UALR magazine
Fall/Winter 2007 • Vol. 3 No. 2
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Editorial: The Arts and Civic Engagement
By Dana Gioia
For those of us who love the arts, it’s possible to take for granted their positive effects on both individuals and society as a whole. While each of us can provide plenty of anecdotal evidence on how the arts make lives better, it’s often more difficult to make a general case.
When pressed to give a quantifiable value for the arts, we often cite their positive economic factors. While economic benefits are certainly valid arguments, we know in our hearts that economic advantage is not the most important civic impact of the arts. I am happy that we now have evidence of the larger benefits of the arts and society.
The latest NEA study, The Arts and Civic Engagement: Involved in Arts, Involved in Life, demonstrates - with statistically reliable data - that there is a clear link between arts participation and community health. Put simply, Americans who read books, attend theater, and engage in other arts are more active in community life than those who do not.
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Civic engagement is crucial for a democratic society. When individuals or groups participate in activities that promote a positive quality of life - such as volunteering, attending sporting events, participating in outdoor activities or exercising - they both enrich their lives and benefit society. The Arts and Civic Engagement study is the first to show that people who engage in the arts are more involved in their communities.
Arts participants, especially readers, engage in positive civic and individual activities - from charity work to amateur sports league attendance - at strikingly higher rates than non-participants.
Something happens when an individual actively engages in the arts - be it reading a novel at home, attending a concert at a local church, or seeing a dance company perform at a college campus - that awakens both a heightened sense of identity and civic awareness. We must banish the stereotype that reading books or listening to music is passive behavior. Art is not escapism but an invitation to activism.
The one alarming note in this study is that arts participation is falling among younger adults and with it most forms of civic and social engagement. It is reasonable to speculate that the proliferation of electronic entertainment options offered to young adults has drawn them away from traditional forms of civic and social involvement.
Healthy communities depend on active citizens. The arts play an irreplaceable role in producing both those citizens and communities.