The famous Spanish painter Pablo Picasso once said: “Every child is an artist. The problem [he has] is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
西班牙著名画家巴勃罗·毕加索曾说：”每个孩子都是艺术家。问题在于长大成人之后如何能够继续保持艺术家的灵性。“
This is both encouraging and discouraging: The fact that we were all born to be artists is certainly exciting, and yet the reality has proven that remaining one is a task that many of us have failed.
这段话既让人兴奋又令人沮丧：我们所有人天生就是艺术家，这点当然令人激动，但现实却表明，许多人都无法保持这种灵性。
Fortunately, some people have seen the problem and want to solve it.
幸运的是，一些人已经发现并想要解决这一问题。
Western educators have suggested that we introduce the concept of “STEAM” instead of “STEM” – traditional “core majors” including science, technology, engineering, and math – since the “A”, which stands for “arts”, is just as important.
西方教育家建议我们引入“STEAM”理念来取代“STEM”教育（即包括科学、技术、工程、数学在内的传统“核心专业”），因为其中“A”所代表的艺术，和其他学科同样重要。
And on April 11, China’s Ministry of Education issued a guideline. Colleges and universities are required to provide more art-related courses and students need to earn a certain number of art credits in order to graduate.
4月11日，教育部印发了一则意见。意见包括，各高校要把公共艺术课程与艺术实践纳入高校人才培养方案，每位学生须修满学校规定的公共艺术课程学分方能毕业。
These efforts came after many scientific studies had found that art education helps students develop self-confidence and teamwork skills, as well as habits of mind such as problem solving and critical thinking, according to The Washington Post.
据《华盛顿邮报》报道，在此之前，不少科学研究都已经发现，艺术教育有助于培养学生的自信和团队合作技能，以及诸如解决问题和批判性思维等思维习惯。
It’s true that none of these skills target specific jobs. But as former US ballet dancer Damian Woetzel told The Atlantic, the purpose of art is “to give kids the tools to become adults who are creative, adaptable, and expressive – capable of having their eyes and ears and senses alive”.
的确，这些技能并非针对特定的职业。但正如美国芭蕾舞演员达米安·沃策尔在接受《大西洋月刊》采访时所言，艺术的目的在于“给予孩子工具，使其成为具有创造力、适应力以及表现力的成年人，他们能够拥有敏锐的双眼、耳朵以及感官“。
And we can now see how we lost track of our born “artist self” on our way to growing up: We failed to keep our capabilities to see, hear and feel, and became blind, deaf and insensitive adults.
如今，我们就能明白自己是如何在成长过程中失去了“艺术家的天性”的：我们失去了视听以及感知的能力，成为了视若无睹、充耳不闻、麻木迟钝的成年人。
Hopefully, art education can help turn things around.
希望艺术教育有助于扭转这一局面。
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