INSPIRE A STUDENT

Why Promote Art Education

Art education develops self-esteem, appreciation of the work of others, self-expression, cooperation with others, and critical thinking skills, skills vital to the success of our future leaders --- our children.

A well-developed program of making and studying art serves many functions. They help students better articulate their perceptions and shape coherent responses to their experiences. When children learn to appreciate form and colour...when they learn the importance of fashioning their own images of the world around them, they achieve greater discipline and self confidence.

Too often, the value of participation in the arts is underestimated. The arts enrich our lives and enrich our learning. And the arts are a valuable learning tool that reinforces the other disciplines, like reading, writing, social studies, even science and math.

The St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre is a non-profit organization that encourages and facilitates the visual arts in St. Thomas and Elgin County.  It is our goal to “enrich the human creative spirit through nurturing and supporting the visual arts”.   We are dedicated to developing young artists. The “Inspire a Student” program is an inexpensive way to provide St. Thomas and Elgin County students with an experience that many of them would not be able to afford without the generous support of community businesses. With our new direction of delivery of art education and continuing to support our mission we will be developing instructional videos that will be available to all teachers and students FREE of charge.  The content of the videos will focus on St. Thomas and Elgin County by discussing local artists, our permanent collection and our art and culture to develop the students understanding how we fit into our Canadian history.

For more information please contact us at 519 631-4040 or email

Our Partners in Art Education