Art, Learning and Evolution

It was only 40,000 years ago that Paleolithic artists began their work on the cave walls at Lascaux. Questions about how the artists learned to draw and paint remain. Who taught them? Were the artists self taught?

Buckminster Fuller's take on human learning is that the capacity to learn is innate. Fuller states: "We are born naked, absolutely helpless. No experience, absolutely naked. We learn by trial and error. We find our way, stimulated by a designed-in hunger. A designed-in thirst. A conscientious hunger, a drive to go after learning. Having no rulebook, nothing to tell us about the Universe, human beings learn through discovery and through trial and error."

What I am witnessing in my choice based art room is an ancient process being played out that dates back to ancient times. Children, inspired by the discovery that they can imagine, design and make art, apply this thinking process to explore and develop other areas of the curriculum.
It happens all the time.

The act of self directed art making and self directed learning is an ancient capacity and is innate in varying degrees in all of us. Never, ever do I want to extinguish that capacity in my students.