Why Invest in Art Education?
...Because SCIENCE! Sixty years ago, NASA commissioned a study on the nature of innovative thinking. In the first stage of the study, 1,600 3 - 5-year-old children were given a test that had initially been developed for NASA recruits. Shockingly, 98% of the young students scored at a creative genius level. Five years later, only 30% scored at creative genius level. Another five years passed, and the amount of subjects meeting the creative genius criteria dropped to 12%. When the group was tested one final time as adults, a mere 2% scored at creative genius level. NASA's findings highlight the necessity of promoting and nurturing the innate creativity that all humans are born with before they're suppressed by the real world. Today, business leaders say that creativity, critical thinking, and the ability to solve problems are the top character traits they seek in potential employees. So yes, art is beautiful, and it's a lot of fun to make. But it's also an essential piece of the bigger picture that sets up students for success as they grow into their future selves.
A child whose natural artistic spark and curiosity are nurtured and kept alive will grow into an adult who isn't afraid to fearlessly think outside the box and gleefully color outside of the lines.
Reid Street Studio provides ongoing curriculum-based, multi-level art classes to students throughout the greater Kenosha community. We believe that EVERYONE is capable of creating something beautiful, and it is our mission to guide each of our students to find their creative niche and appreciate the role their individual talents play in the unique value they bring to the world.
Art education leads to academic success that lasts into adulthood. As a child progresses through school, they often begin to squash their natural instinct for divergent, generative, or independent thought in order to fit in. Art is crucial for keeping the pathway to creativity open. It requires critical thinking, problem-solving, planning ahead, and concentration.
Students involved in visual arts programs learn to be more self-aware, to have a better sense of confidence and the ability to express themselves, and feel more connected to a sense of greater community and belonging. Students who are involved in the arts at the middle and high school level are five times less likely to drop out of school, face far fewer disciplinary issues, and excel in other areas of academic achievement, including higher scores on college-level entrance exams.
Reid Street Studio is dedicated to discovering and nurturing artistic talent. We set up our students for lifelong success with the confidence to be and think for themselves by providing a warm, inviting space that encourages reflection and self-expression through various art forms. Step into our studio and create brilliance.
ART IS MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE.
Meet the Teacher
Emiko Chiappetta is a Kenosha native, a proud graduate of St. Norbert College (shout-out to my fellow art majors!) and Cardinal Stritch University, and a Lifetime License-certified teacher with 14 years of classroom experience.
Emiko began her career in West Allis teaching 4th and 5th grade before moving to KUSD and teaching kindergarten and second grade at Southport Elementary. Most recently, Emiko was the middle school and high school art teacher at St. Joseph Catholic Academy. She has led classes of 90 and classes of one, she survived 2020 and teaching an entire 7th grade art class via Zoom, and she was once, many moons ago, tasked with transforming a cafeteria, stage, and library into one large, functional classroom space in less than 48 hours. And for the record, she killed it. At this point, there is not a whole lot that fazes her when it comes to working with kids. Technically, Emiko likes middle schoolers the best (a bold statement, she knows), but she hasn't met a grade level she doesn't like hanging out with.
​
When Emiko isn't teaching, freelancing, drawing things, or being an otherwise responsible adult, she can usually be found spending time with her three wildly delightful sons, her shoe-slinging husband, and the other love of her life - her dog, Fiona. Emiko also loves to read, cook (but not bake, unless it's chocolate chip cookies), sit in the sun and do absolutely nothing, stress-clean, and brainstorm t-shirt phrases that would be really funny if she ever got around to actually making them.
​
Most importantly, Emiko believes that every one of her students, past and present, deserve the very best that life has to offer, and is passionate about meeting kids where they're at and helping them grow into the greatest possible version of themselves.