I occasionally read a blog by Alyson Stanfield that she writes for artists looking for advice on how to grow their entrepreneurial businesses. Last week, she posted a blog that i really wanted to share with you and i'm just getting around to it now. She references another blog posting on the site for Psychology Today by Michele and Robert Root-Bernstein titled “A Missing Piece of the Economic Stimulus: Hobbling Arts Hobbles Innovation.” I wanted to share the whole article with you, but unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be posted on the Psychology Today site any longer…so i'll just have to share the upshot with you.
I've stated before in this blog that one of my goals for 2009 is to start an Arts Education Initiative. This article makes the perfect argument for just such initiatives to be taking place all over the country. It seems that arts education is always one of the first things to get cut in school budgets…and with the current economic situation, it's happening every day. The article in Psychology Today points out just how criminal that really is. Artists are innovators…they are creative…they think outside the box….and many with “artistic” minds turn into some of the most talented technologists and scientists and inventors. If we stop nurturing that part of the brain, we'll lose an entire generation of thinkers. It's scary to think about.
Leonardo da Vinci is one case in point. He was revered as much for his scientific accomplishments and theories as he was for his artistic talents. Artists have designed architectural marvels, promoted advancements in engineering and robotics, have contributed to sociological study, and much, much more. We can't afford to ignore this type of thinking…this type of learning. That's my cause for this year and I'll be talking about it a lot more.
I've created the skeleton for the “Fazzino Arts Education Initiative” and soon i hope i'll have the occassion to share it with you….i hope to raise awareness, educate, and of course, raise funds for worthy arts education programs. I'll keep you posted.
–Charles
