If you are a part of the fine arts community, you have probably seen this advertisement by the financial company Wells Fargo plaguing your news feed.
When I first read the ad, I thought it was a joke. I said, "surely this is not real, surely someone photo-shopped this." Well, I was wrong and this is, in fact, an actual real-life, bona-fied slap in the face to what I am doing with the rest of my life. Not only are these statements incredibly offensive to anyone involved in the arts, but it devalues everything we have been working towards. I know that I am not the only one infuriated by this act. Several Broadway stars, actors, dancers, musicians, educators, and artists have voiced their outrage at this blatant disregard for an entire field of work. Now it's my turn, so listen up Wells Fargo.
You are right. The world needs people who are going to grow up and better their communities. Botanists, engineers, nurses, police officers, government officials, and even the postal workers all contribute to and enrich their societies day by day. The world needs these people. But now I am asking you to think a little deeper. When you finally make it to your car at the end of a long day, sometimes all you want to do is sit there and listen to your favorite song and forget about that coffee you just spilled down your shirt for the second time today. Maybe you've been looking forward to relaxing on the couch and binge-eating popcorn with that new movie everyone has been raving about. Perhaps you're redecorating and are searching for that perfect wall-piece to hang in your living room to make the place a little brighter. That romantic first date you've been planning involves a night on Broadway and maybe a candlelit dinner to top it off. Do you think a botanist is going to sing you to sleep? Do you think an engineer is going to paint a beautiful canvas piece for you? Do you think a police officer is going to dance to Tchaikovsky and bring you to tears? My answer is maybe, but probably not.
The point is, the arts are everywhere. We are the real behind-the-scenes to life that you take for granted. Sure, we pop out a few songs, paint a few pictures, dance for a minute or two, play our instruments pretty well, and all that other jazz, but there is so much more to it. I have spent a better part of my life devoted to my craft, a craft that I believe is going to take me somewhere. I forked out good money so that I could go to college and learn more to better myself as an artist and as a musician. This is not my hobby, this is my life. I will spend my dying breath advocating for the importance of the arts and how they better society and people alike. Everyone has a role to play, and just because mine isn't specifically born of math, science, social studies, or English doesn't mean that it is not just as important.
I can guarantee you that anyone who is currently majoring in the arts or has made it through with a fine arts degree has thought about doing anything else with their lives. If you think that we don't know how difficult the road ahead for us is, then you have been sadly misinformed. I can't tell you how many nights I've laid in bed and thought, I should just switch my major to business and sing on the side. Society has programmed us to think that this field is purely recreational and that a career in the arts will provide nothing more that cushion money. Sometimes faith is the only thing that keeps me in this line of work, but sometimes that's all I need. Pursuing a career in the arts is one of the hardest things a person can do for a number of reasons. If you possess neither a talent nor a love for it, then the fire you have will die quicker than you can hum a sixteenth note, and then it's back to the drawing board. When people ask me about my major, I can almost hear the pity in their voices. It's funny to me because I may be in one of the least financially stable career fields, but I have never been so rich in my life.
Music gives me what nothing else can. It's almost an indescribable feeling, which makes me understand why Wells Fargo didn't see that. If you've never stood in front of a painting and felt the emotion of it almost overwhelm you, then I can't help you. If you've never listened to someone pour their soul out in song until they had nothing left to offer you, then I can't help you. If you've never seen a dance that took your heart out, reshaped it, and handed it back to you, then I can't help you. The arts are expression in a tangible form. The feeling of stepping out of your comfort zone and exposing your innermost workings to an audience of strangers is an extremely intimate and euphoric experience. Knowing that I have the power to change someone's life with a single performance is as terrifying as it is beautiful. The arts help us connect, they bring us together and make us feel. Without them, the world would truly be black and white.
Just as the world needs botanists, we also need ballerinas. We need designers, we need sculptors, we need musicians, we need photographers, and we need actors. Don't degrade something because it doesn't seem practical to you. If we truly want to prepare our teenagers for tomorrow, then we won't strip away their joys and their dreams. Let them choose and let them find what drives them. Whether they become an engineer or a painter, that is their decision, and the freedom of choice is the most powerful thing they can have. So Wells Fargo, in case you still don't get it, I say this with as much clarity as humanly possible— I am a musician yesterday, I am a musician today, and I am a musician tomorrow. I always have been and I always will be.
