Why is art important?

By TAMARA MURRAY

Recently I was asked the question by a local business owner, “why is art important?” We were discussing the proposed 11 percent reduction in the Pennsylvania state budget for the arts, and how this would impact the arts in our area. With people losing jobs, businesses closing and real estate values falling, he was feeling the crunch of these economic times.

I replied that it is a common misconception that communities support the arts at the expense of other local economic development; but research shows that the arts not only enhance the quality of life in communities, but they also contribute in their economic well-being.

His question is an opportunity to stop and reflect deeply upon why is art important and why it matters. During the Great Depression, FDR believed that art could alleviate economic distress, create beauty and instill confidence in the badly shaken county. He started the Federal Art Project (FAP) and the Public Works of Art Program (PWAP) as part of the New Deal. These programs lasted for about 10 years between 1933 and the early 1940s, and funded over 200,000 murals, sculptures, posters and furniture designs. This is how Jackson Pollock, Stuart Davis, Mark Rothko and other seminal modern American artists got their start, and local communities throughout the county benefited from the public art project. Experts have said that value of this artwork is in the tens of billions. Not a bad investment for our country.

The WPA initiative demonstrated that investing in the arts yields economic benefits, so why in similar times are we reducing funds for the arts on the local, state and national levels? Art isn’t the only thing that strengthens a community during challenging economic times, but it is a simple starting point that makes an immediate impact on both the image of the town and the sense of community within the town.

Artists and art organizations need to look at what we are doing in the arts and how to reconnect people to art. In many ways, art has become a type of “sacred cow” rather than part of ordinary human experiences. Our “New Deal” must experiment with engaging people in life-long artistic experiences. Visual arts, music, dance, literature, architecture and media are symbols every bit as potent as mathematical and scientific symbols. Art expresses our ideas and emotions in a variety of forms that can be “read” by other people. What would life be without these shared expressions and how would our understanding be conveyed? Not only is art important, it is part of our economy, our cultural heritage and the very stuff of our lives.

[Tamara Murray is executive director of the Wayne County Arts Alliance and a Jungian therapist. She hopes you take time to learn more about the stuff of life at www.waynecountyartsalliance.org.]