ArtCentral: National Arts in Education Week
By Elizabeth Freer
Matthews Opera House, ArtCentral Manager
Next week is National Arts in Education Week as designated by Congress in 2010. This is a week of celebrating, reflecting, and sharing the story of the impact and transformative power of the arts in education, kiddos to lifelong learners!
What impact did the arts have on you when you were in school? What impact do the arts have on you today? Do you know someone whose life has been transformed by the arts?
Americans for the Arts provides some stunning facts about the impact of arts participation – both in-school and after-school arts activities. These findings are echoed in compelling research across industries.
Young people who participate regularly in the arts are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, four times more likely to participate in a math and science fair, three times more likely to be recognized for attendance, and three times more likely to be elected to class office.
Students who take four years of arts and music classes average almost 100 points higher on their SAT scores and have higher grade point averages than students who take only one-half year or less. Higher SAT scores increase college scholarship opportunities, which has a direct economic impact. This gain from arts education holds true regardless of socioeconomic status, which means that we can help close the achievement gap through providing arts education to all our students.
Students who participate in the arts during their middle school years are more likely to be civically engaged than their peers who did not have arts education – this means they are more likely to vote, to run for public office, to volunteer, and more likely to sit on the board of a nonprofit organization as an adult.
Low-income students who are highly engaged in the arts are twice as likely to graduate college as their peers with no arts education. Students with high arts participation and low socioeconomic status have a 4% dropout rate, compared to their low socioeconomic status peers who have a 22% dropout rate.
Nearly 75% of business leaders say that creativity is the number one skill they are seeking when hiring. This outranks qualities such as rigor, integrity, vision, or discipline because successfully navigating an increasingly complex world requires creativity.
People who engage regularly in the arts develop and use unique problem-solving skills, ask questions that are not obvious, ignite innovation, and help build pathways for different economic sectors of our community to work together.
When we evaluate time and resources allocated to the arts and arts education – music, dance, theater, visual arts, woodshop, media arts – think on the impact the arts have on our students. Rather than viewing these activities as fun afterschool activities, recognize that arts participation might just be the key for opening a world of opportunities to our students of all ages.
Lead by Elizabeth Freer, ArtCentral manager at The Matthews, the project brings together a committee of advocates, artists, and residents working together over two years to create a new model for arts planning and outreach, focusing on the themes of belonging, inclusion, equity, rural connectedness, cultivating creativity, imagining space, and the arts as a community development catalyst.
“I am excited for this opportunity to work in Spearfish with The Matthews on this innovative and important project to advance the arts in our community,” stated Freer. “I encourage local residents who are interested in participating in this process to apply to be a part of the committee.”
