it’s a lot of creative problem solving. In creative subjects, you’ll tend to hit roadblocks more often.’ Furthermore, studies show that art education strengthens academic performance. For example, students who study creative subjects for 4 years in high school score a significant average of almost 100 points higher than those who don’t in their SATs. The hypocrisy is clear when public schools cut arts programs to increase scores in standardised tests using core subjects. Lastly, although companies seek out creativity time and time again, reduced arts education would reduce this very trait alongside innovation in the workforce. How will we create a better future when we are not given the tools to do so? Better yet, do those in control of our expression want us to create a better future or not?
In conclusion, 93% of children in UK state schools lost access to the arts due to lack of funding last year. Ironically, as aspiring artists lose the right to create, generating art has become simpler than ever at a single click of a button. Welcome to the future, when art has become a commodity and commodities try to impersonate art. Don’t worry, you can forget those pipe dreams and work hard to become a cog in a machine! A cog in a machine cannot paint or sing or dream, but it can generate economic value. A cog in a machine obeys the creator and works in harmony with all the other cogs. A cog in a machine can live in a nice and cosy machine but never build it. Do you want to be a cog in a machine?
Written by: Morgan Leung
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.”
—Albert Einstein
Throughout the course of education, art has often been considered an expendable, nonessential subject. It is often cast aside while priority is given to more technical and “important” subjects, such as those in the fields of maths, science, or engineering. There is nothing inherently wrong with the prioritization of such courses; the problem emerges when schools neglect the arts entirely in pursuit of this STEM-oriented approach. Often, the schools with such narrow-minded curriculums end up not teaching one of the most important traits of a successful student: creativity.
Compared to the conventional subjects, it is not as widely understood how fundamentally transformative the access to art, creative expression, and music are. There is a common misconception that art is not as important, not as essential, not as necessary. Misunderstanding about the role of art in education is often a large problem, as teachers are unable to offer the most meaningful art experiences for their students. Visual art is a powerful means of connection between vastly different cultures as well as a way to communicate theories, concepts or ideas. However, visual art is typically reduced to simple crafts and kits, which limits student’s understanding of the real value of art. Students are never fully able to grasp the complexities, intricacies, and wonders of the arts.
It is societal views and norms that have brought us here. Society gives higher regards to more standard jobs and paid work than creative works. This can create the assumption that artists and art lack real value and purpose, discouraging students from attempting to pursue a career in anything related.
Fine and liberal arts play major roles in the development of critical thinking skills in children. These skills stem from the ability to integrate art, music, and literature, with conventional subjects like math and science. This is the type of imagination, development and innovation that has brought about so many of the world’s wonders. Cars. Airplanes. IPods. Speakers. The telephone. Is it not ridiculous that we are suppressing and limiting the very imagination that brings us such innovations?
Art is just as essential to the human mind as is exercise. Art has always existed in one form or another, satisfying the incredibly human need for communication of experience and ideas through symbols, pictures and aesthetics. The process challenges people to engage in creation of art and explore different media and alternatives. The misconception is that the final product of art is more valuable than the process used to create it. Yet the truth is that both the final product and the process are extremely valuable–one cannot exist without the other. The process requires imagination and problem-solving skills that are essential logical thinking strategies. Being involved in the creation of these arts fosters skills like classifying/categorizing, becoming aware of complexities/intricacies, inference, tolerating different opinions, and articulating feelings and judgements. The world of art offers all of this and so much more.
There is a myth that all art forms are the same, and therefore the subject of art can be compressed into a single, time-limited subject. While there has been some movement to make art a mandatory subject in school curriculum, it is only marginally effective, as its effectiveness is dependent on the school’s encouragement of the true value of art. The time-limited structure of school can nullify the importance of art. Oftentimes, the teachers teaching art courses have a somewhat limited background to it, and more conventional subject teachers (such as math, or english) believe their subject to be superior and deserving of a larger time slot.
The absence of art as a subject in schools causes many to lack the creative foundational base; it has created an imbalance between the demand and supply of necessary workers such as those in institutions, teaching, and specialists and professionals.
Art is undeniably one of the most crucial subjects a child can be exposed to during their education. It is not only essential for building necessary skills for further down the road, but also lays the foundation for the future of the economy. There is a pivotal disconnect between society’s perception of art and the truth, one that must be bridged immediately.
Art: a piece of our soul
Written by: Samanvita Vps
What happens when a child is surrounded by shades of gray and textbooks with not a splash of color in sight? What happens when a child has no access to creative freedom? Art must be available for everyone, even underprivileged kids, because it is a language spoken by all and shunned by none.
