Comments on: What is the Value of the Arts to the Public? http://blog.grdodge.org/2009/09/09/what-is-the-value-of-the-arts-to-the-public/ Supporting leadership, innovation and collaboration for a better New Jersey Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:26:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.2 By: Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation » Blog Archive » Xtreme Book Club Idea Makes Connections http://blog.grdodge.org/2009/09/09/what-is-the-value-of-the-arts-to-the-public/comment-page-1/#comment-506 Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation » Blog Archive » Xtreme Book Club Idea Makes Connections Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:47:34 +0000 http://blog.grdodge.org/?p=2747#comment-506 [...] week I wrote about the importance of recognizing and instilling public value for the arts. So how do we do this? Are there things you are doing as an organization or as an individual that [...] [...] week I wrote about the importance of recognizing and instilling public value for the arts. So how do we do this? Are there things you are doing as an organization or as an individual that [...]

]]> By: karen http://blog.grdodge.org/2009/09/09/what-is-the-value-of-the-arts-to-the-public/comment-page-1/#comment-493 karen Sat, 12 Sep 2009 01:45:05 +0000 http://blog.grdodge.org/?p=2747#comment-493 I write on behalf of specific children who have graced the doors of our healing arts agency, not to tout our services but to tell you their stories in their words about the impact the arts have had on their lives. These are children who have been locked in psychiatric wards at the tender ages of seven to 13, physically and or sexually abused children who have been bounced from foster home to foster home, children living in diistraught and impovershed families with a parent fighting their own demons, and children who live in fear due to witnessing unspeakable horrors. These are just some of the children who have shared their thoughts and reflections with me about the value of the arts. Though they are nameless to you, trust me when I tell you I cannot accurately restate their powerful words without first pausing to honor them for their resilience and then their candor. These are the children who tell me the arts "saved" them, sometimes from themselves and sometimes from a system that purports to help them. Sure, they have told me that music is freeing, film is sometimes their only escape. and dance is the only way to numb their pain. They have revealed that the only time they feel a sense of control is on a stage and that writing poetry about their experiences is easier than retelling the events. That is not news, albeit a powerful testament. These are the same kinds of children who frequently ask me unanswerable compelling questions, such as "why their medications can't make them feel as alive as they feel when they finish a piece of art" and "why the arts aren't valued as a person's "sacred" time" to stay well and "why isn't art time a part of our guaranteed rights". All of these conversations were important at the time but are even more important now as we face sizable cuts in arts funding. I conclude with the wise old sage advice from a six year old boy who has just started his journey through grief, "the world would be better off if we all carried crayons instead of pens and pencils, nothing would look dead ever again. What a metaphor! I write on behalf of specific children who have graced the doors of our healing arts agency, not to tout our services but to tell you their stories in their words about the impact the arts have had on their lives. These are children who have been locked in psychiatric wards at the tender ages of seven to 13, physically and or sexually abused children who have been bounced from foster home to foster home, children living in diistraught and impovershed families with a parent fighting their own demons, and children who live in fear due to witnessing unspeakable horrors. These are just some of the children who have shared their thoughts and reflections with me about the value of the arts. Though they are nameless to you, trust me when I tell you I cannot accurately restate their powerful words without first pausing to honor them for their resilience and then their candor. These are the children who tell me the arts “saved” them, sometimes from themselves and sometimes from a system that purports to help them. Sure, they have told me that music is freeing, film is sometimes their only escape. and dance is the only way to numb their pain. They have revealed that the only time they feel a sense of control is on a stage and that writing poetry about their experiences is easier than retelling the events. That is not news, albeit a powerful testament. These are the same kinds of children who frequently ask me unanswerable compelling questions, such as “why their medications can’t make them feel as alive as they feel when they finish a piece of art” and “why the arts aren’t valued as a person’s “sacred” time” to stay well and “why isn’t art time a part of our guaranteed rights”. All of these conversations were important at the time but are even more important now as we face sizable cuts in arts funding. I conclude with the wise old sage advice from a six year old boy who has just started his journey through grief, “the world would be better off if we all carried crayons instead of pens and pencils, nothing would look dead ever again. What a metaphor!

]]> By: Ben http://blog.grdodge.org/2009/09/09/what-is-the-value-of-the-arts-to-the-public/comment-page-1/#comment-490 Ben Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:15:36 +0000 http://blog.grdodge.org/?p=2747#comment-490 As a Development Director for a non-profit performing arts center in NJ, mine is hardly an unbiased opinion, but I think the arts do indeed have a valuable impact on the community. This is a serious issue for arts and culture organizations in New Jersey and even former governor Tom Kean believes that the funding for the arts should remain intact in New Jersey. His specific positions are a matter of public record and can be found through a cursory web search. We all have a stake in this policy issue and I urge everyone to learn more and contact your state and local legislators. As a Development Director for a non-profit performing arts center in NJ, mine is hardly an unbiased opinion, but I think the arts do indeed have a valuable impact on the community.

This is a serious issue for arts and culture organizations in New Jersey and even former governor Tom Kean believes that the funding for the arts should remain intact in New Jersey. His specific positions are a matter of public record and can be found through a cursory web search.

We all have a stake in this policy issue and I urge everyone to learn more and contact your state and local legislators.

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