When a community learns that funds may be cut for arts programs in the schools - what can be done? What should the reaction be? Here is the answer of one community to such a proposal:<P><B>LACK OF FUNDING MAY CUT SCHOOL PROGRAMS</B><P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Hundreds of parents filed into Woodmont Middle School with their concerns about their children's classes. They were wondering about the 15 percent across-the-board state budget cut proposed by Gov. Jim Hodges.<P>"Right now, the way the budget is shaping up in the statehouse, is that we won't have the money next year," Harner told News 4's Nigel Robertson.<P>The status of funding for some programs like the nationally recognized Fine Arts Center is unclear. The center is a place for students to hone their skills in subjects such as music, dance, and theater.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/wyff/20010307/lo/329714_1.html" TARGET=_blank><B>MORE...</B></A><P><BR>

I like this bit:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>But if the parents have it their way, the songs, dances and theatrics of their children will not go away without a fight.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>I think people need to voice their opinions. Now, if we let this slide, it turns into a vicious cycle, with kids not taught to appreciate the arts turning into adults who won't support the arts as a priority.

Well, the central question, of course, is:<P> "Is our children learning?"<P>I don't mean this as a partisan slam (well, OK, maybe a <I>little</I>).<P>When I was teaching college, some of my students objected strenuously to the fact that I counted off for spelling errors ("This isn't English class," they'd say, as if the purpose of English class were to teach them to use correct English in English class). The purpose, of course, was to get them to make correct English (those of you from other parts of the world, feel free to mentally substitute your native language for "English". This includes you, Stuart) an intrinsic part of their being, so that the skills would be there automatically when they were needed.<P>As far as I can tell, President Bush is perfectly capable of using the language well, but -- like so many Americans -- never truly assimilated those skills. As a result, when he was under stress he made a basic error that made him appear ignorant and uneducated.<P>College, of course, was really too late to be trying to inculcate these values; they really must be instilled in high school/middle school/grade school. It's the same with art; if they don't learn to appreciate it early in life, the most they can hope for as adults (most of them, anyway) is a surface appreciation. This is why arts education is vital.<BR><p>[This message has been edited by salzberg (edited March 08, 2001).]

I think that the arts are not only something to be appreciated, absorbed, studied, conveyed, but also an outlet for the self.<P>So many times in my life when either under stress or ecstatic, I have turned to art as an expression for myself. I pick up my pen to give life to a poem or my brush to give life to a canvas. This is almost a daily occurrence. <P>Sometimes the enjoyment of art is passive - I put on a Monteverdi opus or I view a ballet. But it is just as important to be able to have the option of self-expression. While it is true one doesn't necessarily need lessons to paint {or write or dance} - it is much more satisfying if the form upon my canvas obeys my will.<P>So, I think that the arts are a means of lending outlet to feelings and perhaps if youngsters have this option, they might eschew other less acceptable options.<P>I include language in this. When one is incapable of expressing adequately inner thoughts/feelings - it comes out as a sputter or as less acceptable language. <P>And as we know, when inner pain is not expressed though acceptable channels, it may very well come out in violence.

I'd love to see some of the brain research utilized as an argument for the arts. The synapses being fired while pursuing an art are the same ones needed for academics. All that research on dendrite production too can be used to support an arts education. And then, of course, one would love to compare the school sports budget against the arts budget, particularly at the high school level.

Salzberg:<P>Isn't George W. the same guy who said, "It's hard to put food on your family"??????? <P>One of my alltime favorite Bush-isms.<P>Hmmmmm ... married to a schoolteacher, at that.<P>My step-son-to-be brings me papers from classes other than Spelling, including other classes that come under the heading "Language Arts," with uncorrected spelling errors. The teachers apparently don't want to dampen the spirits of these youngsters by correcting 'too much.' <P>Apodictically speaking, this is a dance board, but as a woman with many interests, including a strong yearning to be able to communicate with human beings in ALL ways -- and who believes in a symbiotic relationship between multiple forms of communication -- I lament the collapse of the English language. It can only be to the detriment of other areas of study, including dance. <P>

JM - would be interesting to see the sports budget as compared to the arts budgets at the college and university levels too.