But for underprivileged kids, even something as simple as ‘painting’ or ‘art’ is not easily accessible. Providing access to art for these children is extremely important as it is a form of self expression that cannot be judged or called ‘wrong’. Art can do wonders for a kid’s imagination, and taking it away is like confining a child to tests and lessons.
One of the major benefits of art is that it allows the kids to think beyond their books and curriculum, it lets the kids express themselves freely without limiting them to rules. Art encourages personal interpretation and imagination, unlike textbooks which have predetermined answers and information. For children in underfunded schools, this freedom can help them voice their opinions and help build their confidence. In schools without funds, students are often only taught structured lessons, due to this art can also be an outlet for them to explore ideas that extend outside of their classroom. For kids who aren’t good at academics or words, art can be of wonderful use to them as it can be stress free, improves mental health and lets them share their emotions without needing any approval.
It serves as a therapeutic escape for many young underprivileged kids who face trauma or stress. Art also acts as a gateway to many children who cannot express their thoughts or opinions freely, it allows the children to freely visualise and express their thoughts without being afraid of judgement. Initiatives for art projects or group sessions can help with communication and let different kids with various perspectives work together and feel valued, seen and appreciated. Children can discover their talents and explore who they are, it could open career paths and provide scholarships to many.. Art is meant to be messy, it captures the feelings of the artist without needing any words to make it sound logical, art speaks volumes, even without words so giving underprivileged kids a chance at making pieces that the world may value, is of extreme importance.
In many underfunded schools, art is often the first extra-curricular activity to be cut. But creativity must not depend on wealth, every child deserves access to a world filled with colors and creativity. When a child creates something that wasn’t there before, it makes them feel accomplished. Visual and hands-on learners can greatly benefit from art and it makes education more inclusive. Children can keep their traditions and culture alive through visual expression, music and so much more.
Art is meant to be messy; it captures the feelings of the artist that words may fail to convey because art speaks volumes- even in silence.
It shouldn’t be something that can be given to some and not to others; it should be available to everyone. It is not a privilege, but a choice to give even the underprivileged a chance to explore and understand ,because in the end, we are all the same.
TOPIC QUESTION: Why do you think art access is important for children?
Written by: Natalie Kan
Amongst authors such as Paul Oskar Kristeller, Larry Shiner, Pierre Bourdieu and more, it has been noted that the word ‘art’ is often used when referring to paintings, sculptures, concerts, and the like. In fact, what we now commonly refer to as ‘art’ is what was once considered ‘fine art’ back in the eighteenth-century West (Clowney, 2011). Art has consistently been an integral aspect of society and history, ranging from cave paintings by Neanderthals to digital artists in contemporary society; it is frequently considered to tell “the story of humanity” (Degas, 2025, as cited by Taylor, 2025). It is a form of self-expression that transcends the centuries, “influencing and reflecting the culture and community it emerges from” (Reyner 2026). With art being known to have such a crucial impact on individuals and society, it is notable to consider the impact that art accessibility, or lack thereof, may have; this includes less privileged children with limited access to arts compared to their more advantaged peers who access it with higher regularity.
One factor to take into consideration is the opportunities that art itself can grant children. While access to art does tend to reflect broader societal issues, it does not negate the fact that it also remains a means of creativity and self-expression for many. Art also offers a range of other positive attributes, such as allowing children to “build on their observational skills, gain confidence, promote feelings of self-worth” (Hallam, 2018); therefore, supporting children’s healthy development and enhancing their abilities. The National Gallery’s ‘Take One Picture’ programme was found to reinforce this, which was a programme where pupils explored paintings such as ‘The Finding of Moses’ and then later were encouraged to create their own artwork. Northampton’s Centre for Educational Research discovered that the programme led to the children’s “self-belief, motivation, empathy, and critical thinking” improving by 25%, with an extra 44% saying that they had visited an art gallery since (University of Northampton, 2023). Moreover, demonstrating some of the positive attributes that exposure to art can grant children. It is these developmental skills, as well as enjoyment, that are essential for children to have. Even if the child found that art did not suit them, the fact that they were able to experience it and have the option to creatively express themselves should not be limited due to one’s financial situation or class. Therefore, illustrating the significance of art access to children as a fundamental mode of creativity but also healthy development.
