Arts in the schools are extremely vulnerable to budget cuts. This year’s discussion of cutting programs to make public education more affordable isn’t new. The arts have always been the first in line for financial makeovers in the schools. It is the community arts programs that fill the gaps left by schools. Without a doubt, art is important to a well rounded education. Even people in technical jobs need to develop strong people skills and critical thinking abilities, as well as a way to manifest their creative thoughts. To deny students the ability to fully reach their potential by taking art out of their lives really isn’t fair.
Community arts programs are non-profit organizations that typically try to fill the arts gap in several areas. They may offer after school art programs, music lessons, free movies, assemblies for the schools, and programming for adults, too. It’s the adult programming that funds the kids’ activities. These community arts programs are especially successful if they can forge a strong relationship with the public school system in their area. Typically, for either a nominal fee or no cost at all, the arts organization can bring in school assemblies that introduce the children to different aspects of art, music and performance. What makes this such a good partnership is that it guarantees that children from every socio-economic background gets exposure to the arts.
Often the after school programming is free, too. Even though some activities may have a charge, as a general rule, the lessons, camps and activities do not cost the children anything. The reason for this is that these programs exist to fill the education gap left by the public schools. Since children don’t have to pay for public school, per se, it would be hypocritical to designate an organization as a solution to lack of arts in the schools and then charge for it. Therefore, patrons of the arts should always make some of their charitable donations to community arts programs. Without the next generation of great artists, there will be no one to reward the patrons.