The arts have been with us since the beginning of time. They preserve our ancestry in story, song, dance and image bringing meaning to our lives and depth to the human experience.
The arts connect generation to generation. They are a link to the history, the joy the pain and the triumph of our past.
The arts are all around us. They are woven throughout our daily lives as reflected in the lullaby we sing to our children; the art work on the refrigerator; the architecture of the church down the street and the play we see at the local theatre.
The arts are an instrinsic part of the human experience. They bring us into the fullness of our humanity and therefore cannot be separated from our children's education. They cultivate the whole child by connecting the person to an experience through their senses. They awaken emotion through verbal and non-verbal experience and provide a powerful vehicle for motivating all children to learn.
The arts are important to students and to society because they are tools for:
understanding human experience, past and present learning to adapt to others ways of thinking, working and self-expression understanding and learning about other cultures developing new ways of knowing and understanding the world around them developing new means of personal self-expression providing personal fulfillment through cultivation of talent, leisure, and vocational pursuits in the arts promoting life-long participation in the arts by supporting community programs developing openness and respect in personal attitudes towards works of arts and art forms as an observer/audience member developing perseverance, self-discipline and a collaborative spirit that transfers to all areas of life
Consortium of National Arts Education Associations. (1994) Dance, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts: National Standards for Arts Education, Music Educators National Conference.