While limited art access is unjust since creative expression should be a fundamental right for every child, it is still significant to explore the social inequalities this lack of access can create or reinforce. This includes the ‘cultural capital’ that art access can provide a child. As coined by Bourdieu (1986), ‘cultural capital’ refers to non-financial assets, such as education, language style, and cultural knowledge and tastes, that may influence an individual’s opportunities and status in society (Bourdieu, 1986, as cited by Ramsey, 2025). Whether intentionally or not, it is these assets that are commonly rewarded within institutions such as schools, which often hold those who have them in higher esteem over others. This is further reinforced by the cultural capital theory. This Marxist theory does not undermine working-class culture or state that one class’ culture is superior to the others but merely states that they are all different in their own way. Instead, it focuses on “the dominance of middle-class culture in society and social institutions” and explains that middle-class children have higher chances of succeeding as the education system is structured around middle-class interests (Thompson, 2016). As stated by Bourdieu (1986), this silently reinforces social inequalities by placing value on assets that less privileged children may struggle to obtain or regularly access. On the other hand, higher-income children typically have increased chances of being familiar with dominant cultural knowledge and tastes due to their greater access to cultural institutions on a more frequent basis. It is therefore important for less privileged children to be able to gain greater access to the arts to ensure that these social inequalities are not further reinforced. Furthermore, providing access to arts ensures that they have opportunities comparable to more privileged children to acquire socially valued cultural knowledge. Should this not be the case, it can result in them being placed at a disadvantage compared to their peers. While it is quite frankly impossible to ensure that each child is completely equal in terms of the opportunities presented to them, it does not negate the fact that steps can be taken to make this inequality gap slightly narrower. Moreover, art exposure does not solely assist children in becoming creative, but it is also a means of exposure to the resources that are socially valued.
Art is undoubtedly a fundamental right for every child and should not be limited based on one’s ‘privilege’. Not only does art access reflect broader societal inequalities, but it also has the power to shape educational trajectories and potentially impact one’s social mobility in lasting ways. While art undeniably does not solely determine this, its contribution is not to be overlooked. It is not something that should be withheld or restricted, as art at its heart remains a mode of expression and creativity, and that is something that every child has the fundamental right to have access to. It is through organisations such as All The Same that these issues can be tackled by raising awareness of the consequences of limited art access, so that methods to mitigate its harmful impacts can be developed.
Do we really need art?
Written by: Georgia Saunders
Once I got to high-school, I immediately dropped art as a subject. Not because I disliked it, I’ve always adored art. However, regardless of what occupation I go into, I won’t be able to find a use for any skills I pick up in my lessons. Sadly, my longing for art increased endlessly, meanwhile my motivation and skill went down at an equally steady pace. I often find myself wondering, “what if?” What if I didn’t discard art as a subject? What if my teachers were as passionate as their students? What if we were allowed to be creative in all workspaces?
A study done by Figure NZ shows a decrease of domestic tertiary students who had chosen to specialise in creative arts by 21% from 2015 to 2024. The majority of which were enrolled in a bachelor degree. The average amount of money you can earn in a year if you pursue a career that involves a bachelor degree in creative arts, is around $37,000 (this is the average for all the creative vocations that involve the aforementioned degree.) Compared to New Zealanders with bachelor degrees in other fields, art students make around half of the other students’ average wage. Additionally, only 24,280 out of 402,470 people who were going for a bachelor degree, studied creative arts. Alongside those statistics, a report done by Snaap suggested that only 10% of art graduates actually have their art being their primary source of income. Along with the stigma that is already attached to seeking out a job in the creative field, these statistics make it seemingly impossible to envision yourself living comfortably in any of these professions.
Because of the unappealing conditions most artists spend their lives in, many students find themself thinking of art as merely a filler subject — something to partake in, but never pursue. Many people only view art as a hobby, something that isn’t nearly as capable of teaching you meaningful skills as more core subjects such as maths or English. This is simply not true. Not only can art teach youth how to harness their creativity, but also to challenge ideologies and normalities that many societal pressures have created via stigmatising anything out of the ordinary. Thankfully, All The Same has on countless occasions donated art supplies to those without, and is incredibly in favour of a more creative world. If students were properly taught to try using the skills developed in art class out in the real world, I can say with certainty that our communities would not only be far more advanced, but more connected. However, due to students disregarding art as an “essential” subject, we are stuck in a society that tends to conform to standards, rather than expressing itself through visionary ideas.
As of today, the amount of students who seek out a career in the arts department is thinning. In contrast, the amount of students who drop art as a subject at the first chance they get because they “will never need it,” is detrimental. However, just by having a more encouraging community surrounding us, we can welcome art into our spaces and be more prepared for a future. Celebrating creativity should be a given in all spaces, and an art classroom is the perfect place to foster that.