Art Appeal: A Study of How the Arts Improve Public Education and Create Well Rounded Learners

This thesis concerns the ongoing debate of whether or not states should continue funding art programs in primary and secondary public schools. This work argues the importance of inclusionary and meaningful art programs within K-12 educational settings due to the mounting evidence that student involvement in a variety of art mediums creates well-rounded learners, increases empathy, empowers students, and allows students to use their multiple intelligences across content areas. This work focuses on music, dance, writing, film, and drawing as art mediums of which students have shown evidence of positive correlations in the aforementioned categories within various academic, peer-reviewed journals and through the anecdotes of educators and public-school students nationally