TYPOGRAPHY PROJECTS

The lack of art education in schools in America is alarming and is proceeding to get worse. In the past decade, budgets for the arts in American schools have had lacking funds or have been cut completely from schools. It’s becoming a growing problem with no clear indication of a solution anytime soon. All levels of the arts are crucial to child development as even a small dose of exposure to the arts shows an overall better educational performance and reduces drop-out rates. 

According to Americans for the Arts Action Fund, a national arts advocacy organization, “Students who experienced an arts education performed better in reading and math exams, had better grade point averages, and were less likely to drop out of school” (Diaz). Most people push toddlers to create arts and crafts at home, but when they grow older, it’s shown that it’s not as encouraged in schools. Being creative helps the brain develop and one could say it “keeps you on your toes”. In the modern workplace, ideas that are considered outside of the box are always welcome and that stems from being creative.  James Catterall seminal 2009 study is based on the National Educational Longitudinal Survey that captured information on approximately 25,000 secondary school students over four years. “According to Catterall’s findings, extensive participation in arts activities was a noteworthy predictor of academic achievement and community involvement for disadvantaged students. Students with lower economic status benefited greatly from attending arts-rich schools in regard to college attendance, grades, employment, and level of terminal degree.”

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From my own personal experience, I loved art in school, and it was always my strong suit, freeing me from the monotony and formulaic structure of the sciences. As stated previously, math and science never sparked my interest, nor did it show my strengths in a fair way. I participated in all forms of art, visual, music and drama. However, due to tight funds and continuous budget cuts through the years, the art departments have always struggled to excel. This is something that always bothered me during my younger school years to even now as the arts have clearly taken a backseat to all other academics and athletics. In my eyes, I feel as though the arts are neglected and it has been getting worse especially with the recent Republican proposals for further cuts to National Endowment of the Arts.

It’s crucial for students to have arts in their everyday curriculum because staying creative keeps the mind sharp and on task.  An alarming statistic from Huffington Post claims: “Students scored an average 147 in music and 149 in visual arts on a scale of 300, dipping very slightly from 2008, when the test was last administered. A sample of 8,800 eighth-grade students from public and private schools participated in the 2016 National Assessment of American Progress, which evaluates comprehension based on a series of questions and original work”. These statistics are staggering, and something needs to be done. It’s clear, due to these results, that visual, music and dramatic arts has an enormous impact on students and their development. Which raises the question, why is something that’s only beneficial being cut out completely instead of being provided to those who excel in it?