May 12

Written by: ngreditor
5/12/2009 7:52 PM 

A window into the arts

Paul Hosford

Boone Central held its yearly Fine Arts banquet this past Sunday evening, and I was pleased to see so many students and their families attend. It has been a good year for the arts in our school system and that was demonstrated at the banquet both by the numerous awards and honors earned and by a video of the past year’s performances.

I am of course, as co-director of the Albion Area Arts Council, an advocate of the arts and art education. Too often it seems the arts are the first thing cut from school budgets forced to trim expenses. The arts are too often viewed as a luxury, something to be supported only when all other needs have been met.

And I can understand this attitude: many people see the arts as impractical; artists are as famous for starving as for their contributions to society, and realistically, who wants to encourage our young people to starve? Our own son, William, a musically talented senior who would like to major in music, is being discouraged at every turn by well-meaning adults who constantly remind him that he should instead major in something that will allow him to earn a decent living.

Three years ago, in an effort to counter such attitudes, the Arts Council began offering a modest Fine Arts Scholarship to seniors graduating from both the public and parochial high schools in the communities we serve: Albion/Petersburg, Cedar Rapids, Elgin, Fullerton, Lindsay, Newman Grove, Spalding and St. Edward. My wife Lori and I don’t vote for the winner and alternate; they’re chosen by a committee of board members from several communities. And I’m glad we don’t have to decide; the candidates are all well qualified and deserving.

This year’s seventeen applications provide a window into our young people, their attitudes and their plans. Their career goals range from graphic design to construction management; economics and business to sound recording and wedding planning, education and studio art.

There are fledgling counselors and music therapists and even a skate shop owner. Three of this year’s applicants discuss their desire to return to this area after college and they appear to have realistic plans in place for doing so.

Two of those three and one other discuss their desire to be entrepreneurs, starting and operating their own businesses. Another has already started her own music business, marketing her musical talent while still in high school while yet another plans to sell his ceramics in art galleries in order to help pay his way through college.

And since the benefits of the arts and art education aren’t always immediately obvious, it has been encouraging to read the views of area seniors regarding the arts. One young woman, when answering why the fine arts are important to her said that while schools focus on math, science, history and English, these are “mental aspects of life.” She goes on to explain that the arts provide “emotional education” that has helped her connect the purely intellectual things she’s been taught to the real world, saying that she owes “much of her success in school to the arts.”

Two write of how the arts have not only given them a creative outlet but helped them develop their character. One mentions that the arts have really broadened her horizons and given her opportunities to meet new people. Another points out that by performing in front of audiences she has gained confidence for things like job interviews. She also mentions that her experiences in music have helped her to learn from constructive criticism and work as part of a team.

One discusses how she truly feels free when performing and that this freedom enables her to bring joy to other people’s lives. Another speaks of how the arts have given her courage. Yet another describes how the arts have enabled her to “feel comfortable in my own skin” and when performing, “invincible.”

One young man speaks of the impact of having attended a Broadway production last summer. And a young woman from St. Edward, Cathryn Reed, describes joining People to People Student Ambassadors so she could see Michelangelo’s Pieta (his marble sculpture of Mary holding Christ’s crucified body) in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

She says “When I saw it I understood why I love art with such a passion and why others devote their lives to it. I could see the ardor Michelangelo put into his work. With art one can put all their being and soul onto a canvas or into a lump of clay. The greatest reward, however, is not self-expression, but bringing a substantial amount of joy into the lives of others.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself…