Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Everything We Know About Whether and How the Arts Improve Lives
Createquity.: The platitudes are on the lips of every arts supporter, ready to be recalled at the first sign of a public hearing or potential funding cut. “The arts are essential – a necessity, not a luxury.” “The arts help kids learn.” “The arts are the foundation of the knowledge economy.” It feels good to say those things, especially if you’re someone who has spent a life in the arts. But are they actually true? Are we pulling a fast one on ourselves and our audience by saying them? Or are we doing a service to the world by spreading the good news?
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As artists it's inevitable that we've heard something along the lines of art won't get you anywhere, you'll never make any money, and you'll be a starving artist for your entire life. This stigma that comes with majoring in an artistic field pisses me off and I'm glad I've had mentors who've taught me to believe the opposite because it got me to where I stand today and gave me the balls to actually pursue this degree. Sure, maybe you're not curing cancer but art has been proven to have it's benefits, benefits that increase quality of life, and the article mentions a number of these. Therefore, Art is necessary and it does improve lives. Personally, I've done a lot of research on the effect of art on the younger generation of children and students. In this case, art helps tremendously with health, developmental stages in life, and even with gaining a better education. I know that one of the main reasons I was able to keep coming back to school even when things got rough was because I couldn't wait to get to my art class or go on over to rehearsal to create something I was proud of. Art was a portal I used that kept me coming back to school, keeping me motivated, and keeping me healthy. This summarizes my goal in life because, even though I'm not directly saving lives, all I really want to do is create art for the joy of the people. If, in my later career, I could inspire just one young, upcoming artist as much as the amazing artists I've met that have inspired me with their work, then that alone would be enough for me.
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