Where Are The Arts?

 

In all this discussion of educational reform one must ask, “Where are the arts?”  Are they considered part of the equation or are they merely regarded as “fluff” that receives token recognition?  With all the speculation and hoopla surrounding educational improvement the arts have been considered irrelevant and sent to the classroom corner.  Are they an active competitor or should they reside on the academic sidelines.  Are they doomed to be the water boy to the “real players” of mathematics, science, and reading?  Should the arts be part of educational reform or should they be quiet and grateful that they are not removed from schools altogether?

Art is in all our lives, from our head to our toes, from our birth to our death.  It affects our lives 24 hours a day and perhaps we don’t realize its influence upon our lives.  Our clothes, our automobiles, our hair, homes, and environment are all affected by aesthetics and the arts.  Art is not relegated to the peripheral of our existence it is incorporated into our daily lives.  

Not only does art affect every vicissitude of our lives, without art it is suggested that society may not thrive or survive.  Art provides an individual and societal catharsis that prospers the soul and enlightens and cultivates the world.  Art has a primary role along with truth, beauty, adventure, and peace in civilizing a populace.