The session this blog is based on is now available to download here. –LJ, 6/8/12
Today’s blog is the first of a series based on thoughts that came out of the terrific “Art, City, and Society” Forum, hosted last weekend by New City Arts Initiative in Charlottesville, VA.
If you’ve read very many of my posts, you know that I closely follow arts policy – the area of arts practice that looks at how communities, institutions, and governments engage with and support the arts through funding, educational initiatives, community development projects, and other programs. So I was particularly excited to see that one of the sessions at the Forum would have guest speakers from the arts policy world, addressing the question “Why do the arts matter?”
You’d think we would have answered that question, many times over, right? So why ask it again at the Forum? Why would policy people, in particular, be asked to tackle it? And why do I keep asking it on the pages of this website?
Here’s why:
Too few people really do believe that the arts really do matter. If they did believe, we’d be seeing more action. Action follows belief.
Isn’t this what James’ letter is talking about throughout chapter 2 when he writes that “faith without works is dead”? Or, as The Message paraphrases, “Isn’t it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works?”
What I believe is expressed in my actions – and in my inaction. If the actions I want to see in myself aren’t there, I have to ask myself if the belief needed behind it is really there, if it is “alive” and even growing in power. If I mentally assent to an idea, but don’t then behave as if it’s true, then it isn’t really a belief at all – or, at best, is so weak (and even dying or dead, according to James) that it has no ability to act.
If I claim to believe that everything I have is God’s, and that he will provide for all my needs, yet I hoard money and fail to ever financially give to God’s work in the church, do I really believe?
If I claim to believe in compassion, yet I refuse the homeless man the dignity of eye contact and a smile, or pretend not to notice the pregnant woman on the bus so I don’t feel obliged to give up my seat to her, do I really believe?
If I claim to believe that the arts are important, yet I never attend arts events, or volunteer with an arts organization, or pray with and for a discouraged artist friend, do I really believe?
The arts policy world has recognized, during a time of financial anxiety and resulting cuts to funding for arts organizations and educational programs, that the real problem is not a lack of money, but a lack of belief in the importance of the arts to society. Money doesn’t equal action; belief equals action. Lots can be done in the arts without money, but not without belief.
That lack of belief – asking “Why do the arts matter?” or even “Do the arts matter?” – is what the arts policy world is tackling now, through commissioning research, through refocusing organizational missions, and through developing new programs. Through taking action.
What does this have to do with the faith-and-arts realm?
The closing session of the Forum was entitled “What about the role of the church in the arts?” In it, theologian Nicholas Wolterstorff said, “No one is hostile towards the arts in general.” He took that thought in a very interesting direction, which I’ll talk more about in the next post.
But his idea hearkens back to our “belief = action” premise. And he’s right. The research and statistics show that almost everyone mentally assents that the arts are important. But is an absence of hostility the same thing as belief? Does an absence of hostility lead to action? Nope, sorry. If it did, we’d have an abundance of vibrant, interesting arts activity going on all over our communities, churches, and schools. An absence of hostility might lead to “tolerance,” that most inert of modern buzzwords, but it doesn’t lead to action. Only living, growing belief leads to the sacrificial commitments – of attention, energy, time, resources, and more – needed to make something happen. To act.
I’m not suggesting that every church, Christian school, and faith-based organization needs to make the arts a top priority. But if our faith communities are not active in the arts, at all or enough, is it because they don’t really believe that the arts are important to God, to his Kingdom, and to his children?
And if they don’t believe, is it because we haven’t told them?
[You can find other things I’ve written about arts policy at Cardus online.]
Thank you Luann for your post. I am interested in what the answers to the question “Why do the arts matter?”. Or more specifically, “Why do the arts matter to a Christian?”. Is a copy or recording of that talk available? I have been researching this question for several months and (maybe I am looking in the wrong places) not come up with a satisfactory answer(s) that I believe would convince someone who doesn’t care about the arts to start. If you can point me to any resources that would be helpful, I would be grateful. Thank you.
Hi John,
Thanks for writing. New City Arts was planning to post the talks from the Forum online, I think, but I don’t know if it’s up yet. If so, please also check out the talk, “What about the role of the church and the arts?,” which I’m working on a blog post on for next week. Their focus wasn’t so much on benefits of the arts, but you’ll find it interesting.
I’m working on a blog post that will (I hope) go up by Friday, that goes into your question some. I also deal with it in the white paper I’m working on that has been VERY long coming, due to needing further research to flesh some of these questions out. In particular, I’m wanting to look more closely at how the arts work within Christian worship, which is not my area of specialty, to see if there is something unique happening there that’s not duplicated in other arts contexts. You also might want to read the book summary I wrote (available under “Resources”) of the book “The Social Impact of the Arts.”
The language I’ve been seeing (and using) re “why the arts matter” is the language of “benefit” – the arts matter because the arts benefit human beings, in many many ways.
And in my own research, I haven’t found much difference between how a Christian might benefit from the arts vs. a non-Christian. The specifics of the benefits are different, but not to the extent that it impacts the question much. It’s just a matter of wording. So, for instance, one of the things I’d list as a benefit of the arts is that “the arts bring me closer to God.” A non-Christian might have a similar response – “the arts remind me that there’s something bigger than myself,” etc., but it’s the same basic impulse with different language attached. Even more of a “cultural renewal” perspective has a secular equivalent. Whereas a Christian might say “the arts build the Kingdom of God,” a secular person might say “the arts make the world a better place.”
That might sound cynical – I don’t mean it that way. I just think that the arts fall within “common grace” to a great extent. Their benefits are available to all, in much the same way for all.
But I’m willing to be corrected on that. :-)
I am glad to talk with you about what I’m reading, and would love to hear about your research. May I email you?
Blessings,
Luann
Yes. Please email me – john.robertson@imagohouston.org. I would love to continue the dialogue. I agree with idea of the “benefits” of art being more under “common grace” than something specifically and only for Christians. Though I feel in my heart that there must be some extra “something” specifically for the Christian that springs out of a saving, intimate relationship with the ultimate Artist. I just haven’t been able to put it into words yet. I acknowledge that this may be completely wrong though. In many areas the only difference between the Christian and the non-Christian is salvation.
Four years ago, my very Protestant church started hosting an art show as part of their Easter celebration. While sharing my art with other members of the congregation, it occurred to me that part of my role as an artist who is a Christian was to be an art evangelist to my brothers and sisters who did not feel a need for art in their lives. My goal in answering the question “Why should a Christian care about art?” stems from this.
John
I love the idea of being an “art evangelist.” I think a great answer to “Why should a Christian care about art?” would be “Because Christians need art just like everyone else does!”
I would love to hear ideas from anyone about how a Christian uniquely benefits from the arts, vs. a “worldview” reframing of an experience that’s basically the same as a non-believer might have. So please do share any thoughts or resources here. John, I’ll email you.
–Luann