There is no question that activities like this have a wonderful impact on students, as they help develop imagination and express thoughts. There are, however, some doubts about how rational and useful art classes are for high school.
On the one hand, this implementation of compulsory art lessons is a perfect way for teens to get some rest from other subjects that are more complicated. Art does not require difficult calculations and a lot of effort. Furthermore, it is good for mental state, as painting helps to get distracted from problems in real life and calm down. Indeed, kids can find a new hobby.
On the other hand, art is not for everyone. You can not force kids to love painting only because it is a school discipline. What is more, it may lead to bad attendance or even skipped classes by those children who do not enjoy drawing. In fact, it also influences GPA, so pupils with bad results in art may have trouble with the general picture of education.
It is obvious that some people have talent in this field, while others face challenges doing the same tasks. In this case, it can be considered as unequal abilities. To avoid these disadvantages, I think it would be great to give children a choice of what exactly their soul lies to.
To sum up, I believe that kids of this age are old enough to understand their own needs and interests, which is why they have to choose what is best for them.