Don't you love good news? I do, and last week was one of the best weeks in many people's lives.
Hope. Change. Possibility.
One enormous reason to be happy, renewed support for art and the arts, which means many things but it is all good.
Wikipedia tells us:
The arts is a broad subdivision of culture, composed of many expressive disciplines. In modern usage, it is a term broader than "art", which usually means the visual arts, (comprising fine art, decorative art, and crafts). The arts encompasses visual arts, performing arts, language arts, and the culinary arts. Many artistic disciplines involve aspects of the various arts, so the definitions of these terms overlap to some degree though comparing the articles art school and Columbia University School of the Arts may prove instructive for those struggling with the distinction.
There you have it, the arts, many things to many people. Many happy people this week. According to the Americans for the Arts Action Fund, the results of a historic Nov. 4 - namely the election of Barack Obama and appointment of key members of Congress - will usher in an era of greater support for the arts in America.
Finally an administration that sees the arts as, not that fussy stuff you dress up and go to, but an essential part of a society.
A statement issued last week, by AAAF, President and CEO Robert L. Lynch:
"Yesterday’s election results also expanded the base of support for the arts in Congress, which will help move arts and arts education initiatives through the legislative process. Initiatives that will fuel innovation and creativity are key to our economic recovery and global competitiveness. A new report issued last month by The Conference Board, ‘Ready to Innovate,’ touts the importance of arts education in building the 21st century workforce. The arts are good for business, good for the economy, and good for the spirit."
My spirit soars already.
Apologies for the Wiki-centric post, its all I had.
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2 comments:
I sure do hope that the new administration enlivens support for the arts. Aside from obvious funding and financial resuscitation, I think another way that this can be done is to make sweeping changes to the testing done in today's schools. We need to teach our children to think, not just regurgitate what they've memorized. A novel idea can't be expressed in a multiple choice test. And to go beyond that, novel ideas shouldn't be squashed with lower grades because the child doesn't present what the teacher expects. Every "failure" should be seen as a building block to the next success. Our country needs innovation. How much will that suffer from the educations received over the past eight years?
Debbie...right on! So much reworking needs doing. Some schools are already viewing learning as a fun, interactive process. And the new thinkers are seeing education in a whole new light.
Hopefully, the whole-brain train takes off soon.
Anyway, read my other blog, re arts and education.
http://blog.madcaplogic.com/
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