“The arts” is a term that covers a very large set of creative activities. We can see the urge to create in almost every aspect of human existence – our clothing, our housing, our sports and physical activities, our gardens, our motor vehicles, aeroplanes, ships, and of course in the domain that is usually referred to as “the arts” – in our art, music, dance, theatre, film and literature. Human beings are naturally creative, and developing and expressing that creative urge is good for us, both individually and collectively. We seek and respond to “beauty”, although we will often have different standards of beauty, and choose different domains in which to seek it.
And though we keep hearing persistent calls for government funding, most human “arts” activity is essentially private. When we play music, or paint, or engage in amateur theatre, or video our children playing, or write poems or stories, or dance, or sing – we do these things for our own pleasure, and occasionally for the pleasure of others. We get more than a kick out of it, too. Participation in the arts, as in other activities, builds our sense of self and our capacity to reach out to others. More, any skill and all participation in the arts is likely to last for a long time, and in many instances, for life. People so involved tend to be positive, resilient, outgoing and interested in others; they are rarely to be found in prison.
So, if you look at it as public investment, funding the arts is a form of long-term social welfare, both at the individual and the community levels, and at an amazingly low cost. Since keeping a person in prison is equivalent in cost to the person’s maintenance in an excellent hotel, providing people at an early age with the skills and interests in the arts that will sustain them through life, and keep them out of crime and dissolute behaviour is an excellent bargain for the society. Programs like “el systemo” in Venezuela, which have rescued street-kids from vandalism and crime by teaching them to play a musical instrument, and thereby created a national set of youth orchestras, offer dramatic examples of what can be done. The criminal justice system alone costs us as a society around $8 billion each year. Arts funding is around $6 billion. An increase in the latter with the intent of reducing the former would seem to be a good investment for the country, and for local areas everywhere.
