Arts Advocacy

There has never been a society without the arts. Everything that builds our community is somehow dependent upon an element of the arts. The seat you are sitting in, the font you are reading right now, the street signs that direct you across your city each day – an artist had a hand in each one of these. Artists are a necessary element of our society and a piece of the puzzle that makes our developing culture functional and also pleasant to view and operate in.

Art Education is pertinent to our youth to round out their ability to develop social and intellectual interaction. Within the bubble of what is defined as “the arts”, students have opportunities to grow in the areas of discipline, teamwork, attention to detail, creativity, resilience, time management, and building a growing and supporting community based around a common passion, among other things. Just as the quality of an effective teacher is their capacity for growth, the arts instill a lifelong engagement and yearning for knowledge, involvement, and progression.

The arts provide a distinct area of focus for students separate from the core subjects of math, science, English and history while also integrating elements from those courses into the curriculums. Art based courses are sometimes regarded as an “elective” or a “fun” course as opposed to something that students really have a need for. This may be the area where your child truly excels. While art is not for everyone, neither is science or math or history. A speaker from the video Arts and the Mind says, “Everyone needs to find that place where they are magnificent.” Art may be that place.

If that place is realized and recognized as a point of success for a student, the opportunities for employment in the arts is wider than is generally recognized. We live in a visual world where the artist’s fingerprint is eternally reoccurring. Film, advertising, art therapy, architecture, commercials, journalism, web design, and interior design are just a few of many successful career options in this field. The impact of being successful in the arts is tangible. Getting involved in the arts at a young age paves the way to the lifelong involvement and success. The creativity that is encouraged and developed in art education is the same kind of flexible thinking that it takes to evolve our society. Collaborations of artists or creative thinkers with scientists and others are what can enhance our technology and development to the next stage.

While art has the potential to be an individual exercise, it can also largely be a team endeavor. Being able to work with a team and creating a community of fellow artists as well as people outside of the field widens the possibilities for a student later in life. It is this community that will build up students and teachers, alike, to be well rounded and involved members of society. So much of testing and work in schools is increasingly individual. In the arts, students are encouraged to collaborate, help each other, and push each other past the boundaries and perceived confines of projects.
       Through the arts, students explore what it means to have an identity. They delve in to who they are as an individual and how to express it fluidly in tune with their individual rhythm. The arts provide a place where an eager learner can fine tune technical skills or they can experiment with mediums until something clicks. The arts create a universal language that can connect a student in Kansas to a student in Hong Kong. These skills and relationships are precious. It doesn’t matter where or when you begin, becoming involved with art education is an invaluable decision that will provide lifelong engagement and connection necessary for all children's development.

- Annika Wooton

Miss Greater Wichita 2015