Buy Your Kids Art, Not Drugs

What is art to kids these days? It's being cut from most public schools. It's becoming less and less of a priority as time goes on. It's much less of a way to make a living as it is a hobby, which is totally backwards.

So how do we get kids to even care about art anymore?

At two months old, AJ was already getting himself more culture than most adults. His first art show he went to was the Sacramento ArtStreet. It was located at an abandoned factory, so he was really on some underground art.

Mom and Dad had to make sure that he saw everything, so he wasn't going to be in the stroller. He was in his baby wrap all bundled up, and ready to stare deep into some obscure art. He even broke out of the wrap and had Dad get him up close to some pieces to really get immersed in the experience.

He was such a good boy the whole time. It must've taken about 2 hours to walk through the entire place and really get a good look at all of the work. He didn't fuss once. He was trying to talk, and was really investing his time into accepting this world around him.

The most memorable moment of the night was when this one specific art piece caught his eye. Work by a mixed media artist named Angela Tannehill really got him locked in.

Dad was holding him and looking at the work when he realized that AJ was paying attention to every piece of detail this piece offered. "After Us" had him stunned and silent for a good five minutes. Even as Dad moved on to the next piece, his eyes remained on it.

So what's the best thing a dad can do about it? How about bring that art into his home. The original piece was four feet tall and eight feet wide, so it was a tad bit too big for his room. So Dad went with the next best thing and got it printed on canvas.

As it hangs above his bed, it is a reminder to the moment he had his first real art experience. A two month old baby had the capability of immersing himself into a world unknown to him at the time. His little brain releasing endorphins at a speed no other baby his age could ever dream of.

Now at two years old, he can look at the canvas and name all of the animals on it. And by the age of five, he'll probably be able to describe some deeper meaning to it that nobody but himself will understand.