Would you please tell me the suggested manner in which to educate an
artistically talented seven year old. Every person who comes in
contact with this child's work exclaims at the talent. Since he was
preverbal he has drawn, with a preference for ink, and the detail has
been breathtaking. I have observed that as he gets older he appears to
be moving more toward the  "commercially" accepted form of art and
less reality and observation... in other words mediocrity is setting
in. I have looked for an art education/ tutor in his area but they are
not necessarily quaified to instruct a child. Any suggestions?

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Clarification of Question by shayroni-ga on 23 May 2004 03:33 PDT

Thank you for you comment... this child is not my child, I simply
would like to know a way to expose him to art... so that he might
expand his horizons and be educated in art. I have no ability but
cannot believe that simply allowing him to sit and simmer in his own
juices will be productive. It wouldn't be so intellectually or
emotionally - why artistically?

Your question is confusing.  It sounds like your child has strong
*technical* drawing skill (ie. rendering in realistic fashion), and as
he is getting older he is exploring more expressive forms or he is not
advancing as quickly as you would like him to.  You want to find a way
to constrict him to only drawing technically and not expressively,
correct?  Why on earth would you want to control the creative output
of a seven year old to that degree?  Kids naturally gravitate to what
makes them happy, you can't make an artist out of somebody that has
loads of technical skill but no desire to create art.  It sounds as if
your son is moving towards making art, and I implore you, as an
artist, please please don't hamper his creative journey.  Your duty to
him as a parent is to support his creative desires and to introduce
him to new ways of creating, but to never ever control the direction
he takes.

I demonstrated some precocious artistic abilities when I was a
youngster. My parents could not afford a tutor, but they enrolled me
in some children's art classes at a local museum, where (as a member
of a group) I was able to dabble in pottery-making, oil painting,
watercolors, weaving, serigraphy, and many other media under the
supervision of some very talented museum volunteers. It was delightful
and mind-expanding, and the experience helped me to feel more
confident in my artistic abilities while acquiring some useful
techniques.

One of our kids is mathematically gifted. We were amazed when, at age
four, he could add two 3-digit figures in his head about as fast as we
could do it on paper. The schools gave him what they could, calling it
"enrichment" and "accelleration," but we always felt that we should be
doing more for him. In junior high they bussed him to the high school
for math, but when he got to high school, there was no system (or
money) to bus him to a college in our state. We felt terrible until we
spoke to a professor at Johns Hopkins. This guy told us that there was
nothing anyone could do to advance a talent. If the kid has one, and
is inclined to use it, then everything takes care of itself. He said
99% of the "geniuses" that get pushed ahead by their parents end up as
average students. (And average is never bad.) Our son got a high score
on the math part of the SAT and this, along with good grades, got him
into a great math school with a scholarship. We went to visit him on
parents' weekend and met his new friends, a flock of quiet little math
wizzards just like him. We felt like we had raised an exotic bird and
released him into a world neither of us will ever know or understand.
He's happy as a clam and we've stopped worrying. I'm sure this
advice/experience applies to artistic ability as well. If your kid's
got it, and wants to use it, nothing can ever take that away. Paper
and pencils are much cheaper than tutors. And never forget that a
particular talent at one age may be the precursor of a different
talent at another age, i.e, your kid might be a budding geologist,
biologist, or engineer. The one great strength of the American
education system is that it leaves all the doors open...for all of our
lives.

These are terrific comments and I agree with everything that's been
said however, my question is becoming clarified through your comments!
What I really wanted was an answer to the question about how to
educate an artistically talented seven year old. Having been a seven
year old I am not artistically talented, and, I wouldn't have a clue
beyond providing the tools...and I couldn't be sure they would be the
right tools... As for the tutors, the child lives in a very rural area
and beyond his school Art Teacher there really aren't any...so, I am
glad you point out they are of little significance. Also, I am pleased
to hear that you were given advice, by an educator, to leave him alone
and he will blossom. This is most heartening because my fear is...what
if I could have done something to help this child and didn't?