Arts Quote We Love #7–Society Risks Losing its Soul

A society that forgets arts risks losing its soul.

That’s a bold, passionate thought and I agree with it.

I love these arts quote posts. I think I’ll do some more. Do you enjoy them?

I have said time and time again, the arts make for a civilized society.

Think about it.

What if you lived in a city with no arts whatsoever? I can’t even imagine such a place and I hope none exist.

How does it survive?

No music (no music in bars–the place is silent)

No art (no paintings in the homes, no color, no texture)

No dance (no ballet classes, no square dance groups)

No theatre (no movies, no musicals, no plays, no reader’s theatre or poetry slams)

It’s difficult to imagine, but it could happen if we don’t fight for the arts.

Right now the NEA is on the brink of being axed by the federal government.

Truly, I don’t understand this.

In order to defend the NEA, I looked up their website https://www.arts.gov/infographic-nea-funding-the-arts

Wow, here are some of their accomplishments:

147,000 grants awarded since 1965

5 billion has been awarded!

34% of the money goes to underserved populations such as people with disabilities, institutions and veterans

33% serve low income audiences

40% takes place in high poverty neighborhoods

There is a quiz “How Well do you know the NEA” and these are a few things I learned:

The NEA partners with the Department of Agriculture in the NEA’s Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design; the Department of Defense for Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network; and the Federal Bureau of Prisons for the Artists-in-Residence program through the NEA’s Office of Accessibility.
The arts and culture sector contributed $730 billion to the US economy in 2014—4.2% of the GDP
Business leaders look for creativity in new hires. The Conference Board reports that creativity is among the top 5 applied skills that business leaders look for, and 72% say that creativity is of high importance.
85% of military patients participating in Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center noted that art therapy was helpful to their healing.