I find both fascinating and disturbing that schools across America, when given the task of cutting budgets, choose to cut the arts. When I say the arts, I am talking about classes in art, music, theater, literature, and even history. These are also known as humanities as described below.
The humanities are academic disciplines which study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytic, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural and social sciences.
Examples of the disciplines of the humanities are ancient and modern languages, literature, law, history, philosophy, religion, and visual and performing arts (including music). Additional subjects sometimes included in the humanities are technology, anthropology, area studies, communication studies, cultural studies, and linguistics, although these are often regarded as social sciences. Scholars working in the humanities are sometimes described as "humanists". However, that term also describes the philosophical position of humanism, which some "antihumanist" scholars in the humanities reject. (Wikipedia)
What amazes me is how some of these humanities are looked at as perks, or unnecessary fluff. Before I go on let me preface this: I can appreciate that I have never run a school district and there are many issues involved in trying to keep schools financially stable, let alone open. I have an appreciation that some schools have larger funding when compared to others which is a crying shame. I also have a deep appreciation of all education from the arts to math and science, anyone who knows me knows I am a huge science geek.
Now that I have said that let me get back to the issue at hand. Humanities are the very thing that make us human. They are how we relate to each other, and how to communicate in amazing ways. Recently there was a great special on a Choir teacher in New York that was forced to shut down his class do to lack in funding.
Ok so it was a Choir class...a perk right? The children and money should be focusing on other classes anyway right? The other classes are more important right? WRONG. There was a child in the class that rarely talked, was always shy in his classes, and clearly had poor self esteem. At a certain point in the class, after feeling like he was in a safe and fun environment he took a risk and asked to do a solo after turning down the opportunity before. He amazed his class and his teacher with his vocals. His other teachers noticed his self esteem build and his grades at school improve. Even his mother could not believe the change in her son. Below is his solo half way through "Eye of the Tiger"
Here is the Dateline piece on the teacher and the class below.
If you watch closely you can see it in their faces. These children are growing as human beings right in front of our eyes. They are learning to do what is it to be human. To show emotions, to relate to each other through experience. The children call themselves artists.
It pains me when people find out I am an artist and then tell me that they can't draw or that they don't have an artistic bone in their body. Immediately I wonder how the school system failed them in some ways, then I tell them they are an artist they just haven't trained at it as much as I have. We are all artists, there is no right or wrong in art, only different levels of mastery. Art is the expression of self. It is allowing others to see through your eyes or hear through your ears, understand through your words and so on. You can draw, even if they are scribbles right? My favorite drawings are done by those of children who are proud to run home with their art and put it up on the fridge. All because they love it and that is all that matters.
In a great book called Orbiting the Giant Hairball the former VP of Creative for Hallmark recollects about visiting school systems to talk to children about being creative. When he arrives he first meets the 1st graders and asks all of them,"Who here is an artist." With out a moment of hesitation all of the children reach to the sky shouting "Me Me Me." As the day goes in and he makes his way though to the 4th grade he asks the same question and gets less than half the class raising their hand, some of whom look around and raise their hand slowly or half way. By the time he gets to the oldest kids in 6th grade, he asked again, "Who here is an artist?" One child in the back looks around and gives a half attempt at raising his hand then puts his hand down."It took me 4 years to learn to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to learn to paint like a child." - Picasso
Somewhere along our path in school we loose that free thinking thought. We worry more about what others think. In order to be in any creative field one must be able to have courage to fail to improve or find any solution. Every song, recipe, painting, sketch, movie, law case, theory, experiment, and mathematical solution all came from problem solving and bettering every attempt until one has a solved piece in front of you. The Humanities build all the tools necessary for us to be successful in all in this exploration. The children in that NYC Choir class know all to well that they got more than singing lessons. What they got was self esteem, confidence, team building, passion, belonging, a reason to stay off the streets, inspiration, dreams, support to take risks, understanding that failing then trying again until you succeed is a good thing and so much more.
So next time you are in the car sing at the top of your lungs, scribble a drawing and hang it up somewhere. Go sit at a Piano and bang at the keys even if its not brilliant sweet sounds, it is your own and your form of self expression. If you want to advance more, then practice more, if your are trying to improve something, fail at it over and over until you find the solution. I assure you that you will get better over time. If you only could see how many bad drawings I do to get a good one you might understand, it all part of the creative process which I learned through humanities.
Below are some great posters promoting the arts in schools. Please pass on this post to help support the arts in schools.
