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Author:
Amber Van Sickle

America has a long history of great art. From folk pieces to modern masterpieces, art has been a major part of our history, giving life and light to our world. Throughout our homes and businesses, our walls are covered with beautiful artwork.

The future, however, may be at risk if we leave the perpetuation of the tradition entirely up to public education. American art is gradually disappearing from the minds of our students as their art literacy decreases.

As art programs are increasingly being cut out of school budgets, the future art of America may be in jeopardy. If students aren’t learning about and learning to appreciate art in our schools, then where will they find a love for art?

A few select schools with large budgets are trying to keep an artistic environment alive, but these are few and far between. Many smaller schools or public schools in low socio-economic areas do not have the choice to keep their arts programs without sufficient funding.

Traditionally, sports programs have been blamed for the cuts in funding for arts programs; however, sports budgets are beginning to have the same problems.

With the advent of No Child Left Behind and accountability tests, schools are cutting funding for a variety of programs to meet the demanding financial requirements of accountability. Thus, since neither the arts nor sports can be measured with a standardized test, they are beginning to receive less funding annually.

The question we could ask ourselves is, “Should our children have to sacrifice having a well-rounded education in order to achieve higher and higher scores on standardized tests?”

Our students’ exposure to the arts is dwindling as the years go by. Without future generations to learn about and experiment with the arts, our artistic heritage could slowly and subtly fade into a remnant of the past… if we allow that to happen.

Most students enjoy creating art – drawing, sculpting, word play, dance… all of it. There is no struggle to engender an interest among our youth in the creative end of the art world.

However, many will not choose on their own to formally study art in their spare time. They remain therefore ignorant of the vocabulary, the history, the formal knowledge. Yet those who are required to study art, by exposure sometimes become the future artists.

In lieu of art programs in the public education system, people can organize themselves. Don’t expect government to sustain our artistic heritage. Through community centers, parent groups, grant foundations and such, people can keep the arts alive and well in America.

Amber Van Sickle, writer and fused glass artist, contributes to FMG Art. Also visit For Camera to find more articles by Amber Van Sickle.

| Article Keywords: Art

A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Art... How to Protect Your Money from Art Forgeries? Art forgeries are all mischievous imitations of works of art, used for gaining money from the naïve art collectors. Art forgeries are different from art copies. Art copies of certain paintings are usually made by other artists. For example, the students of da Vinci, the famous Caracci, Durer , and Rota, copied some of his sketches and paintings to exercise on his style. Art forgeries are worthless, while some art copies can be priceless, depending on the artist that did them. If you are still new in art collection, you had better learn some things about art forgeries, before spending you money on something that is utter rubbish. First of all, upon buying an art, carefully examine the signature of the artist. Art forgeries are usually very precise when imitating the artist's signature, but some clues can be found, if you attend closely to the painting. The signature can vary slightly from other signatures, and if you have doubts, you had better consult with a professional. Another important thing to be done is to check everything about the artist, his or her exhibitions, all the paintings he or she has done. Learn by heart all the important dates in the artist's career so that not to be taken in by a forger's lies. Before buying anything, learn as much as you can about the artist. Get a grasp about the artist's common style, the materials which he or she uses, the type of the canvas or paper. Another point of interest is age. Don't take it as granted, if the seller told you that the painting was very old. Art forgeries are well-known for the special procedures of making a painting look older than it actually is. Besides, not all artists from the past were famous and worth spending a fortune on their works. OK, so everything is fine...