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Art matters because looking at a beautiful painting or sculpture gives us an experience that nothing else can.

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Ever wonder what National Endowment for the Arts staff actually think about the arts? While not everyone at the agency is an artist (though we do boast quite a few!), one thing's for sure--we all share a deep and abiding appreciation and understanding of how vitally important the arts are to the diverse people and communities that call the U.S. home. To paraphrase what more than one staffer said when we asked them to explain why they value the arts so highly, the arts matter because they help us to understand how we matter. Here's more...

"The arts matter because I learn something about people and places I would have never known otherwise. The arts make my brain and my heart stretch to make room for newness. Sometimes, parts of me are displaced and replaced by wiser stuff. And that's a fine thing." - Victoria Hutter

"Art matters because it illustrates the human experience-the wonder of it, the bewilderment of it, the whimsy of it, and so much more. We would not be connected so deeply without the existence of art." - Kathleen Dinsmore

"The arts matter because they give us a mutual space where we can talk to one another about the most important things to us. It can turn strangers into old friends with lots in common." - Maryrose Flanigan

"The arts matter because art is meant to move people either on an intellectual or emotional level. Whether this is a book that stays with you days later, or a performance that moves you spiritually or a song that makes you look at the world around you in a different way. The purpose of art is to cause a reaction and with this purpose it can create a synergy of change; change in attitudes, perceptions, and thoughts." - Catherine Brookes

"The arts matter because without them our strong emotions, our vital voices, our move-to-the-groove energy and necessary empathy and life-affirming connectedness and tendency toward complexity might all wither from disuse, maybe even destroy us through misuse. The arts matter because with them, we matter." - Amy Stolls

"There is a quote by Vladimir Nabokov that reads, 'There is, it would seem, in the dimensional scale of the world a kind of delicate meeting place between imagination and knowledge, a point, arrived at by diminishing large things and enlarging small ones that is intrinsically artistic.' I've kept this quotation on my desk for days now after seeing it used as an epigram to a James Lasdun poem and I have to confess, I can't paraphrase what it means (which I would say is a sign of great art). But the sentence is beautiful and the cloud of unknowing it puts me in reminds me of why I do love art. Often with art I feel I'm talking with someone who knows something I don't, something I'd like to know. Art stretches me, challenges me, makes me think and feel. I'm a curious person and want to know. Art is the place where huge concepts like love and war are distilled for us to reckon or small things like a flower is held up to all. And akin but different to Nabokov's thought, things become right sized with great art. Money, power, status are so easily and quickly overvalued and things like relationships, beliefs, or even happiness, the stuff of art that makes life worth living is devalued in our world that is constantly pushing us apart toward isolation. Art gives us a reality check as to what's really going on and what could go on if we cooperated. As a society the place where imagination and knowledge meet is where we want to start." - Sidney Smith

"The arts matter because we matter, and our stories matter. We are moving miracles, walking creators engaging in a cosmic dance. The art we express is timeless." -Mohammed Sheriff

"The arts matter because they help us see the world from different perspectives. They give us empathy and help us understand people, places, periods of history, and issues with which we may otherwise be unfamiliar. They comfort us in grief and energize us in celebration. They are important because they can act as a catalyst for change...they can start a revolution! The arts ignite something in our brains that I can't explain, but I know it's essential for life." - Jennie Terman

"The arts matter because they allow an individual a platform to express their unique creativity to/with the world." - Monica Waters

"The arts matter because they allow us to express ourselves and illustrate the world around us in a different light, helping us to gain understanding, build communities, and give hope." - Kelli Rogowski

"The arts matter because they are like a gift from one soul to another - whether it's a joyful, simple gift like a child's drawing, or a play or novel that makes you think and hurt and wish and feel, the arts help us understand ourselves and each other." - Carrie Holbo

"The arts matter because they offer a unique space for self affirmation and reflection." - Carlos Arrien

"The arts matter because creativity is an infinite and enduring resource, one to draw upon in both the most joyous and the most challenging of moments. The arts strengthen community bonds, create new means of connection and understanding, and offer a continuous, powerful, and resilient source of individual and collective identity." - Sarah Burford

"The arts matter because they are the record of our civilization and the arrow pointing forward to our future." - Greg Reiner

"Art matters because people matter, and arts events are one of the best ways to gather individuals and build communities around a shared experience." - Eleanor Billington

