1Department of Art and Industrial Design, School of Environmental Studies, Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa, Nasarawa State, Nigeria
2Department of Fine Arts and Industrial Design, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Delta State University of Science and Technology, Ozoro, Delta State, Nigeria
3Department of Fine and Applied Arts, School of Vocation & Technical Education, College of Education Akwanga, Nasarawa State, Nigeria.
It is human nature to explore different possibilities to improve social and economic development. Such possibilities are further improved upon for sustainable transformation of human. Skills acquisition and mastery is fundamental in all human setting. Achieving human development can be comfortably realised through the visual arts and design. Currently, visual arts and design which includes the intellects, technical proficiencies are been realised through graphics, ceramics and textiles designing. These areas of art and design practices are fertile grounds for acquiring basic skills and proficiency development. This paper therefore, explores the roles of art and design in skills acquisition and development in the fields of art, designing, engineering, science and technology. It concludes that art and design as indispensable tools applied by humans is a fulcrum for sustainable socio-economic development that can no longer be ignored. It recommends the inclusion and continuous reviewing of art and design curriculum in schools in order to sustain economic, industrial and nation development in human societies.
Art is more about us and what surrounds us. In the realm of philosophy, humans and every other worldly thing is art as created by a divinity. Art and design products are applied for everyday activities. Human reasoning and actions goes through a cycle of intellectual reconsiderations, generation, reinvention, making and replications. In this ways, art serves as a tool for human development and practices even when it is misunderstood by the uniformed persons. While the issue of the role art plays in human’s development remains contentious, the significance of art in relation to skill expansion and economic transformation cannot be wished away (Wally 1987, Bisalla, et al. 2022).
The roles of Art and Design in socio-economic Development
Art is both process and product. A product of art is the by-product of visual imagery. Buildings, utensils and others are catergorised as products. Individuals or set of individuals in both ancient and contemporary times have used art and design products in advancing human culture. Societies are recognized through relics or cultures which were conceived through Art (Wangboje, 1982). Art is a fulcrum for technology wherein machines are applied in production of goods in large quantity (Rishante, 1998). Art and design are sustainers of industrialization because artists and designers generate prospects, scientist and technologist investigate, design and construct for functional purpose. The production and supplies of goods and services are not without the contribution of artist and designers. The contribution of a designer or an artist is, therefore indispensable when it comes to involvement of skillful works in technology and architecture. Where art is recognised, it anticipates and offer creative intellect as a sustainable tool of society’s development. It is apt to point out that new technology may be attained through active art and design initiatives. Art and design remains the engine room in which a true revolutionary growth and development may be built. The roles of art and design on the stable of economic development cannot be overstated. It is worthy to note that human creative imagination includes standards, intents, artistic results, collective sentiments, and individual awareness. The end result will yields to skill expansion and global economic transformation (Yunus 2012, Williams 2020).Mamani (2011) states that Building technology, Architectural technology, engineering technology, Agricultural technology and Home-economics are disciplines that interweaves with art because they cannot function efficiently without it. Hence, society should integrate art in their developmental programs. This will go a long way to stimulate children’s sense of creativity in becoming engineers, architects, scientists, economists and industrialists to the growth and development of the world. Art and design is where individual learns to coordinate both mind and hands in manufacturing goods that provide services. This means application of knowledge, processes and products. Art remains a necessary component of science. Where artist makes innovations through assessment and observation, scientists establishes instrument to develop visual perception in research and development. While artists postulate through creative visual submissions, and scientists make them feasible through research. For instance, the idea of flying an airplane was visually conceived in Leonardo Da Vinci’s drawings and it took over four hundred years for science and technology to realise the idea. Similarly, the idea of shooting a rocket into the moon was first planned by an artist (Talabi 1991, Horton Jr, eta’l 2023, Birsel,eta’l 2023 and Sawyer,eta’l 2024). Being that art is a straight-forward exercise and a general language for communication, which humans need to understand and apply it daily as product for human satisfaction. Hence, it should be part of the general educational curriculum as the right tool in building cohesion and national development by the government and stakeholders (Akolo 2000, Gibson & Ewing 2020, Du, eta’l. 2024).
Roles of Art and Design in Industrial Development
While it is sometimes seen as craft, art is the pivot on which both the creative and applied arts operate. The creative arts; performing arts, and industrial design are, in a sense, basis for technological and scientific developments. In other words, computerisation would not be what it is without the contribution of art and design. Artists and industrial designers play significant roles at every point in the development of industrial or technological products. This includes mechanical functioning of modules at all stages as it comprises artists and designers imagination and presentation. The packaging of products is pre-arranged to embrace different components in an organised ways. For example, graphic artists carry out the task of creating suitable package designs for effective marketing of products that are aesthetically pleasing to buyers. For instance, the artist/designer who creates and advances product design from the start bear its subsistence and legitimacy through reproduction of works. Methods and classifications of devices persistently are possibly the origins of the drive as embarked upon by the experts, which also involve creative artistic application. Industrialised nations appeared to appreciate the parts and significant roles played by artists and designers in the quest for scientific and technical engineering expansion. The provision is determined by the physical growth of individual’s world and essential needs, leading to industrial development. Therefore visual art and industrial design evolved the intellectual and personality of a distinct to further expand the visual language of the initiate (Nwoko 2006, Ali Elfa & Dawood 2023, Soori, eta’l 2023, Hu eta’l 2021). The impact of art on social enhancement is indispensable since it is an instrument and topic for learner’s lingua Franca, as it enables the child to comprehend decisions uncorrupted. Other subjects apply visual drawings to aid teaching and learning. Consequently the knowledge of art should be willfully imparted to advance the creative competence of a child so as to assist the child to identify and appreciate both 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional forms for symbolic interpretation. Besides, art purifies the mind of a learner with the understanding of corporal properties and resources. It equally improves the learners’ skill with careful contemplations to specify certain practices in architecture and engineering courses. It also develops artistic awareness, increase values, understanding of fundamentals of design, and it uses (Bisalla 2019, Gombrich 2023, Fan e’tal 2023, Donahue & Stuart 2024, Sawyer e’tal 2024).
