Support of the Arts :: essays papers

Support of the Arts Researchers DiMaggio and Pettit (1999), report that the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has had trouble keeping support from the U.S. Congress. The House of Representatives has voted against the NEA, however, the Senate was still in favor of supporting it. The NEA has also been given a lot of trouble from Christian conservatives and Republicans who are highly against the NEA and working hard to end their federal support. Attitudes Toward the Arts DiMaggio and Pettit (1999) conducted a study by getting numerous people to complete different surveys, all having to do with support for the arts. The results were reported as fairly positive overall for attitudes toward art. There is a general agreement that the arts are beneficial and public funding for them is supported. However, there are significant differences between the opinions of people from differing backgrounds. Women are more supportive than men, younger people are more supportive than elder, African Americans are more supportive than whites, and people with more education or higher incomes are also more supportive than the less educated/lower income portion of the population (DiMaggio & Pettit, 1999). Overall, the researchers feel that examination conducted through surveys is very useful and necessary. From their survey results, they concluded that the arts have a respectable amount of support. James MacKenzie (1998) wrote a paper arguing that the arts are necessary for the full development of an individual and also to maintain culture. While some do feel that the arts are unnecessary, others still feel very strongly that without the arts, we as a society are basically committing ourselves to cultural suicide. The supporters of this theory believe that â€Å"the Arts are inherent to the existence of every soul† (MacKenzie, 1998). The fact that so many people believe this makes a strong argument for the support of the arts and fine arts education. That would clearly be beneficial to anyone in the field of art, whether teaching or creating. The article on DiMaggio and Pettit’s review (1999) and MacKenzie’s paper (1998), along with others included in this paper, contain findings that could be useful to argue that the arts are well supported and highly thought of. Therefore, the arts should be included in school curriculums and for after school clubs/activities. Attitudes Toward the Support of Art Education In his book, Schwartz (2000) argues that â€Å"art should be subsidized because it brings important educational benefits† (p.