Arts Position Statement

Excerpts from a speech to regional school board members in Virginia, March 25, 2009

I would like to address the fine and performing arts in public schools from two perspectives: one is the threat of tough budget times that the arts must endure, and the other is the hope that the arts will soon realize an elevated sense of purpose in future years. This is a topic very dear to me and I am glad to share it with you.

As expected in these difficult budget times, there is good news and there is bad news. The good news is that a significant portion of the economic stimulus package is heading to public schools. The bad news for many school districts is that any funds they receive are likely to provide only a portion of what is needed to avoid budget cuts. These are challenging times when difficult decisions must be made about how to best allocate resources.

As educators, parents, community leaders, and policymakers, we must look through the eyes of our children as we weigh each decision before us. The temptation to cut entire programs as an expedient way to realize savings within our budgets and must be avoided at all costs. This is no easy task as many valuable programs like the arts considered extensions of the core academic focus are at risk, especially programs like the visual arts, instrumental and choral music, drama, and even physical education.

The wonderful art display all of us had the opportunity to view is representative of thousands of pieces of student work created and submitted by your school districts. During the month of March hundreds of individual pieces of art are on display throughout Virginia including Dinwiddie County in banks, business, schools, and our government center in honor of Arts Education. The quality of student work is indicative of the creative streak that each of us as human beings inherently possesses. All that was required for this creativity to flow is the opportunity and encouragement from our teachers and mentors. Public schools nationwide play a vital role in the promotion of arts and aesthetic education and the arts are an important part of the human growth and development of our youth.

In Daniel Pink’s book, A Whole New Mind, the author describes a seismic shift under way in much of the advanced world we live in. Pink suggests that we are moving from an economy built on the logical, linear, computer-like capabilities of the Information Age to an economy and society built on the inventive, empathetic, big-picture capabilities of what is rising in its place, what Pink calls the Conceptual Age.

He describes the six new senses of the Conceptual Age in this way: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning. Pink says survival in the Conceptual Age will be contingent on our ability to detect patterns and opportunities, to create artistic and emotional beauty, to craft a meaningful narrative, and to combine seemingly unrelated ideas into something new. The “Right-Brain” qualities of inventiveness, empathy, joyfulness, and meaning, increasingly will determine who flourishes and who flounders. The book offers hope to the power of the human mind in an age of conceptualization. But remember, this is nothing new.
The fine and performing arts have always played an integral part in the growth and development of the human intellect: across cultures, across continents, and across time itself. Art and music have been part of mankind from the very beginning. Since nomadic peoples first sang and danced in early rituals, since hunters first painted their quarry on the walls of caves, since parents first acted out the stories of heroes for their children, the arts have described, defined, and deepened human experience.

Across the bridge of time, all people of the world have demonstrated an abiding need for meaning in order to connect time, space, body and spirit, intellect and emotion. People have created art to make connections and construct personal meaning from life experiences, to explain the seemingly unexplainable phenomena in life, to express joy, wonder, gratitude, or sorrow. The arts are one of humanity's deepest rivers of continuity, serving as a link that connects each new generation with those that have gone before.

The arts are everywhere in our present day lives, adding depth and dimension to our environment. Music and art are a powerful economic force in the global economy of the 21st century, from the visual creativity of fashion, to the designs that comprise every manufactured product, to the richness of traditional and contemporary architecture, to the performance and entertainment art form that has grown into multi-billion dollar industries.

At another level, the arts are society's gift to itself, linking hope to memory, inspiring courage, enriching our celebrations, and making our tragedies bearable. The arts have touched every generation that ever lived upon this planet because they bring us face to face with ourselves, and with what we sense lies beyond ourselves.

Music and art are deeply embedded in our daily lives and are an inseparable part of the human journey. If civilization is to continue to be both dynamic and nurturing, its success will ultimately depend on how well we develop the intellectual capacities of our children and our children's children. All of our students deserve access to the rich education and understanding that only the arts can provide, regardless of their background, talents, or limitations.

In an increasingly technological environment, the ability to perceive, interpret, understand, reflect, and evaluate artistic and aesthetic forms of expression is critical. Perhaps most important, the arts have deep intrinsic value. They are worth learning for their own sake, providing benefits not available through any other means. Because the arts transcend the multi-dimensional aspects of reality, there can be no substitute for an education in the arts, which provides bridges to things we can scarcely describe but respond to on the deepest levels. In elemental terms, no educational experience is complete without them.

Please continue to value the arts by demonstrating the leadership to maintain and support arts education in each of your schools. This is a decision that has long-lasting implications for the quality of life in future generations, and a decision you will not regret now or in the coming years.

The Need for Fine and Performing Arts in Schools

The fine and performing arts have always played an integral part in the growth and development of the human intellect: across cultures, across continents, and across time itself. Art and music have been part of mankind from the very beginning. Since nomadic peoples first sang and danced in early rituals, since hunters first painted their quarry on the walls of caves, since parents first acted out the stories of heroes for their children, the arts have described, defined, and deepened human experience.

Across the bridge of time, all people of the world have demonstrated an abiding need for meaning in order to connect time, space, body and spirit, intellect and emotion. People have created art to make connections and construct personal meaning from life experiences, to explain the seemingly unexplainable phenomena in life, to express joy, wonder, gratitude, or sorrow. The arts are one of humanity's deepest rivers of coninuity, serving as a link that connects each new generation with those that have gone before (National Standards for Arts Education, 1994).

The arts are everywhere in our present day lives, adding depth and dimension to our environment. Music and art are a powerful economic force in the global economy of the 21st century, from the visual creativity of fashion, to the designs that comprise every manufactured product, to the richness of traditional and contemporary architecture, to the performance and entertainment art form that has grown into multi-billion dollar industries.

At another level, the arts are society's gift to itself, linking hope to memory, inspiring courage, enriching our celebrations, and making our tragedies bearable. The arts have touched every generation that ever lived upon this planet because they bring us face to face with ourselves, and with what we sense lies beyond ourselves.

Music and art are deeply embedded in our daily lives and are an inseparable part of the human journey. If civilization is to continue to be both dynamic and nuturing, its success will ultimately depend on how well we develop the intellectual capacities of our children and our children's children. All of our students deserve access to the rich education and understanding that only the arts can provide, regardless of their background, talents, or limitations.

In an increasingly technological environment, the abililty to perceive, interpret, understand, reflect, and evaluate artistic and aesthetic forms of expression is critical. Perhaps most important, the arts have deep intrinsic value. They are worth learning for their own sake, providing benefits not available through any other means. Because the arts transcend the multi-dimensional aspects of reality, there can be no substitue for an education in the arts, which provides bridges to things we can scarcely describe but respond to on the deepest levels. In elemental terms, no educational experience is complete without them.

Please join me in every effort to support the fine and performing arts in America's public schools. Let's celbrate and acknowledge the talents and gifts that every child brings to our schools and give them a means to grow and develop intellectually. They will be better for it, and our society will be as well.