"The arts matter to me because they allowed me to elevate myself out of the sad place I was in during my childhood. I was able to read fluently at four and had my first letter-to-the-editor published at age eight. Seeing my name in print was all it took to get me onto the path of becoming a journalist. I had no encouragement from my mother but she did buy me a mechanical typewriter. At 17, and still in high school, I was one of the youngest reporters at BILD newspaper. It was the money I made with that side gig that got me out of the public housing complex we lived in shortly after my 18th birthday and into my first own apartment." -Katja von Schuttenbach

"The arts matter because they have the power to change lives. They have the power to heal our minds and our bodies through arts-in-healthcare programs, creative aging programs, and the creative arts therapies. They have the power to help incarcerated individuals grapple with complex emotions and lead more productive lives upon release. The have the power to shape identity beyond the labels people are given. They allow a person with a developmental disability to say, 'I'm an artist,' a prison inmate to say, 'I'm a writer,' and a person in a long-term care facility to say, 'I'm a poet.' The arts are transformative." - Beth Bienvenu

"The arts matter because they allow you to experience different ways of seeing and thinking about life." - Don Ball

"The arts matter because life is dull without perspective. All art, good and bad, made by an individual or a team, brings the perspective of an artist to others. It is so important to have art, to teach art, and to allow ourselves and our children to live with a national tradition of art, because the arts give us the tools and means for communicating about the way we see the world. Without the arts, we are confined to one world and one worldview; with the arts, we have the treasure of a million worlds and a million ways to see them." - Daniel Fishman

"The arts matter because they are the one thing on this planet with the power to change a person's perspective, mood, assumptions, beliefs, and ideas; they can transform a place, represent a community, take you back in time, or move your forward into the future; help a person understand from where they came and where they are headed and grapple with the beauty and uncertainty of all that occurs in between-nothing else in the world has that kind of power and responsibility." - Meg Brennan

"When my children are feeling sad or mad or confused, a song will lift their spirits. Whether we sing or they pick up an instrument and play, all is well again." - Allison Hill

"The arts matter because it is our most expressive form of sharing." - vEnessa Y Acham

"Art is, the works of our hands and feet, the thoughts and innovations coming from our mind, and the inspiration coming from our spirit and our soul. It is how we survive." - Deborah Washington

"To me, the arts matter because they illuminate signals in the noise to help us navigate through life conscientiously, with a deeper understanding of ourselves in broader contexts. Art matters because it teaches us why we matter." - Bill O'Brien

"The arts matter because they encourage civility in the world. Living in London in my middle 20s, I spent a huge amount of time in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. In that crowded city, where people studiously avoid making eye contact on the streets, there was a notably more relaxed and friendly spirit in the park. The combination of open space and room to breathe, the flowers and green lawns and old, old trees, the choice of paths from Point A to Point B-experiencing these things together allowed people to let down their guard just a little bit, and occasionally nod and smile. Landscape design made that subtle shift in civility possible, and I will always remember it." - Courtney Spearman

"The arts matter because they help you see what's in between - they help you think twice. Notes, chords, images, and words float within you and have the power of surfacing at any moment, to soothe, distract, entertain, or give comic relief. That's a lovely thing and yes, it matters." - Wendy Clark

"The arts matter because they allow people to uniquely express themselves... without fear of giving a wrong answer." - Lauren Tuzzolino

"The arts matter because they extend our lives. I'm not talking about years added-though certain artists, through their creations, can claim a type of immortality. Rather, the arts allow us fully to inhabit other personalities, perspectives, and states of perception. The arts thus elongate human experience. And while it can't be displayed on a standard chronology, who's to say this qualitative increase in life doesn't translate to a quantitative one?" - Sunil Iyengar

Please help us celebrate our 50th anniversary by joining our virtual social media flash mob on Tuesday, September 29 at 1:00 pm ET. Sign up to participate here.

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Ever wonder what National Endowment for the Arts staff actually think about the arts? While not everyone at the agency is an artist (though we do boast quite a few!), one thing's for sure--we all share a deep and abiding appreciation and understanding of how vitally important the arts are to the diverse people and communities that call the U.S.

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How is Social Media Transforming the Future of Education?

