Anthony Ramos, Phillipa Soo, Leslie Odom, Jr. and More Support Campaign to Save Arts Education in NYC

A diverse cross section of teachers, students, arts administrators and advocates are rallying to save arts education with a new campaign, Arts are Essential, that focuses on preserving the jobs of New York City's arts teachers and honoring contracts with arts education organizations, which have already been badly hurt by the coronavirus pandemic.

As New York City Council prepares the city's FY2021 budget, and looks towards one of the most challenging financial scenarios since the 1970s, the coalition is working to ensure that cuts do not fall disproportionately on our city's students.

"The arts have helped New York through our toughest moments. Our city's youth deserve the opportunity to express themselves, to weather this storm with opportunities that enrich and empower. Even in this fiscal environment- perhaps particularly now- we must commit to protecting arts education for our city's students," said Kimberly Olsen, Executive Director of NYC Arts in Education Roundtable. "That means preserving the jobs of certified arts teachers and maintaining educational contracts with cultural partners who fill the perennial gap in arts instruction."

"Arts and culture are essential to New York as a city and for our students," said Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, Chair of the New York City Council Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries, and International Intergroup Relations. "Arts education is more than just learning how to dance or draw, but how to express yourself and expand your worldview. I am fighting for a budget that supports the values of New Yorkers, and that is a budget that fully supports arts education."

"Arts education has proven to create positive academic, emotional and social outcomes for students. My district has had incredible success with remote arts programming and art therapy. The arts serve as a vital outlet for self-expression and social-emotional learning opportunities that can lead to improved school engagement and empower students with a sense of purpose," said Council Member Mark Treyger, Chair of the Education Committee.

"During these uncertain times, it is critical that we prioritize arts education as necessary for the healing and growth of young people, their families and our communities," said Council Member Robert E. Cornegy, Jr. "Beyond that, the teachers and cultural institutions who provide much-needed arts instruction both in and out of schools are filling a significant need that encourages critical thinking skills, supports social-emotional learning and improves participation in school are essential to building equity and justice in public education. I am committed to ensuring that funding for programming and support services that center the arts does not get wiped out of this budget."

Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, the arts have played a central role in helping New Yorkers process trauma, restore joy, support physical fitness and uphold a sense of community. As New York City continues to recover from the pandemic over the coming months and year, the arts will play a crucial role in the recovery of schools and communities.

By cutting arts education, New York City will primarily be taking away resources from young New Yorkers from lower-income households, who have already borne the weight of so much of this crisis. Communities across the Bronx, Central Brooklyn, Upper Manhattan and Southeast Queens have seen higher rates of COVID-related deaths and job losses. These same neighborhoods are the ones most likely to disproportionately feel the effects of budget cuts to their arts education programs, further destabilizing these communities.

Arts are Crucial for Health and Wellbeing:

The arts do more than just transport and inspire. They keep cities economically and physically healthy. A 2017 study by University of Pennsylvania found that the presence of the arts in lower-income communities in New York City directly correlates to positive socioeconomic outcomes. Students from low-income communities who participate in the arts, both in-school and after-school, have a dropout rate of just 4 percent-5 times lower than their peers, and are more than twice as likely to graduate college than their peers with no arts education.

Participation in after-school arts programs causes juvenile crime to fall by 4.2 percent on average; people who are involved in arts and culture programs are also 50 percent more active in communities, and more than twice as likely to volunteer.

An Urgent Call to Save Arts Education:

While painful decisions must be made with the FY2021 budget, no single sector of our city should have to shoulder these burdens unfairly. Arts are Essential is calling on Mayor de Blasio and the City Council to preserve arts education for young New Yorkers.

The coalition is calling for the City Council to ensure the following:

That there are no additional cuts to the $100M reduction to the Fair Student Funding (FSF) formula, which makes up a majority of a school's budget, and that the current reduction does not disproportionately impact arts education.

That there are no additional cuts to the $40M reduction to Schools Allocation Memoranda, which provides schools with funding to implement programming and buy supplies, and that the current reduction does not disproportionately impact arts education.

