Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Speaking of Art

Imagine a world without the music of Mozart, the beauty of a Michelangelo sculpture, the social commentary of an Arthur Miller drama, the grace of a Balenchine ballet, or the melody of Rodgers and Hammerstein musical? Each of these forms of artistic expression - music, dance, visual arts, and theatre tell the stories of civilizations, societies, cultures, - in short - humanity.  As Shakespeare said, "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players."

As an arts in education "advocate," I spend a lot of time thinking about how to articulate the value of the arts in education to the non-arts oriented population.

The defense of an arts education inevitably leads to framing an argument that includes
- how a child's involvement in drama or theatre helps to develop their self confidence.
- how in the digital age of the 21st Century, the arts rely on human- face to face, eye to eye interaction thus developing ever diminishing interpersonal communication skills that include tone of voice, listening, and give and take of conversation and dialogue.
- how in an "instant text message, snap chat society",  developing technique and striving for mastery through  practice and  rehearsal, is not instant but  takes time and patience.

Sometimes, advocating for the value of an arts education  gets reduced to pointing out the quantifiable statistical evidence of higher test scores among students who  study music for example.

The importance of an arts education is often evaluated on the basis of the core skills sought after by 21st century employers such as collaboration, team work, flexibility, adaptability, leadership, problem solving and analysis guaranteeing security for a person's future.

The most common question high school parents ask me is, "How will my son or daughter make a living?"  This well meaning, understandable concern is driven by fear as if to say by encouraging a child's artistic impulses, creative imagination, or artistic passion - like opening Pandora's box -  something will be unleashed that is  uncontrollable - even dangerous.  Therefore some would say it is best not nurture a child's impulses or desires but redirect the child onto a path that will lead to "success."

Our schools have evolved into places that promote a culture of  competition leading to an environment that breeds anxiety-ridden kids  who fear that if they waste their time in arts electives, their academic record will be impacted. All of this is driven by the cost of higher education and the extreme pressure of college admissions. The value of  the arts is diminished based on a perceived notion that they are not as important as math or science.

But waging an argument against this line of thinking as an  arts advocate starts from a results and product oriented argument and misses something that I believe to be much more important.  As arts advocates we must articulate the value of the artistic process in education.  We must ask ourselves,

What kind of human beings do we want to shape for the future?

Exposure to the arts enlivens the spirit and provides a language and vocabulary with which to interpret the world.  This language is a form of communication that has a transformative power.
 The arts help to develop citizens of the world with empathy, appreciation for cultural diversity, and a heart for social justice in overcoming oppression. The arts provide tools to combat hatred and discrimination. As Albert Einstein said,
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
A process -oriented  arts education where students learn about who they are in relation to others is an arts program with purpose beyond skill development or financial security. If the programming has integrity, those aspects will likely be an outcome as well  - but helping a child to discover his or her purpose in life through artistic processes in the context of their lives not only matters, but I would say is essential to our world.  That is Theatre on Purpose.