Fine Arts Departments Nationwide Worry About Cuts Tuesday, December 13, 2011 By Junior Adam Ussher CHS Senior Sarah Miller works on an art project with her limited supplies. - Adam Ussher Advertising In this tough economy, schools across the country have made cuts to their curriculums in an attempt to lower their budgets. Much to the dismay of many teachers and students, fine arts programs are often the first to be cut. In fact, in 2010 the National Endowment for the Arts cut $13 million from its budget. The CHS Art Department is making the best out of the budget it has. CHS Art Teacher Mr. Brandon Huckabey said, “Each department only gets a certain amount of money, and the amount that they do get is not very much. If we (the Art Department) could get more, we could get more resources, more materials, and more supplies to make not only more projects, but bigger and better projects.” Students have noticed the effects of a low budget. “In art class I’m in, the absence of supplies keeps us from having larger projects. For instance, we need a lot of paint for murals,” said Senior Sarah Miller. “The better projects require better supplies,” Sarah added. A low budget limits the range of arts available. Mr. Huckabey said, “The students don’t have the supplies to create different projects or experience art through different mediums, like making art with computers or photography.” In an attempt to improve the availability of supplies, some classes require a fee for supplies. “Currently, the art class I’m in requires you to pay $15 a semester to take it, so budget cuts would probably cause that to increase,” said Sarah. Though Cameron has not suggested any budget cuts whatsoever for the arts, many students still worry about what the future will bring. CHS Seniors are troubled with the younger classes possibly not being able to take certain classes. “As a senior, I won’t be affected by budget cuts as much anymore, but I’m worried about the freshmen and younger classes. When supplies and classes get cut, that definitely gets rid of a lot of opportunities for different classes,” said Senior Trillian Burnfin. “Cameron doesn’t have that many fine arts classes as it is,” Trillian added. Mr. Huckabey is concerned with what would happen if fine arts ever would be cut. Mr. Huckabey said, “There aren’t any classes being cut, but if there were then it would be incredibly detrimental. Not everyone is a mathematician or a historian, and a lot of students need an outlet outside the core curriculum: music, art, theater, whatever that outlet may be. The students’ creative abilities would be greatly decreased if they didn’t have those opportunities.” Trillian agreed with Mr. Huckabey.  She said, “Fine arts classes help students figure out what to do with their lives. They think they might want to do one thing, but then they find something that they do better than that first thing. Not having fine arts shuts a lot of doors for students and restrains their creativity. It keeps them from exploring as many things as they should be able to as high school students.” With budgets getting cut left and right, schools need to make the cuts somewhere. Students can only hope that schools across the country will consider more than just the fine arts. Their futures just might depend on it...

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