Ryan Fitzer

David Byrne suggests diverting arts funding to more education rather than arts institutions. I’m not sure where I stand but it’s definitely worth discussing.

I suggested that it was more important that children, and everyone really, be imbued with a sense that they themselves might make things — that the things they might make have value — as opposed to learning mainly to appreciate the great masters, whether they be Bach, Picasso or the literary canon. I proposed that the value of art might be of more use to society in that regard, rather than focusing on supporting, well, museums and symphony halls. Naturally, to a senator who has made it her noble mission to argue for more support for the arts, this is slightly heretical and, as she said, “very American.”

I wonder how much money would be wasted trying to imbue uninterested students “with a sense that they themselves might make things” other than bongs in ceramics class.