Child loves art and nothing else
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
| Fwiw, I am hardcore into STEM (MIT grad) and I encourage my DD to pursue her interests in art and music. Iām lukewarm on the benefits of STEM until middle school. I think creativity is great. We do have the money to pass down so she doesnāt have to be in a lucrative profession. But I think I would encourage it regardless. |
Anonymous
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OP, I was convinced as a child that I would be an opera singer when I grew up. I actually trained for it for several years and competed.
I work in bank lobbying now! |
Anonymous
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Textbook example of #humblebrag.
Kudos to you, OP! |
Anonymous
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Huh.
One of my Ivy League STEM educated former classmates is doing extensive filmmaking work. I have friends who play in global level orchestras and do things like play for commercials and sound clips. A friend who makes a killing as a food stylist and photographer. A friend who does video game animation. A friend who does logo and packaging design. A friend who pretty much solely does fine art consulting and acquisitions for high end clients. A friend who is an art therapist. A friend who is a professor. Knowing their lifestyles, I donāt think any of these people are lamenting their choice to not go into STEM, save for the first one, who I still think is in the field. |
Anonymous
My friend is a professionally trained opera singer - she's a lawyer. |
Anonymous
| Wow, treat your anxiety and control issues. She's 7! |
Anonymous
| Ok you definitely need to chill out BUT I do have one piece of advice. I was your daughter 30 years ago - passionate about art, very talented, it progressed through high school and I received many accolades for my work. Due to pressure from my parents (lawyer and doctor) and my school counselors (I went to a very science/math focused hs), I opted to go to college for political science instead of art school because it would give me better "career prospects." What a load of sh*t. I now sit on zoom all day in meetings that no one cares about. I have no time in my life for creating and it has left me resentful. I'm considering going back to school to get an MFA and totally switching careers. It's taken a lot of time to realize that I neglected a true passion and talent and that I deeply, deeply regret it. Not everyone is blessed with a true talent in life, PLEASE nurture your daughter's. |
Anonymous
| Sheās only 7, jeez. |
Anonymous
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Speaking as somebody with absolutely no artistic ability, I recognize that itās lack has hindered me academically on many occasions.
Art and STEM are not exclusive. While Iām not familiar with all the details, I think artistic abilities could be beneficial with architecture, computer graphics, computer-aided design, etc. In the meantime, I highly recommend Scratch, an intuitive programming language designed by MIT to teach programming. She can use it to create and animate her art. https://scratch.mit.edu/about A lot of art is highly mathematical (golden ratio), etc. Geometry, proportion, etc., would seem to be important as well. Detailed study of plants and animals would probably help both her art and later study of biology. String art is connected to modular arithmetic. Origami has a lot of technical implications. Holograms, fractals, autosterograms, etc., are also areas that would seem to have ties to mathematics. M. C. Escher seems to reference mathematical concepts. Thomas Heatherwickās designs incorporate art and STEM. Da Vinci was certainly interested in STEM. Studying international art and handicrafts could spark an interest for studying other cultures, and later foreign language. I think if you feed her interest in art, and then naturally follow that into connected subjects (ancient Greece, blending colors of pigment and colors of light, anime, how a birdās wing differs from a bat, etc.), it will greatly enhance her life and help her academically in often surprising ways. Just keep itvas fun for her as an extension of her interest, and not as an excuse to turn something enjoyable into a lesson. Something Iāve learned is that all knowledge is beneficial and Iām sometimes amazed at how when Iām learning something new, it connects to something random and I learned along the way. Although individually, they may seem trivial, as more connections are made, it increases the breadth and depth of my foundation. |
Anonymous
so your parents told you not to do art but were ok with political science? |
Anonymous
They wanted me to get a ānormalā undergrad degree. I got into RISD and other art schools but they really pressured me away from full on art school. |
Anonymous
| OP, keep pressuring her away from art. If she's really committed, she'll persist despite your antagonism. If she's weak, she'll cave and you know she didn't truly have an artist's temperament. |
Anonymous
Starving artists. I think that Van Gogh only sold one painting in his lifetime. |
Anonymous
| My 7 yo DD is the same, LOVES art. Sheās very creative, also good with creative writing (just found that out this year.) I am a graphic designer and make a decent living, so if thatās the path she chooses, then great! There is a lot of time and a lot of things she can do with her creativity, so Iām not worrying. My only worry is that she needs something active to do, and NO interest in any sport whatsoever. But sheāll be fine, just keep nurturing her interests. š |