Americans for the Arts

For some years now I’ve been striving—as a white woman leading an organization that serves a diverse constituency—to meet my responsibility to equity, and I share my thoughts in this blog because I think my journey could be relevant to others.

So here is a brief primer.

We rightfully spend much time and attention on both arts education and celebrating the work of established artists, but the period in between also requires care and nourishment. By investing in and supporting the work of emerging artists and writers, they create communities, locally and on a larger scale, that provide support to a bigger group of writers.

As a professional artist, my experience with arts education might seem unique. I didn’t have the program in my school that I now have a career in. My story goes to show just how vital arts education really is.

Renowned architect and Artists Committee member Frank Gehry talks about "The Simpsons," modern communication, and the difficult decision to change his name in part two of an interview with a California student.

Business needs a creative workforce to compete in the global economy. But our schools are locked into 20th century priorities. We are testing mastery of content when the Internet delivers content in 0.7 seconds. If the only public measure of a school’s progress is standardized testing, then schools have every incentive to “teach to the test.” With limited resources, teaching the arts is dropped, diminished, or dismissed.

Testing establishes the educational priorities. So, how do you measure creativity? How do you test for the A in STEAM? In Massachusetts, we began discussing the concept of a Creative Challenge Index.

The choice of museums to take a stand is unique to each institution, and it’s complicated, layered, and specific to the geographical location and political climate of the region. In the meantime, artists will continue to create works that question our existence and boundaries; be responsive to the emotional, social, political, and religious world around them; and ask the important questions that move us all forward as aware global citizens. Museums and cultural institutions that support contemporary artists will continue to support them, whether through curatorial or educational programming.