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Art in the Age of Instagram | Jia Jia Fei | TEDxMarthasVineyard

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Stand For The Arts - Arts Advocacy Video - Ovation

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Why art is important | Katerina Gregos | TEDxGhent

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The arts and education sectors must collaborate more deeply to ensure parents value arts subjects and encourage their children to take them, or take up will continue to decline, Global Teacher of the Year Andria Zafirakou has warned.

She urged the creative industries to come into schools to discuss their work and called for society to develop strong answers to the question: 'What is art gonna get you'?

The comments were made at a Royal Society of the Arts (RSA) event earlier this week on arts and education, also attended by speakers including Arts Council England (ACE) Chief Executive Darren Henley and education journalist Laura McInerney.

They coincide with the launch by the RSA of a new network of cultural practitioners to champion evidence and evaluation in education.

Pressures in schools

McInerney, formerly Editor of Schools Week, said that while there is a lack of evidence about the specific benefits of studying arts as opposed to other occupations, such as playing chess, she stressed there is evidence that the creative arts build confidence and are good for employment.

But the arts are nonetheless vulnerable in schools, she says, because they rely on specialist teachers and have a relatively small place in the curriculum.

She stressed the biggest risk for the arts is therefore a timetabling issue, as it is unlikely that a Music teacher would be able to teach Art, while it's common for a History teacher to be directed to teach Geography or Religious Education.

She called for arts organisations to appreciate this delicate balance when trying to organise external trips, and to adapt their in-school offer to the complex and specific requirements in schools.

Henley stressed that arts subjects are "rigorous and valuable" and that "every child, from every background, should have an opportunity to learn them right the way through their schooling".

Comparing the messages put forward by state and private schools, he noted that the first thing you see on the websites of some of the most expensive schools in the country is the fact that they teach children music, dance and the arts from as young as three years old.

Evidence initiatives

The RSA aims to bridge the apparent evidence gap in a £2.5m trial that will involve five projects across 400 schools, focusing on drama, music and writing to improve academic and social performance.

It has also announced the launch of a new 'evidence champions' network, billed as an opportunity for local practitioners to spread the work about the value of evidence and evaluation.

In partnership with ACE bridge organisations, 100 champions will be drawn from schools, cultural organisations, funders and Higher Education to exchange new perspectives on learning from evidence and improving outcomes for children. They will be the first group to engage with evidence from the £2.5m Cultural Learning Trials, and will be given access to expertise and technical knowledge through monthly webinars, regular face-to-face training and RSA-developed resources.

The deadline for applications to become an evidence champion is 30th June.

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Teacher of the year: 'We must make parents value arts in schools'

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The arts and education sectors must collaborate more deeply to ensure parents value arts subjects and encourage their children to take them, or take up will continue to decline, Global Teacher of the Year Andria Zafirakou has warned.

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June 3, 2018
If you walk into the Education Department in downtown Washington and past the elevators, the first thing you encounter is "Total Tolerance." It's the name of an exhibit of photographs, paintings and poetry by high school students displayed in the building's lobby.

Some of the works are jarring. Others are more meditative. All of it is art with a message aimed squarely at the times.

"America's Target," a stylized photograph by Janelle Radcliffe, 18, shows a young black woman wearing a veil and holding her arms in front of her as a pair of white hands places them in handcuffs. In a painting titled "Los Pajaritos," by Juniel Solis, two young men wearing lipstick and dresses gaze with seeming suspicion at the viewer. A work by Ameya Okamoto, "Quanice Hayes," is a portrait of a 17-year-old from Portland, Ore., who was unarmed when shot and killed by police last year.

It has not escaped the notice of a number of the artists and others that "Total Tolerance" is being shown in a department headed by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who has advocated policies that critics say are intolerant, including her decisions to roll back protections for the LGBTQ community and toss out hundreds of disability rights complaints and civil rights cases alleging discrimination in schools.

Soon after she became secretary, DeVos ended the Obama-era guidance that allowed transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice. That and other policy decisions have prompted fierce attacks by advocates for affected groups.

"Betsy DeVos has spent the last year and a half relentlessly attacking the rights of transgender students, youth of color, survivors of sexual assault and students with disabilities," said Ellen Kahn, director of the Children, Youth and Families Program at the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBT civil rights advocacy organization. She made her remarks in a statement in May following the release of a survey that showed 70 percent of LGBTQ teens said they were bullied at school and that 95 percent reported having trouble sleeping because of anxiety.

"Given the disastrous and dangerous actions of Donald Trump and Mike Pence, the question must be asked of everyone in this administration: 'How do you sleep at night?' " Kahn said.

