By Barbara Sacerdote
Throughout my professional lifetime, both as a performing artist and an arts administrator, I’ve struggled to come up with a reason why our society values linear, results-oriented disciplines over the arts. Maybe it’s that their value is obvious and quantifiable, whereas the arts are soft and abstract.
Whatever the reason, kids get the message early that creativity is expendable. And when education budgets must be cut, too often the arts are pushed to the front of the line.
That’s why I was gratified by Gov. Christine Gregoire’s proclamation of May as Arts Education Month in Washington State. Following suit, the city of Bainbridge Island issued a proclamation designating this month Arts Education Month on Bainbridge.
In clear, strong language, the proclamation reflects leading-edge thinking in secondary education, stating that “the arts, including dance, music, theatre, and visual arts, are defined as a core subject in Washington State’s definition of basic education, and considered an essential component of the complete and balanced education of all students.”
To be clear, the goal here is not to build an army of cellists. Instead, it’s to build whole children who are ready for life in the 21st century.
In a recent blog post for the Harvard Business Review, Tony Golsby-Smith, founder and CEO of the business strategy and innovation firm Second Road, made a case to businesses for “hiring from the humanities” rather than just looking at candidates with traditional business-oriented degrees.
“There are plenty of MBAs and even Ph.Ds. in economics, chemistry, or computer science, in the corporate ranks. Intellectual wattage is not lacking. It’s the right intellectual wattage that’s hard to find,” Golsby-Smith said. “This is because our educational systems focus on teaching science and business students to control, predict, verify, guarantee, and test data. It doesn’t teach how to navigate ‘what if’ questions or unknown futures.”
For 13 years, the Arts & Humanities Council’s Arts in Education program has encouraged just this type of “what if” thinking. During the course of residencies in Bainbridge Island and North Kitsap school district classrooms, teaching artists have guided students through a range of creative programs while supporting state learning standards, each unit integrating directly with core curricula.
We’re proud of the ways in which our program is helping to make the arts and humanities equal partners to traditional subjects.
And perhaps, if business leaders like Golsby-Smith are any indicator, others will see the results aren’t so soft or abstract after all.
Barbara Sacerdote is the executive director of the Bainbridge Island Arts & Humanities Council.
