Culture is a Dirty Word - or is It? (Arts Education)

"There is a direct connection between the ethics of a society and its architecture and art. Today's culture of ugliness and 'geography of nowhere' need to be replaced by a physical and cultural environment that enchants life, inspires faith, and encourages learning. The spiritual and evangelical communion more and more Americans seek requires a cultural language that artists and poets alone can provide."

I took the above quote straight out of the Arts Journal

It is interesting to read of the malnutrition in the arts of the current generation of children here in California, as spotlighted in the Sacramento Bee article below. Maybe there is a new realization of the importance of the arts in our lives and as the media which carry forth our culture. Can I hope? Herewith I expound on one of my perennial themes: The arts are important in learning to think, to solve problems, to visualize problems and solutions. It is an essential part to the education of any individual to stimulate and develop both hemispheres of the brain! What is it in our history that makes us want to deny the arts? Is it the old Puritanism idea of the righteous life allows for no enjoyment? Fun is foul? God doesn't want us to enjoy life? Oh, please!

Insofar as the schools are concerned, I really feel that the dropout rate would be dramatically cut if the arts, including drama, music, ceramics, and painting were not only permitted, but encouraged in the schools. If school is a combination of work and pleasure (and why can work not be pleasurable???), one is much more inclined to go there. Visualization also helps with reading, we already know that music helps with math, and they all can be helpful to kids who do not do particularly well in the so-called academic subjects. To be able to well in SOMETHING is very important to anyone and everyone. If one has some self respect, one is less likely to act against other people, or against one's own society. If the taggers had other outlets, such as painting stage sets or planning murals, perhaps they would use their urges in a more positive way.

Cities in which this has been tried, with the neighborhoods participating in planning and then painting huge murals, have no more incidents of vandalization with paint. Is it Detroit that was recently in the news for this?

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