Friday, November 15, 2013
Do U.S. Arts Suffer From A Lack of Working Class Voices?
Butts In the Seats: There is an ongoing conversation that all children be exposed to the arts and be taught creative expression in school. While affluent communities are no guarantee of arts education in schools, there is a better chance of experiencing the arts in an affluent school district.
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6 comments:
I went to an inner-city middle school in NYC, and can say for a fact that there is minimal emphasis on the arts. The concern, mainly, was keeping the school at a state exam passing rate of above 50% and keeping the school from being shut down due to low test scores and gang violence. There was literally not enough money to consider the arts as a issue of importance when the main concern was the low rate of literacy among 8th graders.
When I moved to a more fortunate high school, there was a tremendous difference in emphasis on (and relatedly, appreciation for) the arts. There is admittedly often a financial consideration in a pursuit of the arts. While there isn't an actively or straightforwardly push for a more affordable arts education, I think all groups stand to gain perspective from diversity and certainly advocate for it.
I think it is true in some cases that more privileged districts and schools can put more emphasis on the arts but I also think it depend on what the culture is around you as well. While it may be that in other states lower end schools don't put much emphasis on the arts, in Texas even lower end schools put emphasis especially on theatre, dance, and band. Furthermore, art is not just found in school but on the streets as well. I think that if more of middle class wanted to be professionally trained they could be provided that they search for the right resources to do so.
This is actually something that I had thought a lot about during my application and portfolio review process last year. The cost of the education itself aside, it cost a lot just to go through the process of portfolio reviews (same case for students auditioning for performance programs). While there are ways to potentially get around the expenses (in some cases you could set up a skype interview), a regular application process to a program like this includes the cost of travel to the school or regional audition, likely a hotel room for at least one night, and some schools have audition fees. Even before the price of the education is considered, there are finical obstacles that surely make it challenging for people of lower demographics to even apply to this types of arts education.
Yes, I think that the arts are not socioeconomically diverse enough and yes, I think that this is a problem. As our new president, in his inaugural address said something like, diversity is important because it means people from many different perspectives are coming together and counteracting each others intrinsic biases. It is sad that there is not an emphasis on arts for lower income students because art is something that can be taught to anyone, most people enjoy it, it doesn't have to be expensive and it can enrich peoples lives, give them an outlet to express and grow. Without people from many different backgrounds, art is just preaching to the choir, it is looping and not saying anything new and then it is useless and masturbatory. We need to hear new stories and have new people thinking about what the purpose of art is and how it can help in the world. I don't know how to encourage people from different backgrounds to join the arts, you might not make a lot of money doing it and it is not a stable career but I do think it is important and if we want the arts to survive in this country we will get everyone invested in them.
I think that this is absolutely a huge problem. What gives art excitement and new life are the multiple voices and mind that create and present their ideas and passions to us. I agree that culture does have something to do with whether or not people have access or an interest in the arts. But. Is it not the jobs of schools to open up that culture to the young minds of the next generations. Students learn about math, science, history, English, languages and many other things why is art not something that is viewed as being vital to a students curriculum. Maybe if it was there would be a little bit more diversity.
I was just talking to a friend about how expensive art school is and it just doesn't make sense. It cuts out regular folk or it puts you into a lot of debt. Also, artists usually don't make that much money, so overall it just really doesn't make sense. Also, why do art when you know it is never going to be profitable? Sad, but usually pretty true. You don't go into the arts to make money -- you do it because you love it. But also frustratingly this makes it impossible for many of people to do.Then I found this article. The author poses some good questions at the end -- does programming not connect to audiences because of the privileged backgrounds that many artists come from or do those with money have the influence over what is being shown/performed/made, etc.? I think there are artists from all walks of life, despite expenses, lack of funding, etc. I think maybe the second question is more worth exploring -- do those who fund the arts control the arts? I'm not sure -- to an extent, certainly. But there are still performances, art spaces, shows, etc. out there doing their thing despite financial instability. Interesting questions. I'm sure there are some very interesting answers out there with more research. I'd be interested to hear what is found.
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