Restore at least part of the $15.5M reduction to Expanded Arts Instruction in middle and high schools that will directly impact supply levels and contracts with non-profit cultural institutions already at risk of potentially damaging budget cuts while still being on the frontline of the recovery process.

Preserve $17M in funding for the Cultural After School Adventures (CASA) program, supported by public funds from the New York City Council in partnership with the Department of Cultural Affairs.

Leaders in the arts lent their support to the effort:

"Arts education is synonymous with community activism," said Eduardo Vilaro, Artistic Director and CEO, Ballet Hispanico. "Without arts educators, I would have been another statistic as a young Latinx child growing up in a tough neighborhood. The arts, in particular dance, saved me. The arts fill a void in communities forgotten, artists go into spaces others fear, and in that bravery, offer safety, possibility and transformation."

"New York City's museums, performing arts and cultural institutions dedicate themselves to arts education, knowing this work is crucial for our communities to flourish," said Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem. "But we also know we cannot succeed in this work without our essential partners: New York City's schools. For the sake of our young people and our neighborhoods, for the sake of equity, for the sake of New York's future, we ask that arts education in the schools be a funding priority."

"The arts give us a crucial social education-- teaching us about ourselves, our cultural histories; they teach us empathy and collaboration," said Chinita Pointer, Executive Director of the Noel Pointer Foundation. "We must fight for every New York child to have equal access to the arts, to great teachers, to the cultural institutions in their backyards. Arts education is the backbone of a just world, and it is not optional."

"That we as a society and as a city still have to stand up and advocate to save the arts in education in the twenty-first century is unconscionable. As always, the conversation on whether or not to defund art programs is an equity conversation that disproportionately falls on the shoulders of communities of color. Wealthy white communities are never faced with having to have this conversation; nor are their children ever truly threatened with having to do without the arts, creativity, collaboration and imagination as part of their lives and learning," said Jason Duchin and Tim Lord, Co-Executive Directors, DreamYard. "Time and time again it is the public school system and the communities of color throughout NYC that have to carry the burden of defunding art programs which are essential components of every child's education."

"Arts and culture provide an outlet and environment in which to cope with stress, conflict, sorrow, and trauma; never is the need to express ourselves more urgent than during crisis," said Laura Raicovich, Interim Director of the Leslie Lohman Museum of Art. "Cultural programming is crucial to recovery in every way. We have not all borne the weight of this crisis equally- we must not bear the weight of financial cuts inequitably as well. A crucial way to support our communities is through arts education; the City Council and City Hall must protect our city's arts teachers and its creative youth."

"The impact of the arts goes beyond creative expression. It is necessary for the development of each student so they can be better, empathetic contributors to the world. If we don't support theater education now, we risk the chance of not inspiring the next generation of innovative artists and leaders," said Jelani Alladin, Broadway Artist. "The theater is a crucial, safe space for all our youth to express themselves collaboratively, and develop lifelong skills of empathy."

Students and teachers also weighed in:

"Theater is a big part of my life. Without it, I don't know that I would be happy. It is my passion, and what I intend to pursue. With all the hardships that come with high school and home life, rehearsals and being on stage is a safe space," said Esme Mitchell, a Freshman at Curtis High School in Staten Island. "There is nothing that compares to that feeling of being able to present the hard work of you and your cast live on a stage. Not only that, but being able to collaborate and learn from professional performers, with opportunities such as the Shubert Festival is truly amazing and inspiring. I hope that this program remains next year."

"Arts education is important for every child to have, whether or not they want to pursue it as a career," said Ella Rosewood, Dance Teacher at I.S. 347 School of Humanities in Bushwick. "Having the opportunity to see themselves as a performer boosts their confidence, and that in turn translates into the classroom and into other parts of their life. Dance and the arts complete the whole child."

"Our school thrives on the arts," said Rachel McCaulsky, Arts Coordinator at P396K in Brownsville. "The arts are not only an outlet for our students, it is something that carries across all aspects of their lives. In our school, arts education is not just a single class during the day, it's embedded into our entire curriculum as it's a way to tap into each child's different learning style."

Check out more videos HERE!