Why would funding the arts be important?

Well in general the arts, no matter how benign, are all of importance. The arts are important for students of all ages as a way to express and understand themselves. For some, art if a living. Theyre way to make money to survive, or theyre way to help others along. Many believe that the arts are just centered on drawing, painting and maybe ceramics. The arts consist of many things. Such as painting, sculpting, dance, drawing, music of any kind, and so many more. For example, in Peoria High School, we have ceramics, painting, drawing, visual arts, music, dance, choir, hair braiding, barbering, cosmetics, creative writing, and I believe sculpting and culinary arts as of the year 2015. All of those classes I just mentioned are a type of art! Some of them have the word art in the name. The reason play such an important role for students is because the arts are a great way for them to express and find themselves. One of the teachers here at PHS explained how art was his outlet for emotions that he didnt fully understand or to help him gain a perspective on things. He also explains that he uses art to express things that could not simply be put into words. The same teacher also gives an interesting idea as to why art would be important for students. The reason being that many people are kinesthetic learners, that studio arts are one way to reach these learners. He goes on to explain that the arts can be incorporated in core classes to help teach concepts that that might not be easily understood. Continuing, he gives a good point that we live in a visual world, so the better we understand the visual language, the better we can participate in the world. (Mr S) Another teacher I had the pleasure to speak with gave some points on how the arts are great skills in the sense that they help us with our

problem solving and higher order thinking. He also gave a great example that art can be linked to more real world subjects like fixing something that is broken. The story being that he fixed his lawn mower by linking how to fix a kiln, find the area thats broken then fix that specific area. He also gave a statistic that those who can read music do better on standardized tests. (Mr. X) My final face to face source gave a brief explanation that art helps link us to cultures. (Mr. Woodhall) Art is also a great way to improve grades in other classes and even attendance for students as well as sharpen critical and creative thinking. A study concluded that creativity and innovation utilized in artistic process will be highly valued by employers in the U.S. in the coming years as it shifts into a global economy. Students even improve their own self-image due to being involved with the arts in some way. (http://www.educationfund.org/programs/artoffoundobjects/importanceofartseducation/) Students who studying arts of any kind continue to outperform non-arts students on the SAT. According to the College Board's 2001 College-Bound Seniors, students with more than 4 years of arts study scored 68 points higher on the verbal section and 51 points higher on the math section of the SAT than students with no arts course work Arts education has been proven to help students increase cognitive development, inspire motivation and discipline, develop confidence and inventiveness, and hone communication and problem-solving skills (http://www.tcg.org/advocacy/importance.cfm) Now Im sure the question of whether art can lead to a good career are floating around every which way anyone looks, but rest assured there are plenty of jobs that require the arts. Some of the more basic jobs being teachers and commercial designers

and other jobs ranging from game designers to singers. In an interview with Mr S, I asked if he felt that one could survive off a career involving art and he responded with I am. He said that there are tons of jobs that require some kind of art skill. He also explained that many people dont understand that graphic design is one of the fastest growing careers out there. He made the point that things are continuously becoming more digital and that any job requires creativity and anyone with an art degree will succeed. Any job in advertising for cooperation, art therapy, ect. Its not just be an artist painting in a run-down apartment. Mr. Woodhall said There are so many careers that involve art. As a pure fine arts artist, its hard, but do-able. Some can persevere and make something others are interested in to the point that they get the right amount of attention. He also mentions marketing or rather getting help from other artists to get yourself known. He ends with explaining that designing uniforms and other things graphically are also art related jobs. Mr. X went into talking about marketing purposes showing that 3 outta 3 artists are saying you could get a job in simply making a billboard that people drive by daily. Other people who have major careers outside of art teaching would be game artists like Justin Thomas, Michael Boon, Chance Glasco, Ursula Escher who were all artists behind the call of duty games or Terry Smith and Steve Caterson who were the artists behind God of War or even the game designer David Jaffe. Along with game designing, just regular artists who make their living from selling painting like Stormy Lee Monday who I had the pleasure of going to one of his shows in the early summer. Ever people who write stories like Voltaire and Truman Capote get money from their stories.Or people who do the illustrations on, or illustrastions in childerns books.

Now a lot of people can argue that math, science, and Lititure/English is far more important than arts. Its true that they are very important to know. But did you ever notice that these subjects tend to be hand and hand with art. When it comes to math, using measurements to know how big a drawing needs to be or to be able to sketch a drawing onto a canvas, using basic shapes like squares, rectangles and triangles to start the sketch, even using math to figure out tax and the money that you will get for the job,how much are you willing to pay for supplies and what money will go to food. English and art are centered with jobs. Magazine articles, books, a flyer or billboard, or even ads on tv all need proper English and grammer. As far as science goes, lets think hair dyes, closthing dyes, and salts and sugars to create a pattern. Even history has a place with art because art IS history. It can be cave drawings to pottery. Art is just like math, its everywhere. Just in Illinois, our funding has hit a major drop since 2010. Though Governor Pat Quinn increased the art funding budget on July 10th for the Illinois Arts Council, it doesnt rank anywhere near where it was in 2007. Back then it was roughly $21.9 million and now its around $10.1million. This is a slight improvement from the $8.2 million in the year 2013. We are still off by around $11.8 million from 2007. The state invested $21.9 million in 2012 dollars. Illinois has cut investment for the council by around 54%. Currently Illinois is ranking the 21st when it comes to spending money on the arts. Illinois now invests around 79 per person within the Illinois Arts Council. We are ranked 25 below national average for investment in the arts, which tops off at $1.04. (http://www.artsalliance.org/research/facts-about-arts-funding-illinois).