Threats to National Arts & Cultural Programs

During last night’s State of the Union Address, President Obama challenged Americans to make the country stronger and more competitive in the global economy. In his speech he made the remark: “What we can do – what America does better than anyone else – is spark the creativity and imagination of our people”

This challenge couldn’t be more clearly connected to the benefits of the arts in helping people spark creativity and imagination. Many studies have shown that the arts can help enhance critical thinking skills and improve problem-solving abilities – getting people to think outside of the box, which is exactly what is needed for innovation.

So it is concerning that many of our country’s leaders don’t see the value in the arts – or don’t see the connection between innovation and the arts – and have made some drastic proposals to eliminate support for the arts. The Republican Study Committee, which includes 165 Republican House members, has proposed to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, as well as some arts education programs through the U.S. Department of Education. The committee’s proposal includes a number of other program cuts and eliminations in an effort to reduce the national deficit.

Yes, the nation’s deficit is a major concern. And I’m on board with creating a more efficient government that is more responsible in its spending. But there comes a point when we will just be hurting ourselves rather than helping.

Eliminating the NEA and other programs that support our country’s arts and culture won’t help us in the long run. The small amount of funding these programs receive in the grand scheme of things is not worth the costs of eliminating these programs.

Without the arts in our schools, we run the risk of future generations not having the ingenuity needed to advance our industries. Without arts and culture in our communities, they become less dynamic and less connected. Our country loses part of its national identity when we erode the already small amount we put towards arts and cultural spending.

I think our leaders can use a little more creative problem solving to find a better way to reduce the deficit while still keeping the programs that help support our nation’s arts and culture.


Sources:
Americans for the Arts
Republican Study Committee
State of the Union Address