I believe it was Einstein who said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge."

IntroText:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>California Arts Council Launches Arts Partnerships for Education Initiative Awarding Arts Organizations Over $520,000</B><P>Arts Education Month Kicks-Off This New Statewide Program Expanding Arts Education in Classrooms<P>California Arts Council Press Release<P>SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 7 /PRNewswire/ -- On the occasion of Arts Education Month, the California Arts Council has launched a new statewide initiative by awarding nine arts organizations grants of over $520,000 as part of its Arts Partnerships for Education program, a model initiative to expand the arts in school curriculum.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010307/law077.html" TARGET=_blank><B>More</B></A>

I found this book offered (along with other very interesting books, none of which I can afford to buy right now) at <A HREF="http://www.artsusa.org/" TARGET=_blank>Americans for the Arts</A>:<P><BR><I>Can We Rescue the Arts for America's Children?</I> by Charles Fowler<P>This book dissects what has happened to the<BR>arts in American schools and focuses on educational reform, changing graduation requirements and teaching the arts.<P>179 pp, softcover (1988)<BR>price: $14.95 <BR>member price: $13.50<BR>Order #:400715<P>------------------<BR>Jeffrey E. Salzberg, Lighting Designer<P>Online portfolio: <A HREF="http://www.suncoast.quik.com/salzberg" TARGET=_blank>http://www.suncoast.quik.com/salzberg</A> <BR>This Day in Arts History: <A HREF="http://www.suncoast.quik.com/salzberg/arthist.htm" TARGET=_blank>http://www.suncoast.quik.com/salzberg/arthist.htm</A><P><BR><p>[This message has been edited by salzberg (edited March 10, 2001).]

This is the response of one school:<P><BR><B>Fine arts wing opens at Barrington High School</B> <BR>By Jillian Rutter Daily Herald Staff Writer<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Jon Lynn, director of the theater department at Barrington High School, can remember a time when he was forced to hold his theater classes in the lobby or hallways of the school.<P>All that has changed. The high school has opened a fine-arts wing, complete with larger classrooms, spacious performance areas and practice rooms.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><BR><A HREF="http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/cdh/20010318/lo/fine_arts_wing_opens_at_barrington_high_school_1.html" TARGET=_blank><B>MORE...</B></A><P><BR><p>[This message has been edited by Basheva (edited March 19, 2001).]

From the Los Angeles Times:<P><BR><B>STUDENTS GAIN SELF-ESTEEM SHOWING FINE ARTS</B><BR> <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>The festival is a collaboration between Hoover High, Toll Middle School and Keppel Elementary. About 1,000 students will show their work in all disciplines, from visual to performing arts, said Judith Bakly, an art teacher at Toll. <BR> Instrumental and vocal music, drama and dance presentations will be made, as well as art on paper or flat surfaces ranging from paintings to scratchboard.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR><A HREF="http://www.latimes.com/communities/news/burbank-glendale_metro/20010321/tbl0004221.html" TARGET=_blank>MORE...</A><BR> <P>

A lack of funding for the arts in schools can send negative messages to students who *are* artists, meaning strongly artistically inclined. It says that what you are, or inclined to be is unimportant, unnecessary, and a luxury that comes behind other more important things. <P>I'm not against academia by any means, I'm strongly for it. But I believe a career in the arts is just as valid as having a p.h.d. in an academic subject, or working in the field of technology. <P>If sports are valid as an occupation, and is as well funded as it is in schools, I find it interesting that the arts are the poor relative existing as a charity case in education.

Maggie - your post reminded me of the almost subconscious mindset of how curricula is often set up in the public school system.<P>I remember that things like English, history, math, etc., were mandatory - but art was often an elective along with cooking.<P>That sends a message doesn't it?

From the New York Times:<P><BR><B>Two Foundations Devote $16 Million to Arts Training</B> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Surdna Foundation, a family foundation established in 1917, will invest more than $16 million jointly over five years to support institutions that train gifted performing-arts students.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/04/arts/04GRAN.html" TARGET=_blank><B>MORE...</B></A><BR><p>[This message has been edited by Basheva (edited April 04, 2001).]