I would argue that almost no one is born hating art. Coloring, crafting, playing with Legos, eating glue, it doesn’t matter—kids love it. Before I could speak I was roaming over every surface in front of me with the cheapest crayons money could by. I got lucky that I kept that enthusiasm (I am still incredibly drawn to drawing on things I shouldn’t), but it wasn’t just a matter of inherent personality. It was an issue of conditioning. Sitting here, half delirious off of NyQuil, I am telling you that contemporary artists only become so as they are allowed to be. Please bare with me while I use my observations as an art camp counselor and personal experiences to argue this.
Insecurity rocks our tiny bodies once we come into social contact with other kids. Not in the way we adults have it. Body image, wealth discrepancies, and social hierarchies appear to be nebulous concepts to kids before they reach puberty. The lines are very thin and easy to break. One thing my campers did seem to understand, however, was the concept of “better.” A dangerous concept in art camp. The making of projects was fun, but the finishing of them was tumultuous, because a fair portion of the kids would look around comparing their work to others’ and find something to put themselves down for. I don’t think this was a natural instinct, because some of the others didn’t do it and the younger campers nearly never did it. I think it was learned.
I myself have had a lot of support and positive feedback. I know this and I’m grateful for it. Given the way I’ve acted in other subjects, I don’t think I would have had the gusto to proceed in art without this positivity. So it’s like operant conditioning says: a positive reinforcement (praise) will increase the behavior (creating art) whereas a negative one (apathy, criticism) will decrease it. The kids who were happy to make art, regardless of skill, were the ones who commented most often that their parent was excited to see it or that they’d give it to them, implying that that parent was more receptive and more likely to respond positively to their art. That child, unburdened by insecurity, would be more likely to keep creating.