Why the arts matter
When times get tough and choices must be made, it is often the arts that lose. Why is this so? When compared to health or human service needs, the arts are often viewed as less important and therefore more discretionary in nature. But this line of thinking misses the point about why the arts are so important. Until we fully recognize how essential the arts are to the vitality of our communities and our quality of life, our cultural infrastructure will continue to be given short shrift. There are countless reasons why we should renew our commitment to the arts.
Consider the following: Surveys report that 93 percent of parents believe that the arts are essential to a well-rounded education. Ten million new jobs in the next decade will be in the “creative class,” according to economist Richard Florida. These are jobs that involve imagination and ingenuity which are best developed by experiencing the arts.
But the importance of the arts extends well beyond economics and education. The arts expand our horizons, unleash creativity and build social bonds. During this period of unsettling change, the arts can provide us with pleasure and comfort, while also challenging us to see the world in new ways. . .So, as your resources permit, attend a performance, buy a membership, and consider a contribution of any size. But also talk to your friends and neighbors about the transformative power of the arts and encourage them to support and advocate for the arts.”
Source: James E. Canales, president and CEO of the James Irvine Foundation
SF Chronicle:Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Did you know culture is the fourth pillar of sustainability?
Environmental responsibility, economic health, social equity, and cultural vitality comprise the four-pillar model of sustainability created by Jon Hawkes. His model recognizes that a community’s vitality and quality of life is closely related to the vitality and quality of its cultural engagement, expression, dialogue, and celebration. Culture contributes to building lively cities and communities where people want to live, work, and visit plays a major role in supporting social and economic health.
The key to cultural sustainability is fostering partnerships, exchange, and respect between different streams of government, business, and arts organizations. Culture as the fourth pillar promotes these partnerships and this model is being adopted by cities in Canada, (including Vancouver) Australia, New Zealand, and Europe.
(Jon Hawkes, is author of The Fourth Pillar of Sustainability: Culture’s Essential Role in Public Planning.)
Here are ten things you can do to support art and culture:
- Buy one piece of local art a year, every year, no matter what. It could be a painting to grace your mantle, one your children will argue over after you’re gone. Or it could be a hand-thrown coffee cup that just makes every cup taste better, somehow. Size doesn’t matter; it’s the principle.
- Learn one new thing each year. Take a tap class. Spend a weekend at a journal-writing workshop. Attend a demonstration on stained glass, and step up and ask every question you can think of. Then, sign up for the introductory course.
- Expose yourself. That is, expose yourself to some form of artistic expression that you think you won’t like. Catch the community opera presentation of Figaro. Or, if opera’s your thing, take in an earful of the local grunge group, Spiked and Nasty. Think poetry’s for the birds? Open your ears, and your mind.
- Give the gift of your community’s artists. This year, make every gift you buy something original: a CD hot-pressed by a local choir; a new book by a local writer; a hand blown glass bauble for the tree; and from the forge next door, a hook to hang a hat on—which, serendipitously, was hand felted down the street.
- Pass it around. Buy someone else a ticket to something you enjoy. Take a friend along, or just treat someone you appreciate—anonymously. Have you ever bought a ticket to something and then been unable to attend? Don’t ask for a refund: ask the venue to find a deserving recipient, preferably one who’s broke. Or send two tickets to a youth centre or seniors’ facility. At the event, try to guess who might be there thanks to you.
- Challenge yourself: pick a good day and try to find as many art-related things to do as you can. Do them all: read the book, write the poem, play the tune, hear the band, watch the dance, applaud the play, go to the gallery. Challenge six other people to do the same.
- Sing. Learn a song composed by a local musician and sing it: in the shower, in the car, walking down the street. Drive your co-workers crazy. It doesn’t matter that you sound like a wombat in heat. When you go to sleep, dream about it. Now, teach it to someone else.
- Volunteer: for your local cultural event, for the theatre production, for your arts organization. Sit at the information table, paint the backdrop, take the tickets, do the sound check, carry the chairs, place the podium. Afterwards, help with the cleanup. Then go for a beer with the gang.
- Join up: there’s an arts organization out there for you. These are the groups that make things happen, so you can buy things, learn about things, expose yourself, give gifts, pass the wealth, challenge yourself, sing like a wombat in heat, and volunteer your time for the fun and friends that it brings. Find it. Make it yours.
- Pass this list along to as many people as you can.
