We're all familiar with this scenario: finances are tight for everyone. Schools start to cut those things they deem to be non-essential from their budget. Government's have less money to spend, so they cu things they believe to be non-essential from their budget. How do we determine what is essential vs. non-essential? Very often we couch things in financial terms, and decide if the return on a financial investment is worthwhile or not. If something doesn't generate a tangible - specifically a financial - return, it is often tossed onto the pile of non-essential items.
Math, science, reading, and writing. These are subjects that everyone agrees are important to teach (even if they don't agree on what books students should be reading, they agree they should read). In order to be able to market ourselves, to get a job, we need to be able to read, write, have basic math skills, and have an understanding of the scientific method and of the world around us. These help us to get a job, and to make a tangible contribution to that job. Fair enough.
But when it comes to the Arts, Americans are less certain about how they contribute to the world. I think this is mainly because the Arts were never intended to be a money-making venture, and this goes counter to most Americans experiences.
Historically, the arts have produced great works, at an ever-increasing level of excellence in performance. But this comes at a financial price, and always will. It almost always falls on a smaller group of people who have recognized the intrinsic value of a Beethoven symphony, or a Puccini opera, and who have the financial means, to help bring these works to the greater population. To sit and listen to the plaintive strains of the second movement of Beethoven's 7th symphony - a crying and yearning that tears at your soul while expressing great hope for the future - is an unforgettable experience worth hearing again and again. In Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci, as the opera comes to a dramatic close after Canio stabs his wife and her secret lover, his anguished cry "La Commedia รจ finita! " still sends a shiver down my spine. And it's been 20 years since I last saw this opera!
But many American's have adopted, and accepted, the notion that if something cannot support itself financially, independent of fundraising and/or government support, then it must not be worthwhile, and therefore it's demise is a natural part of our capitalistic society.
The arts fill a multi-faceted, and complex role. Classical music for example, can help affirm our sense of beauty and wonder. It can also elicit feelings of darkness and despair. Art may reflect a joyful innocence. But it may also be disturbing and ugly. Joy and despair, sorrow and hope. Combine that with the reality that the arts are not always about instant gratification (such as a 3 minute song on your pop radio dial), but often a longer journey that we carry with us well past the performance, and in the age of the internet you have a recipe for something that is going to be short-lived.
And so this brings me back to how do we, as a society, determine that which is valuable and worth investing in, from those things who, should they no longer exist, not be missed. The short answer for me is that not everything is about making a profit. Why is it so terrible that some things just break-even, or are supported by public funds? Why is it such a bad thing to invest in things that enhance our quality of life, and even give our lives a deeper meaning, and a richer experience? We accept that organized religion can fill a spiritual need, but we are often too quick to dismiss the need fulfilled by music, art, and drama.
I believe that this treatment of the arts as commodity instead of an expression of our shared humanity, is a view that we as a society, will eventually reject. Financial times may seem bleak right now, but we will come around and decide that there is indeed more to life than working 60-80 hours a week, and that we will once again want shared cultural experiences at the deepest level. We will chose depth of meaning in expression instead of instant gratification. And we will seek to be moved to explore the depths of our souls in ways that are both familiar, and new.
I just hope that it happens sooner rather than later.
