Page 2 - ChildArt July-Sept 2017 Your Brain on Art

JULY-SEPT 2017 VOL. 17, ISSUE 3, NUMBER 51
Guest editor’s corner
It is a privilege to serve as guest editor of the Arts +
Mind edition of ChildArt Magazine. For more than 20
years the International Child Art Foundation (ICAF)
has been an essential organization recognizing and
valuing the power and dignity of the arts for children
around the world.
This issue of ChildArt shares the marriage of
the arts and brain research, a newly emerging field
of study called neuroaesthetics. Neuroaesthetics
explores the impact of the arts, architecture and music
on the human brain and behavior. The applications for
neuroaesthetics research are limitless. While there is
so much about the brain we don’t understand, it is an
exciting time to be thinking about what is going on at
the intersection of the arts and brain research. I hope
the stories in health, wellbeing and learning will open
your mind to the possibilities for the arts, architecture
and design as solutions for intractable problems,
approaches to enhance your life and answers to
questions long asked.
We are all makers, designers and creators
regardless of our age, interests, studies or career
paths. The evolution of the human species revolves
around the stories we create and share, the ways
we communicate, environments we build and
language we use.
Understanding how our brains work and how
they are sculpted and changed through art making
and aesthetic experiences enables us to build a better
world. When we decide to create a new product,
design a shopping center, home or park, paint a
room, or a million other actions, we have the ability
to use what we know about how the brain works to
create smarter, more productive, creative, healing
and learning solutions. The benefits to people
everywhere are beyond measure, transcending
class, gender, race and culture.
The arts, in all forms, are not just “nice to have”
but are who we are. The field of neuroaesthetics is at
the heart of unleashing humanity’s greatest potential.
Susan Magsamen
Executive Director
International Arts + Mind Lab
Brain Science Institute
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Published since 1997,
ChildArt is a commercial-
free arts learning, self-
discovery, and global
education periodical
expressly written for 10 to 14 year-
olds, but useful as a teaching tool for
educators and inspirational for creative
individuals of all ages. Subscribe to
ChildArt online at www.icaf.org.
When a child’s creativity is ignored,
it could be lost forever. Tax-deductible
donations support children’s creative
and empathic development. You can
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your check to ICAF and mail it to: ICAF, P.
O. Box 58133, Washington, DC 20037.
All rights reserved. Reproduction
of the whole or any part of the contents
without written permission is prohibited.
ChildArt (ISSN 1096-9020). Copyright
2017 International Child Art Foundation
(ICAF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
WHO WE ARE
International Arts + Mind Lab (IAM Lab)
is a multidisciplinary research-to-practice
initiative from the Brain Science Institute at
Johns Hopkins University accelerating the
field of neuroaesthetics. Our mission is to
amplify human potential.
WHAT WE DO
IAM Lab is pioneering impact-based
thinking, an outside-in approach to
health, well-being and learning.
HOW WE DO IT
IAM Lab brings together brain scientists
and practitioners in architecture, music and
the arts to collaborate in multidisciplinary
research, foster dialogue and spur
continued innovation by sharing these
findings with a broader community.
Join the neuroaesthetics conversation.
www.artsandmindlab.org
facebook.com/artsandmindlab
twitter.com/artsandmindlab