Time and time again I hear the phrase, "Sports beat the arts," from coaches, colleagues and many other focus groups. This denoting phrase is undoubtedly the most heart-wrenching, callous, sickening choice of words put into a single sentence I can imagine. I do not believe that one activity is better than the other, rather that fine arts should receive the same equal recognition for its significance in society's diverse culture.
Criticisms of arts
The people who never cease an opportunity to denote thespians, musicians, artists, are the same people who refuse to come see a production, see a concert or even go to an art exhibit. It is the same people who are mesmerized by movie stars such as Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, etc. You follow their every move on social media and camp outside for their movies to premiere, but denote everyday people who recite Shakespeare, who play an instrument or anyone who feels more comfortable on a stage rather than a field. We are at your sport fields, playing our school fight song, being your pre-show performance before the big game, but I never see you at our opening shows, our concerts, being our audience to our activity. There is always a pep rally for games, but never a celebratory occasion for my upcoming performance. Why can't we both be celebrated for the balls we pitch and the voices we project in the theater?
Budget cuts in arts
There is no definite solution to the “battle of the budgets.” Some things do cost more than others (though I do not forget to call attention to the fact that instruments and theater production costs do have a hefty price tag), but it would make sense for one group to have more of a budget than the other, but why is it becoming a social norm that if you desire to be creative and expressive, you must express into your own pockets to buy a new sound board, a new instrument or a new paintbrush, but the varsity football team can replace their jerseys more often than we get to replace our broken mouthpieces, torn costumes and our broken crayons? Why is my form of expression always the first to get cut? You not only cut my program, but you also cut my creativity; something I will never find on a field or court, but in the lines I recite, in the notes I play or the things I draw.
Hierarchy of activities
There seems to be a hierarchy of what activity is at the top of the food chain and which is fighting for their life to survive another year in the annual budget plan. Truthfully, I believe that if arts were put on the same hierarchy, then arts I feel would be just as popular. I just hope that one day the arts can receive the recognition they deserves for all that they do and continue to do for me, just as I imagine that sports brings the same amount of resiliency to its players. No activity should be better or lesser than the other based off its sheer awareness or lack thereof. We are shown on television shows, movies, even in our own schools that sports beat the arts. There are more full-ride scholarships for athletes than there are for artists (unless you are a Mozart on the keys to receive a scholarship to Juilliard). In fact, I have witnessed artists raise money to build their own art scholarship. In all, I just hope we can break the disconnect between sports and the arts, and create equal awareness and funding for both.
Benefits of the arts
Like sports, the arts, performing arts in particular, you learn communication skills, improvisation, listening skills, taking direction, teamwork, leadership skills, punctuality, body conditioning and how to deal with rejection. Not to mention the daily four-hour rehearsals of constantly moving, dancing, singing, all in preparation of the big game or big showcase. Despite popular opinion, there is a level of athleticism in the arts. You will put blood sweat and tears into a performance just as much as a person on a field. They might not throw a ball, but the physical agility differences between the two should not go without their own merits. I just hope that one day we can all recognize the amount of passion, dedication and resilience each activity holds for dreamers, believers and seekers of two truly remarkable activities, and that each can coexist peacefully.
When dealing with the programs like fine arts and activities like sports, who, based on their own individual merits, add so much to the human dimension of learning and development, we need to stop saying, "Sports beat the arts," and rather, "Sports and the arts conquer our desire to express ourselves."
