The following survey is one I gave out to my 8th grade English class at the start of an action research unit in which I introduced concepts of art. The survey was meant to get at their most basic understanding of what art is to them in their lives, and their relationship with it. As a class, throughout the unit we were to delve into what art is, how we define it individually, and what it’s all about. There were many students who answered the first and last questions with “painting”. There were others who could not think of a type of art that they liked because… “I don’t like painting.” There was very little mention of music, dance, writing, sculpting, or any other art form at this point in our unit. The students had no idea at that point that art is a bigger idea than the finger paintings they did as a young child their parents still keep on the refrigerator door. They didn’t know that this little three letter word contained in it the possibility for all these wondrous forms of expression. By the end of our unit, the philosophy behind ART had seeped into them and they understood proudly that in our writing unit they had expressed their passion for their interest (everything from police work to cooking to Taylor Swift) through an artistic medium: the written word.

How would your children/students/friends answer these questions? Do they know the power of art?

Name_______________.                                              Date_____________.

Arts Interest Survey

1. What is art?

2. What is a type of art that you enjoy doing?

3. What is a type of art that you enjoy that you do not do?

4. List all of the types of artists that you can think of.