Consider the arts
Elected representatives, as you contemplate the upcoming federal budget, I write to urge you to consider the importance of the arts in the lives of Americans and fervently hope you will be a strong voice for the funding of the National Endowment for the Arts.
The NEA provides valuable funds to individual states and organizations to help them provide life-changing art opportunities for students, veterans, physically and mentally-challenged persons, and each and every person in this great country. The arts are present in everyday life, from the graphic on the front of a cereal box to the priceless pieces for view at the Museum of Modern Art.
As an arts professional, I could expound on the intrinsic value of support art for arts’ sake, but I have a feeling that reminding you of the economic, cognitive, health, behavioral, and social benefits of the arts will be more effective.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, arts and cultural production contributed $730 billion to the nation’s economy in 2014. This represents 4.2 percent of the GDP — a larger share of the economy than transportation, tourism, or construction.
The report, Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development, sponsored by the Department of Education and the NEA, chronicles 62 research studies that show that the arts educations helps to close the achievement gap, improves reading and language development, and maybe more importantly, advances students’ motivation to learn.
The arts can help to develop pro-social behavior in at-risk youths or serve veterans recovering from PTSD and so much more.
I hope that some of the data I’ve supplied gives you ammunition to continue the fight for the arts in America and the NEA can count on your voice in the budget debates this year.
Jacqueline Engel
Williamsport
Submitted by E-Mail
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