The Show Must Go On

Just had the opportunity to see The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. It was a remarkable play. It made me re-evaluate what it means to be a parent - to embrace my children as they are and to love them fiercely for who they are. It also made me examine my role as a teacher - someone who helps kids find their strengths and confront their limitations.  

Two hours of watching a play made quite an impact - because that's what the arts can do.  And the arts, sadly, are under attack again.

I can't say I'm surprised. The National Endowment for the Arts is always on the potential chopping block when it comes to reducing the federal budget.  I get it.  We have a deficit. Why should we spend money on the arts?  If people want to go see theater or ballet or the symphony, they can pay for it.  It's a luxury.  This argument comes easily from those who are privileged enough to have access to arts.

But a National Endowment represents a commitment to supporting arts for everyone. Art, for many, represents what keeps humanity alive and well. If we quit making art more accessible, we suggest that we don't value that part of our humanity that extends beyond our basic physical needs, the part that fulfills our social, emotional, and even spiritual needs.

To put the money concern into perspective, here's a graph of what the National Endowment for the Arts costs taxpayers:

Anyone wondering where the piece of the pie is?  Answer: it's so small that it might as well be nonexistent.  (Here's the link to the full article for details.) This cut has always been more about gaining political traction than about making a meaningful change in government funding.

I won't accept a society that sees the arts as unworthy, unnecessary, and utterly expendable.  Humans use art as the highest form of expression, something that can lift them up in times of despair and uncertainty. This morning I finished Ruta Sepetys's book Between Shades of Gray, a novel about the occupation of Lithuania during WWII (Note: the preposition at the beginning distinguishes this book from a more famous, less "artful," book). As Ruta Sepetys said in the afterword, many deported citizens "channeled emotion and fear into art and music, the only way they could express themselves." Self-expression has value, a value we should never under-estimate or disregard.

Tomorrow I will go see Footloose, and I know that the show will give me energy and life and joy because I know those kids and what they can produce.  I know what the arts can do.