Around the beginning of the second semester, students select the courses they will be taking for the upcoming year. In doing so, students have to ensure they are getting all their required credits in. Those requirements don’t always please students, especially if they aren’t artistic and have to take an art class. Despite misgivings, that art requirement is ultimately appreciated by students.

One pro of taking a required art class is finding something you didn’t realize you loved. “I’m a little biased because I love my digital photography teacher, but that is a good form of art, if you don’t really like drawing or painting or working with clay. I wasn’t really into photography until I started that class,” sophomore Carson Buchanan said.

According to Artists Network, the best art courses contain multiple approaches and allow a student to be fully engaged with their work. Being able to learn and experiment in art class is required to have a positive experience in an art course. “The best art class for students who aren’t artistic is foundations definitely because there they get to be introduced to all different types of art materials,” art teacher Unsil Kim said.

Art benefits mental health because, according to Harvard Health, research has shown that the skill of creating art stays even after speech and language have been lost. Being able to still create art helps the mental mind and people suffering from dementia and other neurological diseases since it encourages brain activity.

Having the time to create art within a school day can benefit a student’s mental health in giving them a stress-relieving course. Opening up a student’s creativity and allowing them to have that space activates the mind. “It’s good for students to be able to experiment with the various materials that we have, and also use their creativity,” Kim said.