Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.
~George Bernard Shaw
ccessibility to the Arts (in all forms) is essential to the growth of any community large or small. Restricting or limiting access in any way shape or form will only eat away at the roots of the community and eventually sound the death knell for it over the long run. Large communities, unfortunately, have more resources to combat this (Larger population, larger economic base etc...) as a rule of thumb and thus can repair the damage or even prevent it from happening. However a cultures which is grounded and artistically based (large of small) has a higher and much better chance of remaining a healthy community for years and even centuries, as well as carving out a niche for itself globally that will thrive in unimaginable ways. Ken Clay, past VP for the Kentucky Center for the Arts and founder of the ArtsReach Program states, "ArtsReach has been a crucial part of exposing young people in our communities to arts and culture. It's a necessary investment for our community. I've seen how much young people have benefitted from the exposure to the arts and how they have become better people and productive members of their community." Using an Indigenous People's concept, Arts in the community is a web which connects everyone. Damage that web and everyone is impacted, it is a lifeline to the community which the community can ill afford to lose but can't not risk neglecting to nurture and develop. The roots are deep both on individual levels and communal levels, regardless if the arts are local or global, it makes no difference because the simply presence of the arts and them being nurtured is foundational. This is not just literary jargon or statistical hyperbole, it is solid, extensive proven tried and true research rooted in History, Archeology, Anthropology, Medicine, Science, Psychology, Communications, Mathematics. We are hardwired for the Arts as human beings, but for some unfathomable reason as we become adults that drive is driven out of most of us by society, even our own communities.
rowing up I was fortunate to have been exposed to a family that were extensive readers, musical, artistic and when I started school my first teachers were themselves artists (accomplished musicians and book illustrator) so from the gate my creativity and love for the arts was kept intact. Even though I couldn't carry a tune, or draw a picture to say my life, I did manage to learn the Trombone (for the wrong reasons) and develop my writing and imagination. My wife and I did pass on a love for the arts to my family who have been artistically involved in their own right, community/school theater, photography, painting, music and continue to be. But we did that be exposing them to the artistic world including letting them follow their artistic interests and encouraging them to develop them, even while living in rural areas where the arts are notoriously absent or suppressed. In my present town, we have been very fortunate to within the past decade to have opened the Rainforest Arts Center (RAC) which has opened the pathway to numerous, prior unavailable artistic venues including international Cellist Ian Maskin who has returned to the community repeatedly. The Community has also been graced with the regular appearance of Missoula Children's Theater who creates community theater using the children of the community as actors for different productions-which is always an instant success and cements the involvement of those who may not normally be involved in the arts but have an interest in them. In turn such events have grown the High School Theater Troupe overseen by Tracy Gillett that has brought to the arena such productions as "The Addams Family, Chicago, Be More Chill, Legally Blonde, and others complete with their musical scores and equally talented students to meet the challenges. It should be noted such efforts do not go without challenges, as at one point efforts to censor Be More Chill led to a session with the school district and principal and school board, which failed miserably but unfortunately delayed the opening long enough for the play's production rights to lapse beyond the deadline. However, the lesson of accountability and grass roots voice was not lost on the opposition. It should also be noted this was not totally to be unexpected, although admittedly it did catch everyone by surprise but that was because we had assumed the opposition would be reasonable, listen and respond appropriately instead of adversarial which ultimately resulted in them getting publicly reprimanded and a lot of negative attention. Such battles are always bloody and no one escapes without wounds. But as the song goes, "Time is on our side. Yes it is!"
he erosion or absence of the arts leave a void that will be filled with something more destructive, again research into a communities health measured by the presence of the arts has proven this beyond dispute. Community Players, Community Arts Centers, Local Orchestras, a Robust arts curriculum and program in all levels of schools in the community, including higher education, well supported and stocked library and maintained inner library loan system. Each one of these are a necessary component if the community is to have a thriving artistic heartbeat. Every artistic success came from community roots, Jazz, Swing, Classical even the Shakespearian Troupe started out as local players and ended up performing in the royal courts and having their own theater. The Bard's works grace our bookshelves, Libraries, and classrooms to this day (including many of well known actors/actresses having started and acted in those very same works presently) as do Chaucer, Tennyson, Yeats, Shelly, Blake, Silverstein, Maya Angelo, Tolkien,Poe, Lewis, Stevenson. The music of Bach and Armstrong have shaped our present day music in ways the modern performers have no concept and yet those two musicians alone influence can still be felt. Fiddler on the Roof told the story of Russian Jews and in the process changed musical theater and the artistic world forever, as well as the the life of the work itself. Dali and Picasso whose works continue to inspire and amaze and Van Gogh's works who have even crossed artistic lines and appeared in Dr. Who. The classic works of painters and sculptors now being banned in Florida schools and libraries as pornographic and obscene are efforts from a segment of our society who has failed to learn the lessons from history about suppression and abuse of a community, the loss of identity as a culture and the eventual narrowing of human growth which will bring a community to the edge of darkness surrounded by light. Past that boundary are tables laden with blood soaked tapestries and goblets filled with human misery. A path Dayton, WA presently knowingly teeters upon, with puritanical and not so old evils pressing to cross it. Perhaps they would benefit from reading some of the very works which they seeks to make go away. A well known quote adopted by many destructive movements, "Better to reign in Hell then serve in Heaven" (Paradise Lost, John Milton).
t was a strange, rag tag group who wandered into the village. They wore unhappy, disapproving and defeated looks upon their faces and yet underneath it all was a sense of demeaning, superiority when they look at the villagers. Their garb gave them away as Smoke Eaters or Fire Kissers as some called them. They wore a mix of simply garb which often smelled of smoke and could give them the appearance of humble means if it were not for the gold gilded cuffs, collars or buckles and decorations they wore. Their hands were often colored by soot but clearly seen were a gold or ornate ring or a leather earring with golden specks or design on it. The fact that their wagons were outside of the village spoke volumes, because the protecting magic would not let them past the boundary which meant all the danger they had brought with them remained in the wagons and not on their persons. Some carried bottles of ashes from pictures whose paint had been mixed with gold flakes or precious dust from gems or ores. They had got the message pretty quickly, and were not happy about entering the village without their means of destruction and implements of persuasion. Their reputation preceded them, for these were people who lived for the burning of things they disapproved of, which was quite a lot and they felt it their mission in life to remove those unpleasantries and bestow upon the world the miseries they themselves deserved. Anything which gave offense to them, animate or inanimate, was subjected to the flames and in the process anything of material value which could be salvaged from it was. The more lazy of the folk were seen in the aftermath of battles near the funeral pyres, rooting among the dead and ashes for missed valuables or those included to honor the fallen. They gathered where there was smoke and fires, and were not above looting a graveyard and setting fire to the despoiled graves. Even among the village they were not a welcome sight, and people kept their distance unless absolutely necessary. If it were not for the miserable, forlorn condition of the children of the group, the villagers would have not let them in at all. There was still hope for the children, and the village might be it.
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