Larry Etkin: Investing in the arts is investing in our future

They offer a way to reach students for whom mainstream academics have little appeal.

By LARRY ETKIN

Last update: January 4, 2008 - 5:44 PM

Wednesday's editorial on theater and education touched a larger concern: The arts have value to society far beyond simply producing things pretty or entertaining. Every penny we invest in arts education is paid back over the long haul. Creativity is the edge Minnesota and the United States have in the global economy, and the arts may be our best tools for harnessing it.

The arts motivate some youths in ways mainstream academics can't match. Art is the physical manifestation of how people develop and harvest imagination and creativity, and employ images, music, movement and language in the service of creating new understandings, and in communicating new alternatives that improve and advance society.

Beyond programs like Project Success, Minnesota is fortunate to have many institutions for the advancement of art and arts education. Importantly, Minnesota has one unique tool in its arts education arsenal, the Perpich Center for Arts Education, in Golden Valley. The Perpich Center operates a public residential Arts High School for 11th- and 12th-graders from across Minnesota. With nationally recognized artist-teachers in music, new media, dance, visual and literary arts, and, yes, theater, it provides a critically encouraging environment supporting the development of some of our state's most talented students.

The Perpich Center also provides professional development for arts teachers across Minnesota, ensuring that all of Minnesota's students have the opportunity to develop their creativity and artistry.

To the degree that the arts are seen only as an "alternative" for the unmotivated student, schools will fail to address its larger potential for our greater society. Arts education and exposure to the arts is something we owe to all of our children.

Larry A. Etkin is communications director for the Perpich Center for Arts Education.

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