How do the arts contribute to our development as human beings?

The arts encompass three main categories: visual (drawing, painting, sculpting, photography), performing (music, dance, theater), and literature (poetry, prose, drama). Some forms, such as opera, plays, and film, combine more than one category.
The arts are avenues of expression for creativity, which is an essential aspect of human nature. From prehistoric cave drawings to modern pop music, all human cultures and societies in every era have used what we now call the arts to express emotion, to pass on the stories of their civilizations, to preserve tradition, and for healing.
Participation in the arts from an early age helps tremendously in our development as human beings. For example, sculpting with clay, coloring with crayons or fingerpaints, and dancing help young children develop important motor skills. By listening to stories, humans both young and old over the ages have learned the traditional mythologies of their cultures and the morals and lessons embedded within the tales. The arts are also an avenue of instruction. Literature, for example, preserves and passes on the thoughts of the authors long past their own lifetimes.
The arts have also long contributed to human development through the role they play in many cultures in rituals of healing and rites of passage, in which singing and dancing take on sacred meaning. In modern societies, art and music therapy are recognized as important modalities that can help people overcome emotional difficulties and mental illness.