and without her influence I would not be the artist and educator I am today. When the idea of teaching elementary came I knew just who to call. Several of hours and notes later I had a better idea of what to expect, as well as a reminder of what I already knew. Then I hit the books, specifically the quintessential text for early childhood education: “Creative And Mental Growth” by Viktor Lowenfeld (1964) – which, amazingly, is available free, online, and in  multiple formats care of the Internet Archive.

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After re-reading a bit of Viktor Lowenfeld’s “Creative & Mental Growth” recently I have found myself more interested in elementary education than ever before. The process of nurturing the human mind towards understanding the world at the foundational level of childhood is fascinating.

“No attempt should be made to censor the child’s creative expression, but rather we should try to stimulate the greatest variety of responses.”

Lowenfeld, 1947, p. 124

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In my experience all people want to be better at art. I’ve never met someone that didn’t wish that they could practice more art. I’ve met many who have believe in a story called “I can’t do art, I’m not good at it”. This is an effective and powerful story. A story that is taught to us. Being “good at art” is not something you are born with. Somewhere along the way, somebody tells you that you are no good at what you draw and create. Some of us survive that criticism, in fact we welcome it, and we grow up to become self-designated artists. Most people, however, are robbed of the ability to recognize their inner artist by a single comment, usually given by a teacher, that they aren’t good.

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