Jul 15 2020
Advocating for arts education in pandemic recovery
(Shared from the July 15, 2020 Newsletter of the Canadian Network for Arts & Learning)
When we spoke with artists, educators and organizations from across the country in 19 recent, digital roundtables, we learned that many fear (with good reason) that the effects of social distancing, so essential for controlling the pandemic, will effectively eliminate the arts from post-pandemic school programming and obstruct efforts of community organizations to restore arts programs to their previous vitality. Urgent and sustained advocacy is needed to avert the worst of these imminent dangers.
The arts have a critical role to play in recovery from the effects of isolation and in re-building vibrant communities. We must come together, now, to combat a growing inertia among some educational institutions and funding agencies that threatens to deprive a generation of the self-development, aesthetic appreciation, and community cohesion nurtured by arts and learning.
You can add your voice to the defense of arts education by:
- Endorse the Call to Action Shortly before to onset of COVID-19, participants in our Creative Convergence conference collaborated on drawing up a Call to Action on Arts Education that demands universal access to quality arts and learning experiences that reflect on issues of personal, local and global significance. We invite you to add your voice to the more than 300 individuals and organizations who have endorsed this advocacy statement.
- Write, call or meet with municipal, provincial/territorial and national authorities We need to raise our collective voices to demand that arts and learning are given a central place in Canada’s educational and cultural recovery from the pandemic. On this webpage is a template you can copy and paste into an email to personalize. We have also included contact information for key authorities, and will continue to add to the list. And remember, in the summer most representatives are back home and will meet with their constituents. A face-to-face meeting is a powerful opportunity to promote the benefits of arts and learning!
Thank you for your support of arts and learning. Together, we can assure a measure of sustainability for the field.