NARAS's Michael Greene: "The Arts Make America Rich"

The next entry in our parade of "must have" articles comes from one of the folks who has been a leader, fighter and one of the pioneers of the modern day music advocacy efforts as a founding partner of the National Coalition for Music Education (Along with MENC and NAMM) with which AMC has long been aligned.

In the current issue of Grammy Magazine, NARAS President & CEO Michael Greene hammers (yes, we mean HAMMERS) home the point of the economic imperative for music and arts education to keep us from developing "culturally bankrupt societies." In "The Arts Make America Rich" Michael muses, "If conservative legislators can find no reason in their shriveled souls to support the arts, maybe they will consider their wallets."

He continues later in the article, "We call upon the nation's lawmakers to return quality arts education to the nation's agenda this year...Even if they put aside any consideration of beauty and aesthetics, they simply must set the stage for the nation's economic growth in the changing times ahead."

The remainder of the article explores the various industries which demand the skills only provided by arts education and the economic impact these industries have on the U.S. economy. He closes with a call to arms, "History will judge us harshly if we allow the strangulation of our arts education to continue. Take the fight to your community and let your artistic indignation ring loud and long. In this we must not fail."

Source: Grammy Magazine


This article was taken from the Music Education Online Site.