These words, taken from one of the print ads run by Americans for the Arts, summarize the reason we chose to devote four pages to the school drama production. In today’s uncertain world of financial turmoil, budget cutbacks are seen more and more commonly. This is understandable, yet for years, before this recession began, the fine arts have traditionally been one of the first programs in public schools to receive funding cuts. Since No Child Left Behind was enacted in 2002, over ¼ of American schools districts have cut back their arts budget. In an age where layoffs proliferate over new hires, so-called “frills” programs simply have to go… right?
Wrong. For those who believe that schools need to place stronger emphasis on core subjects to meet ever-increasing state standards, arts have been proven time and again to increase cognitive function and test scores. When elementary age students participate in drama and theater activities, they develop better critical reading and narrative writing skills: two important aspects of standardized testing. High school students with a high rate of exposure to music consistently score higher in math proficiency than those without similar exposure, not to mention they have a better sense of spatial relations and demonstrate more compassionate and self-regulatory behavior. Generally, as compared to their peers, young artists are four times more likely to win an award for academic achievement and three times more likely to be elected to class office. How can programs that strengthen critical thinking, problem solving, goal setting, and self-esteem possibly be a detriment to public schools?
Money is not an issue either. Arts provide a significant economic boost. Not for nothing was the Great Depression known as the “Golden Age” of Hollywood: when times are bad, consumers will reliably put whatever money they have into sources of escapism, namely films, books, and theater. Arts are a job generator. Consider the amount of labor that goes into the making of even one film or stage show; actor, director, and producer cannot function without numerous sound and lighting technicians, equipment handlers, managers, agents, stylists, publicists, gaffers, caterers, assistants, writers, editors… the list goes on. On a national level, even nonprofit art institutions and organizations generate an estimated $37 billion in economic activity and return $3.4 billion in federal income taxes to the U.S. Treasury each year.
Bloomsburg stands especially blessed regarding the arts, particularly theater arts. The Bloomsburg Theater Ensemble and the Celebrity Artist Series at Bloomsburg University are both valuable resources for students, whether or not they are artistically inclined. It would be a shame to lose such rare and wonderful programs to the weakening economy, just as it would be a shame to lose the Pennsylvania Governor’s Schools, which began with a program for the arts.
As for the literary, musical, and theatrical legends listed above: it is certain that Fyodor Doestoevsky, Clark Gable, Luciano Pavarotti, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Sylvia Plath, Duke Ellington, and Patti Lupone would agree with our friends at AFTA: “Art. Ask for more.”