Arts and Crafts!!

I know that traditionally crafts were more about creating a functioning thing like pottery, woodwork, rugs, and baskets.  Now crafts are typically made not for functionality, but for the process of crafting.  I think with crafts, the outcome is less important than the process of creating. Some things I would consider a craft would be scrapbooking, quilting, and crocheting.  Art, on the other hand, is less about the process of making the art and more about the final piece and the emotion that is conveyed through it. Some things I would consider art would be a painting, or a sculpture.  However, I think arts and crafts are beginning to be intermingled.  Other mediums outside of clay and paints are beginning to emerge. Objects and things are being incorporated into artwork, and sometimes, the process of making the art brings the emotion that the final piece also has, therefore making the process art.  I think both arts and crafts are important in elementary art curriculum.  Children need to have the enjoyment that comes with crafts, and the fulfillment of creating wonderful things that comes with art.  Perhaps arts and crafts often overlap so much so that it is hard to determine the difference between the two.  Nonetheless, both have an important place in the classroom.

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