Significance of Art in Society
There are numerous benefits that can be derived from the value of art in the society. This includes; living a decent life among artist and clients. The Benin art, also known as “Court art” were created for enjoyment of the “Oba”, that is, the King and wealthy people in the society.
Source: Collections of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art
Some Artists are well-paid for producing works of art as sources of income. Such enterprises enable artists to be self-reliant. The graphic artist designs billboards, package designs for products and textbook illustrations. Sculptors produce artificial human body parts for patients who lost them to accidents. They also beautify public buildings, city centres with mosaic as well as reliefs and sculptures in the round in private and public places. They also produce replicas of devices, automobiles and design buildings using plaster of Paris, Metal and Cement (Clarke, 2006, Huhmarniemi & Jokola 2020, Natarajan, eta’l (2022). It is evident that art and inventiveness have concentrated on the evolution of industrial materials and it usage. Products of art are visible in offices and homes; kitchen utensils, communication gadgets, automobiles, and others. Art is an instrument use in transformation process in every society through multi-media advertisements in disseminating information by creating awareness in the society. Art is charged with the burden to inspire, effect creativity, modernization and discovery (Robin 1990, Bisalla eta’l 2022, Batorfy & Urban 2020, Juska 2021, Landa 2021, Kushwaha, eta’l 2020, Zhao, eta’l 2021).
Source: www.bluemedia.com/billboard advertising
It is perceived that Art education divulges knowledge for self-assurance and also releases one from pleasure-seeking, antipathy and disdain. Art eradicates self-destructive confidence of the teen and enables the beginner to carry out a task with the zeal of conception, discoveries for self-actualization and fulfillment through exploration and exploitation of ranges of art materials or media practices and production.
Role of Art in Proficiency and Personality Actualization
It is expected that when one choses art as a career one passes through a total transformation in creativity for earning a living and the vision of a teenager is characteristically intended at remuneration. Art and design activities became a way to discover usual tendencies by offering people’s accomplishments and conveying responsibilities such as theme leader. An individual standing for the group is responsible for class work and working materials. In the first perceptive stage, the child learns and observes certain effects as the sensual organs are functioning. Art exploits such a stage by involving the child in drawing or sculpting things of his choice. The second stage is the depictive stage. At this stage the child sees any object as representational and is ready to achieve his innovative and artistic style skillfully. There is also an establishment for each essential material that is required to facilitate and improve the child properly. It is also a stage where a usual setting is generated for adequate resources for learning. The third stage in a child developmental stage is the inquisitive stage. This is when the child wants to know the how, what, which and who made what. The child’s difficulties in rational and considerate cognitive thinking are dynamically complex. So the child is capable of thinking, linking and reconciling (Niklsson 2024, Alisherovna 2024, Chadwick 2024 and Alghufli 2024). In that regard the child will have the ability to see the physical features of forms in details. This provokes art to take a lead as the child participates in life drawings and representation of objects in realistic forms; this is when the child begins to appreciate the aesthetics in art logically. Through this there will be a need for provision of art materials and supervision in order to motivate and increase abilities, skills art proceedings, and art developments as the child increases in knowledge and perception (Talabi 1991, Saracho 2023, Inomjonovna 2023, Matthew 2021, Fischer 2020). Leonardo Da Vinci in his “recommence”, strained his skill by designing tools of war, developed bridges, siege machines, bombs, mortars, war boats, and techniques of mining, simple tanks, catapults, weaponries, and other firearms. Today, the creative and well-read talents of the artists are extended to the creation of range of products, like household objects, mechanized farm implements, cars, air crafts and ships. The automobile industries elaborate the services of artist in designing cars with aesthetic feature (Bisalla & Ibrahim, 2002).
Art as a Vocation
There are various specialisation areas in art and design such as fashion design and tailoring, photography, graphic design, painting and illustration, sculpture, ceramic, textile design, craftsmanship, filmmaking, literature and music among others. Notably, any practice of human manifestation that demands mainly for the intellect of sight can be viewed as art and design. It is a practice and invention of the setting as the setting becomes enormous spur to the actual reality of visual arts. Visual arts practice instigates creativity and resourcefulness which offer substantial stages for creative investigation that could results to growth, dynamism and building aptitude. It also offers significant lineage for technology and innovative development that could propel emerging markets into communal and exciting financial objectivity. No thoughtful artist is indolent or jobless except if the artist does not acquire and learn any of the creative skills in visual art professional practices (Williams 2020, Kimmel & Groth 2024 and Steen 2023).
CONCLUSION
The explanation given on the significance of Art and Design is broken into parts in human and industrial aspects in the field of engineering, science, and creative ideas. Additionally, it highlighted some socio-economic issue in human society. In this sense, the authors concludes that art and design are indispensable tools needed by humans to function and that it role as a tool for social economic development can no longer be ignored. The authors recommend for a continuing review of art and Design curriculum in all levels of schools to sustain economic, industrial and nation development of human societies.
REFERENCE
Aliyu Mohammed Bisalla, Akprara Amos Osakor & Omame Sadique Oboshi, Exploring The Roles Of Art And Design In Skills Acquisition And Socio-Economic Development, Int. J. Sci. R. Tech., 2024, 1 (12), 284-289. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14559358