Let Us Support the Arts in Schools and Across Vermont

Dear Fellow Vermonter,

To my mind, and I think most Vermonters would agree, art is more than just entertainment. It is more than just a painting here, a performance there.

Great art, in whatever form, can truly help us understand who we are as human beings, as a community, and as a society. Art can be a gateway to the soul and is absolutely essential as we work to create and sustain a more just and humane society.

Unfortunately, for whatever reasons, support and funding for the arts is often the first budgetary item on the chopping block. This is short-sighted and dead wrong. Art is not some kind of superfluous luxury that can be eliminated from our lives and the lives of our children without real cost.

In that regard, I held several town meetings this summer with Grace Potter, one of Vermont’s great singers, and young Vermont artists to hear their music and to discuss with them the important role that the arts play in the lives of young people, our schools, and our communities. What the conversations made clear was this: Not only should we not be cutting back on the arts in our schools and in our communities, we should be expanding them.

During the discussions, young musicians spoke about what art means to them, how they got involved in music, and if they felt supported in their schools. Some of the young artists spoke to how music and the arts are an important outlet for their mental health, while others spoke to the important role their art teachers have played in their lives. I hope you will take a moment to watch the video above to hear more of what they had to say.

With the start of a new school year, school boards are being forced to face tough decisions – whether they have enough funds for the arts, for a language teacher, for athletic programs. Some of them are even deciding whether they can afford to have the arts at all. This is not the direction in which our state and country should be moving.

As a senator from Vermont, I will do everything I can to support strong federal funding for arts programs in our schools and society. Now, more than ever, we need the arts and great artists.

Let me thank Grace Potter and the young Vermont musicians who participated in our town meetings, and all Vermont artists, for inspiring us and enriching our lives every day.

Sincerely,