Art makes you see better

An art course is guaranteed to make you see the world in a new and better way. You will take greater notice of varied colours and shapes of things. You will see how green beside red is dramatically different from green beside yellow; you will see the shapes created by the spaces between forms. You will go from looking at singular objects to seeing how everything fits into the larger space around it.

Many people are beginning to discover the benefits of studying art. Dr. Joel Katz of Harvard University Medical School has been teaching a course since 2003 called “Training the Eye” where medical students study artworks at the Museum of Fine Arts. Katz has published a study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine showing that after completing the class, students’ ability to make accurate observations increased by 38 per cent ( Boston Globe, July 21, 2008). The results were quantified by the students’ improved diagnostic skills. The ability to see better has benefits far beyond the making art.

Studying art at any level, from an afternoon workshop to a longer course, will offer you the gift of being more observant of the world around you. You will be forever changed as you become aware of things you never noticed before. Everything in your immediate surroundings will take on a heightened charge because of your more developed and nuanced ability to see.

This spring and summer, the Vancouver Island School of Art is offering 18 six-week courses that include drawing, painting and photography, as well as 38 workshops ranging in length from three hours to 30 hours. Most of the courses and workshops offered are geared toward beginners.

Taking an art course or workshop will enhance your experience on this earth in a very simple and direct way, and have consequences well beyond just learning a new skill. vancouverislandschoolart.com