Community

Visual art can provide opportunities for children to identify and construct their cultural identities.  This can be through themselves and their family learning a social and cultural importance to the visual arts. Connections through the community promote children's sense of competency and identity.  Communities can be enhanced through experiences with visual arts. If we can be more accustomed with the social and cultural diversity of young children it will open us up to more perspectives, values and truths (Fuemana-Foa'i, Pohio & Terreni, 2008).

Communities where children belong to provide opportunities for new learning. Children are able to reflect on diverse ways of doing things, make connections to places and spaces, establish various relationships and come across different points of view. All of these experiences expand children's lives and provide them with knowledge, dispositions and skills to undertake new challenges. The wider society of family and community is an important part of early childhood. Children's learning and development are promoted if the well-being of their families and community is supported. Children can make strong connections with everyday activities and special events with family, whānau,  local communities and cultures. Children should be encouraged to have interest and enjoyment in discovering an unknown wider world where people, images, objects, sounds, smells, tastes and languages are different from those at home. It would  also be good for children to gain knowledge about the roles of services and events in their community (Ministry of Education, 1996).

Support of children's art comes from parents, family as well as local community,  wider social and cultural society. Links to visual arts in the community show through Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory.  Children's development is affected by interpersonal factors such as personality,  motivation,  interests from family, etc (mesosystem). The family shapes actions, values,  interests, attitudes and behaviours and provides connecting links to the community for children. The exosystem level links to relationships with teachers, child care workers, artists, musicians with children in regards to visual arts in the community.  The community environments that could provide opportunities to experience and be involved with visual arts include museums, art galleries,  schools, early childhood centres, performing arts centres and community centres (Wright, 2012).