A spokeswoman for DeVos did not respond to an interview request about the exhibit or indicate whether the secretary had seen it. DeVos has previously said decisions regarding transgender bathrooms are best resolved at the state and local levels. And she has said that civil rights complaints had created an enormous backlog that placed "an unreasonable burden" on the department.

Last week, civil rights organizations and advocates for students with disabilities sued the Education Department in federal court, saying the agency's new procedures for handling complaints violate the law and are "arbitrary and capricious." An Education Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the litigation Friday but defended changes to the agency's Office for Civil Rights and said that office maintains a "commitment to robustly investigating and correcting civil rights issues."

The exhibit of 20 works at the Education Department explores issues of racism, transphobia, immigration, gender identity, disability and suicide, all through the eyes of young artists who say they are seeking understanding, empathy and dialogue. More than anything, they want their voices heard in a country in which they often feel pushed to the boundaries.

"I wanted to make the painting look pretty, but you can tell by the expression of the models in the painting that they are in fear," said Solis, a 16-year-old junior from Miami who is gay. "They're in fear of society telling them what they can't wear or how they have to act. I want people to know that they have to be true to themselves, be who they are. Especially now."

That sense of urgency, of the need to address these issues immediately, is expressed, too, by the other artists in the exhibit, which is presented by the Education Department in coordination with the National YoungArts Foundation, a Miami nonprofit organization.

"Right now, I feel like I'm not being heard and a lot of young people are not being heard," said Okamoto, 18, a senior from Portland. Okamoto, who is Asian American, describes herself as an activist artist and is a member of Black Lives Matter. Her work, she says, is focused on "racialized violence, particularly on victims of police brutality."

Jackye Zimmermann, longtime director of the Student Art Exhibit Program at the Education Department, said the purpose of the exhibit is to encourage discussion of contentious issues.

"The work is very, very strong, and it reflects what teenagers are seeing in the world. They have a sense of history and what is the story of their time," Zimmermann said. "If their work can evoke a conversation with us and the people who come through here, then we have something very rich and provocative."

Okamoto said that showing her art at the agency is a way to reach people who wouldn't otherwise see her work or might disagree with her positions.

"A lot of injustice is happening in our society, and that's especially prevalent in the Trump administration era," Okamoto said. "So for me, I've created a lot of pieces that I'm not afraid to say are in direct opposition to a lot of the rhetoric that is being spewed by the current administration."

Luisa Múnera, exhibition manager at YoungArts, curated the exhibit. She doesn't know if DeVos has seen it but hopes she will and that it makes an impression.

"How could this not be a statement? YoungArts does not take any sides, any political views, but myself as a human being, I am moved by the work that these young artists do, and it's my responsibility to provide them with the platform to have their voices heard," Múnera said. "I think she should see this and open her eyes and her ears and her heart. These are the people that she is serving."

Because of security restrictions, access to the exhibit requires an appointment. Contact Jackye Zimmermann at jacquelyn.zimmermann@ed.gov or at 202-401-0762 to make an appointment between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

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There's an edgy art show on tolerance. Where? At Betsy DeVos's agency.

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June 3, 2018 If you walk into the Education Department in downtown Washington and past the elevators, the first thing you encounter is "Total Tolerance." It's the name of an exhibit of photographs, paintings and poetry by high school students displayed in the building's lobby. Some of the works are jarring.

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In spring 2011, the organization began a major restructuring, which involved developing a curriculum and lesson plans. A certified art teacher wrote the curriculum, and then an art therapist and a child trauma specialist consulted on it. Then, in May of that year, a devastating tornado tore through Joplin. Art Feeds sprang into action and began working with the children affected by the disaster.

"It was a really active learning experience for us, where we were seeing how the lessons affected students that were a part of collective trauma," Bourne recalls. "But it also helped us understand that beyond that big event in their individual lives, every student had a story to tell."

Prior to the tornado, Bourne notes, Art Feeds had focused its activities on "marginalized students"- children considered "at risk" or who had behavioral disorders or special needs. After the tornado, as the team began working with a broader swath of students, they realized their work was important for all children.

