The importance of a quality education can’t be over-exaggerated, and an excellent arts education is a vital component. Yet, anytime budgets get squeezed and time gets tight, the arts are first on the chopping block. As a music educator, I have seen arts programs come and go, and the students suffer the consequences.
In 2020, the Utah State Board of Education began the adoption of Utah’s Portrait of a Graduate. Two of the obviously arts-related characteristics listed are creativity and innovation. These are integral to the arts, but many other characteristics are supported and developed in a high-quality arts education: communication, problem-solving, collaboration, hard work and resilience. As students create, perform, respond and connect through the arts, they build skills, knowledge and dispositions that can grow with them for a lifetime.
The great cellist Yo-Yo Ma, asked us to consider the idea of art for life’s sake (Americans for the Arts, 2013). Beauty, healing and understanding can come through the arts. We can become better global citizens by developing positive characteristics and connections forged in the arts. These are the experiences that all students in Utah should benefit from. Please take a few moments to reach out to your legislators, letting them know the benefits of a high-quality arts education. Contact your local district and school administrators, asking them to make room in their budgets and schedules for the arts. As our voices are raised in the choir of arts advocacy, may our students be the beneficiaries of the music we create.
Melissa Voorhees, Farmington
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