Arts Advocacy is Like Getting a Vaccine

TRIPLE A: Arts, Advocacy, Action

What does the world look like without arts education?

Most people claim to support arts education – especially in the educational system - and yet, it is often the first item up for elimination in the curriculum when we face budget cuts. Many administrators, believing after school programs and arts enrichment through short, un-sustained arts engagements, are meeting what students need to be ready to enter the creative workforce with adequate 21st century skills. We all know this is most certainly not enough – especially since the arts and entertainment industry is the third largest economy in California.

As we passionately support our students within the confines of our own classrooms, we blindly rely on others to advocate for our cause on the grander scale. We are so busy, don’t have an interest in the political aspects of education, feel like we don’t know enough or that someone else will do it better, so we trust others to do this work and don’t take action.

Advocacy works on the same principle as vaccines. Vaccines only work when everyone does their part. One individual vaccination does nothing to stop a disease, even if that person is the most powerful, influential person in the world. The true power in vaccines lies in numbers; with each person doing a small part to build herd immunity. Advocacy is exactly the same. A few powerful, vocal leaders are nothing without a large group of people taking a few minutes from their day to participate in advocacy in some way.

When we are supported by an overwhelming number of advocates, our profession can be an incredible force; but, when people start to opt out — because we believe we don’t know enough about the issues, don’t have enough time or money or think someone else is better qualified — then the beneficial protections start to dissipate. Advocacy is critical to the health of our profession.

The burden lies equally on us all — from the first-year teacher to the most senior professor emeritus — to be an advocate. 

Advocacy is action – doing something to champion, promote, support, and endorse arts education. The word advocate is derived from the Latin vox, meaning “voice,” as in voicing support for something, or someone who is the figurative voice for a cause.

 Becoming a member of an arts professional organization is a powerful action first step. Tapping into our organization helps us hone our advocacy skills from the classroom, to the district, to the county, to the state, to the nation. It’s not enough to be an artist in the world anymore – you have to self-advocate to be visible in the art world. Our membership in a professional organization is our self-advocacy as a profession. Our service in our organization heightens the importance of the arts in education and gives us power and the tools to keep the arts alive in education – despite the financial climate.  It’s our united voice that can’t be overlooked in the educational landscape. Our students need you to act on their behalf for their future and model for them what they need to do for themselves.