Faculty voice: Art is what we need right now

Meghan Collins currently serves as the lead educator for K-12 and family programs in the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University and an assistant professor of art education in MSU’s Department of Art, Art History and Design. A proud alumna of MSU’s art education program herself, Collins rejoined the university community after teaching art in K-8 public schools in Lansing, Michigan, and Montgomery County, Maryland. Collins was selected by the Michigan Art Education Association as MAEA’s 2025 Museum Educator of the Year.

“It looks like a portal to another world . . . I don’t know where it would go,” mused a 10-year-old as we stood near an artwork at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University. During this school field trip, the child’s class was immersed in our museum’s collection spanning 5,000 years of human history. Throughout the gallery, I could hear small groups of children having similar conversations as they looked closely at sculptures, paintings, drawings and videos, wondering about the people, places and ideas that were inside each piece.

I see this all the time in my work as an art museum educator. Art helps us see more than just the world we live in. It helps us envision worlds that could be.

Couldn’t we all use a little more of this type of thinking?

Creative thinking

I work at the MSU Broad Art Museum, and in the 10 years I have been here, I’ve seen thousands of children open their minds a little wider and stretch their imaginations a little farther while looking at art together. Engagement with K-12 students and educators is a critical part of the museum’s educational outreach. As a land-grant university, MSU serves the youth of Michigan as well as the statewide community at large. We regularly bring youth into the galleries to look at global contemporary artwork, prompting discussions of curiosity and understanding, seeing and being seen, building confidence, curiosity, open-mindedness and creative thinking.

Because of this, I naturally spend a lot of time thinking about what today’s kids need from educational experiences. Working in a community space, I mentor university students who work with youth to focus on opportunities to practice seeing multiple points of view. We encourage them to listen and be heard, to think about things that are bigger than themselves, to express their ideas and bring their whole identities into school with them.

While I do think that these ideals can be brought by any teacher into any subject, I want to specifically talk about art. In my career as both a school and museum art educator, I’ve seen how art is one of those special spaces where conversations open, confidence grows, materials transform and kids connect.

I heard another child say this recently while looking at an abstract sculpture suspended from the ceiling: “When I’m looking at it, it’s like I’m having a feeling that I have never, ever had before!” His classmates joined in with awe, giggles, agreement and thoughtful consideration. The openness of the conversation offers space for another child to share that she sees parts of a story unfolding in the same artwork, prompting others to want to see it too, asking her to explain her idea so they can understand her perspective. It reminds a third child of a planet emerging from a cloud of dust, and now we can all see that too, and we’re talking about the vastness of space. All of this happened in a matter of minutes, inspired by one artwork. Imagine these children applying this skill to a complex issue, being open to all possibilities and seeking one another’s unique viewpoints? The world could get a little better.

Investment in art

Too often, art gets boxed in as having to prove its worth repeatedly, consistently facing funding cuts at both the state and federal levels. Schools throughout Michigan already have inequitable access to art education, a vital resource for growing future leaders in our communities. I’m curious about the ways adults view art education; how is it decided that the value and necessity of art are consistently up for debate?

A suspicion I have is that perhaps we grown-up Michiganders didn’t all have positive art experiences in school. It is a common theme I hear from adults, and it usually reveals an underlying belief in talent and skill as criteria for liking or appreciating art. I can’t help but get a little sad each time I hear someone say that they are bad at art and mean it. Why is this something we say, and what message does this send to our children?

And so, I’m writing to talk with the grown-ups — the administrators and teachers who work with our youth, the parents and the decision-makers in our local and state governments. This ask is on their behalf as well as yours.

Can you add more art into your life?

Studies show us that when we do this, more empathy and connection will follow. There is a proven neurological connection between creativity and openness to new ideas and experiences. I think we all can agree that this is something we could use a little more of right now.

I have been able to see firsthand how Michigan State University is stepping up to invest in the arts for our campus community and across the state. But deepening investment in — and even more challenging, changing minds about — the importance of the arts is going to take all of us. So, I encourage you to consider the spaces in your life where you have influence and where you could position art in a place of value. This looks different for all of us, from calling your legislators in support of continued arts funding to encouraging creativity in your own household, adding an arts excursion to your family’s weekend or bravely picking up a paintbrush yourself.

Even the smallest of changes to introduce more art into our lives can have a transformative impact on not only our state but on ourselves as well. And if we need evidence of this, listen to what our children have to say about artwork when they look closely.

“I think there is something powerful in it,” one said to me.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.