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Every Monday Matters: Save art in schools By Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | (MCT) 93 percent of people believe that the arts are vital to a well-rounded education. Regardless, only 29 percent of schools have been able to maintain time and funding for arts programs. Children spend more time at their locker than in art classes. People learn to be more tolerant and open when creating or appreciating art. Art promotes individuality, bolsters self-confidence, and improves overall academic performance. Art is a reflection of people and cultures since the beginning of time. Students who take 4 years of arts and music in high school score over 98 points higher on their SATs than students who took only a half year or less. TAKE ACTION TODAY 1. Create an original piece of art today. If you don't know how or where to start, visit your local craft store and ask for help. 2. Sign up for an art class with a friend. 3. Visit a local museum, art gallery, or sculpture garden. 4. Volunteer to support an art activity at a local school or senior citizen program. 5. Communicate with your school-district administrators or national legislators by either writing a letter of appreciation for current funding or requesting funding for the arts. Find and contact your federal, state, and local officials. Sit down with friends and family and take some time to be a kid again. With minimal supplies, you can create a unique piece of art and give it to someone as a gift. If creating art is not your thing, then support the people who do love it by visiting a museum, donating art supplies, buying art from a local artist, or writing a letter to the people who control the school budgets. Just as there are many ways you can express art, there are also many ways you can support and appreciate it. YOU MATTER I have so many things from my childhood that I miss — birthday parties with dancing clowns, mom's cooking, slumber parties, kick-the-can in the street, and the wonderment and limitless possibilities of everything the world has to offer. But one thing that I miss the most is doing art projects. I remember building the These are things that I loved about my childhood, and I am concerned that children today are not going to have the same great memories. With nearly 70 percent of schools not being able to maintain their arts programs, how is our youth going to have these experiences? Experiences that I feel are critical to developing the "full" person. A few months ago we found an elementary school in We met with the school principal and told her our idea. Fortunately, she loved it. With that, we secured a venue — their school cafeteria. It was the perfect-sized venue for the perfect price ... FREE. Part of our team was in charge of getting the art supplies. We bought really inexpensive brushes, canvas boards, and water-based paints. I think we spent a total of Then, we had an event team (of one person). He was in charge of creating the invitation, making sure we marketed the event properly, and that we had the proper personnel for the actual event. Finally, we had a food team (of two people). This team volunteered to prepare some finger-foods, bring bottles of water and juice, and a couple adult beverages. That was our squad. Pretty small. Pretty lean. But very effective. Then, we had the event... The afternoon started with bringing in 50 kids to have them create their masterpieces. They each painted two canvases. It was fun to see the students do what they do best...create. Were the paintings pretty? Not necessarily. But they were beautiful in their own way, and seeing the smiles on their faces added all the magic we needed. Once the paintings were finished, we started the art auction, with one of the fathers serving as the auctioneer (which was plenty entertaining in and of itself). One by one we auctioned off the art, some paintings going for I am not sharing this story to say "look what we did," rather I am hoping to inspire you to do the same at a school near you. The formula is simple: have kids make art, so we can sell the art, so they can continue to make more art. It just needs someone like you (and a couple of generous friends) to get the cycle started. Not to mention, you will have a lot of fun. Art matters. You matter.
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© 2009, The Modesto Bee Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Arnold Ahlert | |||||||||||
