“When Winston Churchill was asked to cut arts funding in favor of the war effort, he simply replied, ‘Then what are we fighting for?’”
President Donald Trump wants to terminate the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, privatize the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, and cut ties with PBS and NPR.
Interestingly enough, Trump chose to have a welcome concert on behalf of his inauguration, yet also wants to cut the funding towards the institutions that offer grants for artistic and educational productions, exhibits, and researches.
Dance, writing, painting, acting, poetry, sculpture, theatre, singing, drawing, animation, cinema, music, digital art, photography, pottery, woodwork, graffiti, engraving, comic writing. Each different, yet fit into the same category: art.
Art opens the doors for far too many things that go unnoticed. Art is human expression. It allows people to break outside comfort zones through creative outlets. It’s universal. The language, background, gender, class, and ethnicity of the artist doesn't change the overall effect of their work. Art it is all about interpretation. It rarely involves numbers, equations, or technology. It serves as a distraction from life's problems and removes you from the burdens of daily troubles.
The focus on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) has been pushed by educators and parents alike who want to influence adolescents to pursue careers that will ultimately result in a larger paycheck. What happens when the arts are erased from school curricular all together?
Without the arts, children lack creativity, confidence, focus, perseverance, and problem solving—all things necessary to survive in the world. There is no reason to prohibit children from enjoying certain activities that may actually become successful professions for them in the future.
Consider it a “right to bear arts,” at least that’s what was declared by Hollywood actors who attended their own inaugural ball on January 20th.
