The Cream Does Not Always Rise: The Plight of Visual-Spatial Learners and the Power of Art Education

Abstract

My vivid and colorful imagination turned me into a hopeless daydreamer in elementary school. My daydreams were so real that I would get lost in them. Once, in the first grade, I was so completely absorbed in a daydream that I didn't notice all the children had been dismissed. I found myself sitting completely alone at my desk, my teacher glaring at me. I can still recall today how isolating, scary, and humiliating that experience was. I was keenly aware even as a child that the adults in my life regarded my daydreaming as a defect, and so I was deeply ashamed of it. I worked hard to learn to pay attention and follow directions like everyone else. What I wouldn't give today, as an artist, to once again have that extraordinary mental capacity!