Fund The Arts And Help Others
As an artist, I am aware of the importance of having the best art supplies, the right tools and the finest resources for all of my artistic needs available to my everyday constructs. At school, I am provided with all of the necessary supplies and all of the things that I could possibly be in want of. I am able to achieve anything I want. After I have painted a watercolor, for example, my teacher supplies me with any king of foam board necessary to mat my final work. Thus, I am able to show my artistic potential to everyone.
Unfortunately, not everybody has access to such a great wealth of supplies. There are children in inner city school districts that go to schools that simply do not have the funding to provide their students with good enough nor enough artistic supplies. They may be aspiring artists, but their dreams are cut short since they do not have the resources their talent requires. I am lucky to be in such a school district where the community is supportive of the arts and so the funding of our arts department is thriving. It is too bad that not every school does.
I am certain that there are children in these poorer school districts that are just as talented as anyone in a well-funded school. Their art may also have more of a story to portray, something with a deep meaning. Their art could possibly depict their lives and the poor lives they lead. For example, if one artistically talented child who did not have the resources available to him lived in a home where his parents abused him, his artwork may be therapeutic and help him deal with his issues.
These reasons and many more are why there are programs out there that take donated art supplies and give them to these lacking schools. These organizations will take new or lightly used paintbrushes, crayons, canvas, matting board, colored pencils, pastels, and many, many other items and give them to the schools and the children that need those supplies the most. When you donate to such a cause, you are given someone their dream. What could possibly be any greater than that?
In school, we run canned food drives, and coat drives, and pennies-for-patients fundraisers, but I wish that we also had the capacity to start a donation for art supplies too. Since I go to a fairly well off school district, I’m sure that it be simple to start one. Our arts department could sponsor it and there is always the possibility that other schools will join in as well.