Today, Art Feeds works with school administrators to coordinate its lessons, which are taught by teachers or volunteers trained by the organization at least once a week for each class. Bourne notes that around 90 percent of the students the team works with are in elementary school, but they do have curricula for preschoolers and older children, with special needs and behavioral disorders. Although there are only three full-time and one part-time employees of Art Feeds, each semester, they contract up to 40 educators, and work with around 200 volunteers. This year, they're on track to work with 7,000 kids, and next year, Bourne hopes to reach 10,000.

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Art Feeds Is Teaching Children to Express Their Emotions through Artmaking

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In spring 2011, the organization began a major restructuring, which involved developing a curriculum and lesson plans. A certified art teacher wrote the curriculum, and then an art therapist and a child trauma specialist consulted on it. Then, in May of that year, a devastating tornado tore through Joplin.

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Education Week - Capturing the Spark: Energizing Teaching and Schools

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Before there were teachers or students, humans made music and danced. Before there were schools, humans painted and sculpted. There's something fundamental about human existence that calls us to create, and to be audience to the creativity of others.

It's unfortunate that we've marginalized the arts in many contemporary American schools. In some schools, the arts are virtually absent, and in others, even if there is instruction in art or music, it exists as an extra, something less important, irrelevant to the real curriculum. The reaction in some corners as been to add an "A" to STEM education and fit arts into STEAM education. (To be inclusive we could add history, English, languages, and P.E. while we're at it: STEAMHELP! Or, call it "school").

Including the arts in education should require no justification. Arts are fundamental to the human experience, and always have been. Period.

If you teach something other than a class in the arts, I invite you to spend some planning time investigating ways to integrate the arts into your curriculum, because arts belong in education. That should be enough of a rationale. The fact that arts integration will help students learn other subjects is just a bonus. Whatever you teach, there is a way arts integration can be done with fidelity to both the core curriculum and the arts. You will find new ways of thinking about and understanding the material and the ways that students learn, and your students will thank you for it.

Now, to some extent, as a high school English teacher, I already have a chance to bridge the gap. I teach a "core" academic subject in which we focus on literary arts. Novels, plays, and poems are artistic, though we should make sure to give students opportunities to create and not just read in these genres. I try to go beyond these literary arts to incorporate other arts as well. However, for teachers of other subjects, incorporating poetry or other literature might be a fine approach to arts integration.

In my high school English classes, I've been most effective using paintings, photography, film, and music. Almost any connection you can think of has probably been thought of already, so do a search, ask a librarian for help, or just go to the website of any major museum and look for education links like these: Smithsonian, J. Paul Getty Museum, New York Museum of Modern Art, British Museum. My favorite lessons involving paintings involves the work of Samuel Bak, a Holocaust survivor whose surrealistic style invites all sorts of student reflections about survival, memory, loss, persistence, futility. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and what's most fascinating is that each viewer might come up with a different thousand words. Facing History and Ourselves offers robust resources for the study of Bak's work.

The study of photography can lead to some similarly profound discussions about life as other people experience it, or have in other times and places. I think many English and history teachers make use of photography when teaching about the Depression, though of course there are many other possibilities. Consider the power of The Places We Live, or the discussions that might follow from seeing " What a Week of Groceries Looks Like Around the World." These collections make a point through their content and juxtaposition. If you want to do justice to photography as an art form, look for resources like these from the Museum of Photographic Arts. It's important to look at pictures not only to see what's in them, but to help students understand how the image was conceived, captured, and presented, along with the effects of those artistic choices.

Similarly, we need to help students think and talk about music when we use music in the classroom. A teacher might want to use some songs from " Hamilton" (currently in heavy rotation in my family - kids included) as part of an engaging lesson in history, and the lyrics offer interesting perspectives on figures and events American history. There's value in simply using the music as a vehicle to bring the text into focus. However, stronger arts integration would go beyond the lyrics. Why does it matter what styles of music are used? How do tone, arrangement, and musical motifs help shape our understanding of a certain idea or character?

I have to admit, dance is the one art form I'm most hesitant about. Maybe that's an area where I have more potential to add to my teaching toolkit. If anyone has favorite lessons or resources to offer, for dance or any other arts integration, add them in the comments below.

Photo: Palo Alto High School students lead a discussion about a Samuel Bak painting; by David B. Cohen.

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Before there were teachers or students, humans made music and danced. Before there were schools, humans painted and sculpted. There's something fundamental about human existence that calls us to create, and to be audience to the creativity of others. It's unfortunate that we've marginalized the arts in many contemporary American schools.