Don't paint by numbers

The plea to save arts curricula in public schools isn’t a new one. Whether it’s the subject of heated budget debates among politicians or school boards, it isn’t a secret that arts have been hanging in the balance for quite some time. But for an issue so heavily publicized, when it comes to action in public schools, arts education is still often pushed into the periphery. In the wake of heavy budget cuts and increased standardized testing, the value of arts is just as easily stowed away with the lukewarm promise that it will be dealt with at a more convenient date as it is lauded.

The hurdles facing arts in schools are as daunting as they are troublesome, which is why I think, particularly for college students, the focus should be on small, targeted, immediately actionable initiatives. No one can single-handedly increase funds or combat the glut of standardized testing, but individuals can take steps to ensure that arts still have a presence in public schools despite these systemic challenges. One program at Columbia that advocates arts education in this way is Artists Reaching Out.

Part of Columbia’s Community Impact, ARO runs a weekly after-school art program at a public elementary school in Harlem. Every Friday afternoon, over 30 volunteers from Columbia and Barnard teach classes in visual art, music, dance, theater, and creative writing to about 50 third- through fifth-grade students. I joined ARO my first semester at Columbia, delighted to see that students had found a way to keep art present in a nearby elementary school. And even more thrilling than the initiative itself was the fact that the program actually worked.

As a volunteer teacher and one of four program coordinators for this group, I have seen firsthand the value of providing a creative yet structured space in which students can explore their artistic abilities. Not only do programs like ARO bring art into schools where it otherwise wouldn’t be a part of the daily curriculum, they also create a space in which students can share their expressive work with peers, teachers, and parents.

Champions of arts education often cite how music is linked to improved math scores or tap into the fear that the next generation’s artistic virtuosos will be denied opportunity to discover their abilities. Though these are common arguments in defense of the arts, ARO has also introduced me to another more esoteric yet even more vital endorsement. Beyond its potential contributions to the bottom line, one of the most moving aspects of arts education is its ability to build the more intangible elements of solid character.

Seeing students in ARO show off their drawings and new dance moves, take a proud bow after performing original skits and songs, or give an enthusiastic description of the new superhero they invented for their first short story reminds me how much art can help students build confidence and a sense of self that pure academics might not nurture otherwise.

ARO’s status as an after-school program also has its unique advantages. While firmly supported by the school, our volunteers’ youth and separation from the regular faculty makes them more relatable to the students. Students know that they take away from the program—which is less rigid than the normal school day—as much as they put into it, thereby enforcing the idea that the program exists solely for their own benefit. By making it their own, the program becomes more about expressing individuality and finding confidence in one’s unique voice than about figuring out in what way a new authority figure or set of testable standards must be capitulated to.

I can also say with confidence that initiatives like ARO are just as beneficial to the volunteers as they are to participants since I have also found a creative outlet and deeper sense of self-confidence through this program. Tasks such as managing a classroom, contributing to the surrounding community, and helping kids when they open up to you about their personal problems challenge volunteers to strike a balance between leadership and sensitivity. Also, at a school like Columbia where so many students focus on their own ambitions, it is vital to have an environment in which you can learn to be even prouder of the accomplishments of others. It’s clear to me that the most salient benefits of arts education reach farther and touch more people than any hard data or statistics could possibly reflect.

So while politicians shrug off arts education for another session and creative instruction is deemed expendable yet again during the triage of budget cuts, I will keep building marshmallow towers and dreaming up superheroes with the kids at ARO. In the words of a particularly proud fourth-grade student, “I’m an artist. That’s how I do.”

The author is a Columbia College sophomore. She is the co-coordinator of Artists Reaching Out. Becky Clark, Cathy Greenman, and Zeena Audi contributed to this piece.

Tags: Opinion, Victoria Fox, Artists Reaching Out, arts education