Relevance of Informal Arts Education on Formal Visual Arts Education in Southeast Nigeria

The existence of informal arts education centres has raised a lot of controversy in arts education and practice in Nigeria. Often people do not regard the products of these informal arts centres as artists. They regard them as artisans even though most of them are being trained by formal artists and are being imbibed by their artistic traditions. It is, therefore, pertinent to investigate these informal arts centres and assess their existence and their influence on formal arts centres. This study was, therefore, designed to explore the assessment of informal arts education and its influence on formal art education in southeast Nigeria. The research questions were on the: educational relevance of informal arts education on formal art education, the influence of arts education on formal art education and on whether informal and formal art education can co-exist. The questionnaire was used to elicit vital information from the respondents. The findings revealed that the existence of informal arts education is relevant to formal art education, informal arts education influences formal art education and informal arts education can co-exist with formal art education. The paper recommended that the Ministries of Education should encourage and ensure that the formal art schools and informal arts centres co-exist.

The value of music in liberal arts education and integrating musicing into a music appreciation course

A liberal arts education for Christians is about finding God’s truth; therefore, Christian students need to be educated in a broad range of subjects, including music. While a music appreciation course is thought to be about gaining knowledge of music, some music scholars have pointed out that a music curriculum should involve students in experiencing the essence of music through doing. This article discusses God’s invitation for us to music and the value of music in a liberal arts education. In addition, it looks at the integration of a praxial approach (referred to here as musicing) in a music appreciation course.