Support Arts Education

As the misguided Race To the Top education "reform" (lead by corporate interests and very few actual teachers) steamrolls on, Arts Education is increasingly marginalized. With the intense emphasis on high stakes testing, Elementary schools in particular have less time for authentic investigations and aesthetic experiences, and in-depth investigations.

Art teaches us to look closely and critically at the world around us. What do you hope our culture and media will look like in 20 years? One in which creativity, authenticity and meaning matter, or an empty landscape of mindless shock "reality" media filled with amoral, gadget obsessed Jersey Shore:2030 zombies?

Art education can't stop all of that, but it can, will and does have an impact. Art has impacted the lives of many of my students in positive ways. My wife has had the same kind of experiences in which young children living in terrible conditions are able to express themselves and heal some of their suffering through Art. Public education definitely needs to be reformed and updated, but an education without quality arts programs taught by qualified teachers is no education at all.

Please follow this link to Americans for the Arts, and tell Congress to vote to support Arts Education. http://bit.ly/9PhBv5 It only takes a few minutes.

Japanese Folk Monsters (1980s)