(Salvidor Dali) vs. (Karl Hagedorn)-The supply of artists in the world is beginning to dwindle because making it as an artist in the business world of today is becoming more and more difficult. Marion Boddy-Evans is an artist, writer, and photographer. Even Ms. Boddy-Evans admits that making it in the art world is hard and to do so somebody would have to care more about art than money. In the world of today however people usually care more about the money than art. Because people living in a world where money decides so much for people its hard to decide against money to paint, draw, take pictures, block print, etc. I myself an example of someone who chose not to pursue an art career because the making money as an artist is a difficult task. I decided to pursue the career of an engineer because they are in high demand and to make a decent living I had to put art as my minor degree. I am only one of many that are deciding against art careers due to money reasons.
-Because people are not pursuing art careers, there are no artists creating bold new ideas for art which in return causes the recognition of art to fall because people are just seeing repetition in the art world. We live in a society where the general population gets bored with things relatively easily. This means everything has to regularly wow the global audience with new things. When it comes to art this means we need more artists to wow this audience with new arts and ideas. However, people do not want to be artists because the lifestyle of a “starving artist” does not appeal to most people so the world is lacking new artistic talents. Because every person that is interested in art is taught only early to modern art, this influences the artist to create art that is similar to these arts. With artists creating the same kinds of art as earlier artists it creates a repetition the general population does not want to see.
-This repetition is caused because teachers in schools ranging from elementary to high schools are only teaching students about the influences of artists of today and not really recognizing the artists. If the schools taught kids about contemporary artists then children would be influenced by new art instead of going back to the olden days of art. Although contemporary artists right now are influenced by modern artists, teaching kids about the contemporary art alone will in time create an era of art that is unrelated to modern art. This is what the general population wants to see, so doing this will increase art’s popularity in the world. Like the general population, students of today like everything new and are not interested in artwork from artists that are no longer of this world. This society wants everything new including new art. Because art is not coming out with new things and the popularity of art is dwindling, art career fields are also becoming less and less popular.
The reason art classes are a part of school’s curriculums is to introduce creative thinking to the children of the world; however, due to the diminishing popularity of contemporary artists children of today are not motivated to pursue creative thinking for careers. In 2009, according to the National Endowment for the Arts, the average unemployment rate for all artists climbed to 9.5 percent, far surpassing the percentage unemployed among all professionals (4.4 percent). The reason the supply of artists is going down is because the demand for them is also going down.
-So because schools do not teach about contemporary art, it creates a circular affect that decreases the demand for artists and the supply of artists. Yes, because schools are not teaching our youth about contemporary art the economics of art are being demolished. People not knowing about art of today is creating less of a demand for artists. Lessening the demand also decreases the supply. As supply goes up demand goes up, and vice-versa. This is called the supply and demand curve of Economics.
More contemporary art should be taught in classrooms because it will abolish the problem of the diminishing art world and allow art to prosper in the world of today. Instead of teaching kids about dead people let us teach them about people that are actually still around. Somebody they can look up to as a role model of sorts. If kids have role models to look up to, pursuing the career in which their role model is employed seems better suited for them. More kids becoming artists increases new ideas found in the art world. This increases the popularity of art amongst our society. This increases the demand for artists which makes even more people want to become artist. This will increase the appreciation for art. This will make the artist lifestyle a better paid one which will encourages even more artists to arise in the world. This solution will cause a circular affect that will expand the art world as we know it.
Even though the solution sounds easy enough, what they should teach about contemporary art is a difficult concept because there is so much about contemporary art to teach. So what should happen is there should be more art classes added to the curriculums of schools that are specific either to genre of art or the time periods of the art. This will allow kids to enjoy the artists without cramming too much information at them at once.
Some question the necessity of art classes in schools at all. Some parents want their kids to be logical thinkers, not creative thinkers; however, if the world only consisted of purely logical thinkers would the world we live in not become somewhat robotic? The difference between critical/logical thinking and creative is critical thinking allows students to understand claims, follow or create a logical argument, figure out the answer, eliminate the incorrect paths and focus on the correct one. However, there is another kind of thinking, one that focuses on exploring ideas, generating possibilities, looking for many right answers rather than just one. Without creative minds the world would not have any of the inventions, structures, sculptures, or paintings that are famous amongst the people of today. What are kids going to do with their lives if they grow up only thinking only logically? They would do the same exact thing everyday because they think it is the most efficient or productive way to do go about their lives. They would never have any excitement in their lives because that would not be logical. So without creativity people’s lives would be boring. So the counterargument from these parents is senseless. Not to say people should only be creative thinking; however, if there is possible to be both. As mentioned earlier I myself am an engineering major with an art minor. I am a prime example of someone who uses logical and creative thinking. I believe using both will help me in the long run. I could not imagine being an only logical thinker. “The arts help define us, both as individuals and as a society.” We have to have art in schools.
There is also an argument against teaching more contemporary arts in schools, that is that we will lose interest in early and modern art if only teach contemporary art; however, the contemporary art specific classes will have to cover the influences behind the arts to get the full comprehension of the art style. This means instead of teaching just modern art, teach contemporary art and use some modern art to explain what is going on. But just teaching modern art has to stop or the problem introduced earlier in the essay will never be resolved. Miami-Dade County Public Schools, offers school-wide programs in museum, fine arts, and communications studies at North Miami Senior High,
Another option is instead of having multiple art classes for contemporary art is too add on one contemporary art class onto school’s curriculums. Making it mandatory to take an early arts class to modern arts class and mandatory to take a contemporary art class as well will make everyone happy. The art world can prosper, students become well-rounded individuals, and the people worried about people losing interest in early arts will be happy as well.
Once the contemporary art specific class/classes are in place students will appreciate art more and even though the revitalization of the art world will not happen instantly this idea will increase the supply and demand of artists gradually over time. The reason it will not happen instantly is because once these classes are in place those students have to grow up and make more contemporary art for the next generation to study and enjoy. This will create newer ideas as generations progress through time. So all in all, having contemporary art in classrooms fixes the problem of the dwindling art world and will create a happier and more creative society for us to live in.
