Why do the arts matter? Simply put, the arts are essential to the proper functioning of our society. The arts continue to demonstrate their ability to provide categorical evidence of their impact on social issues that concern virtually every facet of American society. The arts are especially important for our children. Students with an arts’ rich education have better grade averages, score better on standardized tests in reading and math and have lower dropout rates.
Legislatures this past week stood up for the arts and gave many five-minute speeches to keep an amendment to lower the dollars for the National Endowment of the Arts from being passed… The facts and information provided by many legislatures in speaking for the importance of the arts to our citizens was well researched and was very impressive. Hurrah, there are some members of Congress who realize that funding for arts education and the NEA is necessary to build a nationwide army of citizen activists who help to guarantee that arts friendly public policies must be adopted at the federal, state and local levels…
How does the city of Santa Clarita support the arts? Who can give us the answers? Maybe the City Council members…. so call them up and see what they tell you.
Jaylene Armstrong is a retired art educator from Madison, Wisconsin and advocate for arts education programs in our public schools. Questions, please call 661-255-3050.