The fight for preserving the arts in education

By Claire Cudahy

With the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) facing massive budget cuts this year — $43 million  were proposed in budget cuts along with the termination of the Arts in Education programs at the U.S. Department of Education — there came a great outcry from the Arts community.

On April 5, 2011, hundreds of supporters of the Arts gathered at Capitol Hill to show their dedication to National Arts Advocacy Day, a united effort to demonstrate to the government how important art is to our culture, children's education, and everyday lives.

Celebrities such as Alec Baldwin, Hill Harper, Kevin Spacey and Kerry Washington have volunteered their time as advocates for this cause.

"The arts are vital to the health of America's economy," said Robert L. Lynch, the president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. "Our nation's nonprofit arts industry supports 5.7 million jobs and generates $166.2 billion in annual economic activity. NEA dollars are the critical link to this economic impact. It makes no sense to cut federal funding for the arts when that small investment not only provides the necessary dollars to leverage much of the additional support for our country's arts sector but also contributes significantly to the economy at large."

Academy-Award winning actor Kevin Spacey delivered the 24th Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy on April 4, citing his own experience with Jack Lemmon as a mentor and asserting the importance of "sending the elevator back down" to help the younger generations make their way in the field of Art.

"I think arts and culture is without question the most important export that we exchange around the world," Spacey said. "Countries may go to war, but it is culture that unites us and teaches us and makes us better human beings."

A strong education in the Arts is a vital part of a child's maturation. An arts education program cultivates critical and creative thinking, improves school attendance, and can develop a child's self-esteem.

"[Art class] fosters creativity, giving students who are not successful in other areas a place to be successful, said Brooke Rogers, an art teacher at Harmony Elementary School in Blue Valley, KS.

"It teaches problem solving, cause and effect, skills for working together, and that there is more than one solution to a problem."

"Art gives students self esteem," Rogers continued. "They are all good at something in Art class

Most of all, I think it gives kids a place to relax and really enjoy being creative and working their minds. Kids who are not all that ‘artsy' still love coming to Art in my classroom."

Though budget cuts have made things difficult for the Arts, teachers have turned to their creative minds for solutions. For example, art teachers have turned more and more to recycled and household materials to use in their classrooms.

My own experience in art, music and theatre classes heighten my passion on this subject. Art and music were my favorite classes in elementary and middle school, providing a perfect escape from the monotony of math and science.

In theatre, I was forced to step outside of my comfort zone, something I both loved and hated. The Arts classes provided the perfect time to relax, while still stimulating my brain and helping me to develop creatively.

Without state-mandated testing for the Arts, however, public school districts (whose success is measured by these scores) find it easy to make slashes to the Arts department—something that has been a trend for many years now.

Art is a crucial part of the balance needed in a child's education. Without proper funding, many children — especially low-income children — are missing out on the development of their creativity and the intrinsic value of art, music and theatre.

To paraphrase Maya Angelou, sometimes we want kids to join street theatre so they won't join street gangs.

Art is culture, and culture is our heritage as well as something we want to continue developing for future generations.

As Spacey said in the closing of his recent speech at the Kennedy Center, "Ask not what your country can do for the Arts, ask what the Arts can do for the country."

Claire Cudahy is a junior English major.