Art is very important!  It is visual communication. It develops fine motor skills, encourages creative thinking and originality and effects our everyday life in profound ways.  Understanding how visual communication influences nearly everything we do rests, I believe, in teaching students to have a good understanding of the elements and principles of art and how these are used in master art throughout the ages along with an understanding of a variety of techniques in media.  All of this can be taught if each lesson if approached holistically. Which is why, by the way, Visual Manna exists! To bring that holistic approach is a format that is fun to learn and easy to teach.