 |
"The arts develop skills and habits of mind that are important for
workers in the new 'Economy of Ideas' ” Alan Greenspan.
The 2000 SCANS (Secretary’s Commission
on Achieving Necessary Skills) Report by the U.S. Department of Labor
links arts education with economic
realities, asserting that young people who
learn the rigors of planning and production in the arts will be valuable
employees in the idea-driven workplace of the future.
Champions
of Change, 32
“The arts are a natural, inevitable ally for any successful business.
The partnership arises because we sense in the arts that same
search for an ideal quality and excellence that imbues many of our business
decisions. The arts take us out of our various,
individual and competitive companies into that parallel world where we
can all unite in enjoying a broader, common image or ideal.” Rawleigh
Warner, Jr., as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Mobil
Corporation
 If
our civilization is to continue to be both dynamic and nurturing, its
success will ultimately depend on how well we develop the capacities of
our children, not only to earn a living in a vastly complex world, but
to live a life rich in meaning. The vision [the arts hold] out affirms
that a future worth having depends
on being able to construct a vital relationship with the arts,
and that doing so, as with any other subject, is a matter of discipline
and study. National
Standards for Arts Education, 1994
In a study of 91 school districts across
the nation, evaluators found that the
arts create the flexible and adaptable knowledge workers
that businesses need to compete in today’s economy.
Gaining
the Arts Advantage: Lessons from School Districts that Value Arts Education,
President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and the Arts
Education Partnership, 1999.
“There is a lot of interest in the
arts, music, theatre, filmmaking, engineering, architecture and software
design. I think we have now transitioned the modern-day version of the
entrepreneur into the creative economy.” John Baldacci, Governor
of Maine, interview, mainelykids.com, 2005
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has counted more than two million
full-time workers in artist occupations. In this way, workforce development
programs that involve the arts may provide dual benefits, opening up careers
in the creative industries for some students, while enhancing overall
workforce preparedness of others. “The
Impact of Arts Education on Workforce Preparation,” National Governor’s
Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices Issue Brief, May 1, 2002.
 “I
think that we need to adjust our educational system to create more of
the kinds of workers that we need in a high-tech economy. I believe that
one of the changes that the United States needs to make is to establish
art as a core competency for every student . . . Copyright industries,
which include music, CDs, motion pictures, TV, video, newspapers, books,
magazines, and business and entertainment software . . . are the largest
export industry in the United States, bigger than cars, bigger than planes,
bigger than agriculture . . . Art is big
business in the U.S. and is becoming an important sector in most
industrialized countries. Any country that wants to maintain a healthy
entertainment economy needs to provide the skilled workers that the entertainment
industry needs. This begins with art education
for every child...We need people who can solve problems, who are
creative, who can work individually and collaboratively, who can analyze
a problem from multiple points of view. An education
in the arts builds the higher order thinking skills such as analysis,
synthesis, evaluation and critical judgment. Art education nourishes
imagination and creativity. Art education develops
collaborative and teamwork skills, technological competencies, flexible
thinking and an appreciation for diversity. An education in the
arts encourages a toleration of ambiguity.
. . Art is the catalyst that improves the quality of education for all
students of all socio-economic classes.” John Hughes,
president of the Academy Award® winning animation studio, Rhythm and
Hues, speech, 2003
[continue
reading]
|
 |
