Barack Obama and the Arts

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/additional/Obama_FactSheet_Arts.pdf

Barack Obama believes in restoring art in America. He believes the arts “embody the American spirit of self-definition.” Obama believes that the first step in restoring America’s pride in their art is to reinvest in art education. He believes that “in order to remain competitive in the global economy, America needs to reinvigorate the kind of creativity and innovation that has help to make this country great.” Right now, many art programs in American schools are being cut due to budget issues or lack of interest. Obama says that not only should this not be happening, but that art should be a central subject to a child’s education just as math and science are. He believes that Americans need to be creative thinkers and a great way to foster this creativity is through art programs early on. Obama has three steps to better support art education all laid out. These steps include expand public/private partnerships between schools and artists associations, create an artist corps, and publically champion the importance of arts education. Most importantly, Obama strategically plans on increasing the support given to the National Endowment for the Arts. Over the last 15 years, funding the NEA has been slashed about 50 million dollars. Obama thinks it is crazy that support has dropped so drastically over the years since the NEA enriches schools and communities.

I support Obama’s ideas about restoring art in America though art education programs. It is not about producing more artists, or musicians, but more about equipping each student with a creative background. I share Obama’s belief that if we want more creative and innovative people to represent us in the work field and the competitive markets across the world, we need to have the arts present in schools beginning in elementary school. This could also help students in their present schooling situation as Obama points out by stating that he plans to create an artist corps. Studies have shown that schools that integrate art into their curriculum in lower income communities’ test scores have improved much quicker than those schools that do not integrate the arts into their curriculum. By creating an artist corps, groups of young artists can be sent to schools to help children, and in turn, test scores in all subjects are bound to improve at a more rapid pace.

Barack Obama is entirely correct in his belief that the arts are an important component to a well-rounded education. His steps to improve the current situation are just what this country and this cause needs.