Americans for the Arts

Visionary school districts aren’t satisfied with offering music and arts education only at schools with affluent students. Leaders in these districts know the imperative of equitable access to learning in the arts.  

However, the desire to provide arts education on the part of school leaders does not always translate into the capacity or even the know-how to make it happen. In California, the curriculum contraction that began in the early 2000s along with cycles of budget cuts, reduced arts education infrastructure, and diminished teacher training pipelines have left our state’s education field unprepared for a rapid restoration of the arts in schools.

Being an artist is a really grueling and unrewarding career choice, almost all the time. We all strive to find more moments when everything feels worth it. If you are going to commit your life to an industry that basically guarantees that you're going to live poor, you have to have a really powerful reason. For me, it's the moment when an audience member finally gains new insight and compassion for their transitioning son; when fellow artists are brought to tears as they are reminded of the power of art to create change; when community members see themselves authentically represented onstage for the first time. As the Managing Director of a theatre company, those moments also come when I am able to meet (and surpass) fundraising goals, pay the artists working for me, and having community members beg the box office for tickets that don't exist, because we've sold out every performance.

...or does it? Actually, this is where the new rural-urban arts-centric landscape is happening!

Every day I see students succeeding from having access to dance, theater, visual and media arts and music education. They are Americans, and their right to a rich and varied curriculum should not be dependent on their zip code or their ability to pay for a private school. Arts education is enriching their lives, just as it did mine.

Renowned architect and Artists Committee member Frank Gehry talks about his inspiring grandmother, Frank Lloyd Wright, and defying a professor's expectations in part one of an interview with a California student.

While the economy seems to be on the upswing, with jobs increasing and unemployment down, one group is still falling behind: children. The rate of children living in poverty has gradually increased since 2008; currently, 20% of children are living in poverty. That’s one in five American children. This means that the citizens most at risk to deficient health, emotional, and cognitive development, and the poorest citizens of our country, are also the youngest.