Why the arts?

Different ways of viewing the benefits of the arts

Researchers trying to find a way of talking about the benefits of the arts, make the distinction between:

  • instrumental - a means of achieving some end, such as strengthening communities; and
  • intrinsic - of value in themselves, such as the pot that spins into existence on the potter’s wheel, inspiration taken from the aesthetic of a painting, the insight or delight experienced in an ephemeral performance moment.


Alan Brown reminds us that many people may be ‘culturally active’ just by engaging in home-based activity like gardening, flower arranging, collecting objects and arranging them or playing music with the family (2007:7).  He encourages us all to join in the dialogue about the benefits of arts in our lives.

The arts in a creative community

We all know how important it is that communities have basic amenities such as decent dwellings, access to water, power and reasonable roads. Cultural activity, however, is not an extra to be dealt with after the physical infrastructure needs of a community are met. Cultural activity is an integral part of the solution to sustaining communities as places where people want to move into and stay. Michael Richards goes so far as to say ‘the arts are a direct expression of what makes us human, and we cannot be truly human without them’ (2006:32).


In a creative community we can:

  • visit museums that give our children a sense of place
  • be inspired by the artworks on display in our galleries or the public art in our streetscape
  • attend skills workshops in creative arts and craft  that add quality to our life and living environment
  • manage or attend a festival or event that showcases talent and moves money through our community
  • go to the movies for recreation or to broaden our experience
  • take the family to the local parks and gardens for a picnic outdoors
  • organise an annual street party that bonds neighbours and adds to our safety
  • attend a jazz festival, enjoy opera in the mulga or a country music festival to lift our flagging spirits or
  • cheer our youth in a local band competition.

These experiences are important in making us feel like creative people. These are intrinsic experiences and reflect the main reasons for most people engaging in arts activity which are enjoyment, entertainment and relaxation (Saatchi & Saatchi 2000:20).  They remind us that participation is the key to increasing value in the arts.

There is no better advocacy than personal transformation through an arts experience.

As they say in the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in the University of Illinois ‘Come As You Are, Leave Different’ - www.krannertcenter.com

This site, ArtsYakka, and its supporting document, Ideas into Action, can support us to organise these kinds of activities with our community. When we do so, we will observe that these activities can be instrumental in realising significant outcomes for our community such as making it a happier and safer place to live.

On the Up and Up

Queensland Arts Council, in partnership with IsaSkills and the State Library of Queensland, held On the Up and Up in Mount Isa to engage young people who are at risk of alienation from their homes, families and communities. Including music, physical theatre, role-playing and filmmaking, the program involved a series of workshops and performances aimed at developing self-evaluation skills and social transition for young people, as well as a sense of social cohesion between these young people and their community. A documentary of the project was filmed in collaboration with National Indigenous Television to premiere as part of the Regional Arts Australia National Conference in Alice Springs in October 2006.

 

Creative practice makes communities strong

Activities which focus on community identity, build social cohesion and foster community pride will make a community stronger. People who feel they belong are more inclined to look out for each other and pitch in when there is work to be done that is good for all.

  • Communities are strengthened when:
  • youth are appreciated and can express themselves creatively
  • seniors have an important place and can take on a mentorship role
  • people from different places, beliefs and practices come together for cultural exchange
  • there is ownership of the process and the production of art work by the community
  • new and old stories are told in stimulating ways
  • imaginations are stimulated by extraordinary experiences
  • partnerships form between artists and businesses
  • public spaces are beautified and made accessible to all

These kinds of creative practices make a community more resilient and ready to face challenge and change.

Taking this broad view of what constitutes arts and cultural activity means that there is room for everyone from the most highly esteemed professional visual or performing artist, to the games designer at the computer, to the weaver at the loom. While each may operate in a unique sphere, each in their own way feeds the creative spirit and the creative enterprise of the place where they live and beyond.

In 2008 the New York Philharmonic Orchestra played the Star Spangled Banner alongside the Korean national anthem in Pyongyang, North Korea, in a remarkable display of cultural diplomacy. ‘It was the largest US presence in the reclusive state since the Korean war more than half a century ago. The US State Department authorised the trip, despite deadlock on the issue of North Korea's nuclear programme’. (BBC NEWS)

Could music change attitudes that diplomats could not?