Tag: Art

LOOK UP.

On By TonyIn economy, Hope, PoliticsLeave a comment

Look Up

In a world that feels impossibly loud right now—war headlines out of Iran, a tumbling economy, the city budget, unstable national leadership, the constant churn of scandal and speculation, it is easy to feel like everything is closing in.

The noise is relentless.

And then, if you let yourself… you stop.

You step outside.

You shut it all off.

And you look up.

Somewhere above us, beyond the noise, beyond the arguments and the fear, Artemis II is making its way home having traveled farther than any humans have ever gone, looping around the Moon, seeing what few ever will: the far side, the quiet side, the side that reminds us just how small our conflicts really are.

There is something profoundly humbling about that.

NASA has always understood the power of naming of poetry in the face of science. The Sea of Tranquility. The Ocean of Storms. And now, Artemis.

Artemis: goddess of the hunt, of wilderness, of wild things untamed. Sister to Apollo. A protector. A force. A presence tied to the Moon itself. Her name carries the idea of being safe, unharmed, resilient.

What a perfect name for this moment.

Because while we argue, while we divide, while we question whether our leaders will escalate the next conflict or stumble into something we cannot undo… there are human beings floating in the vast silence of space. Not as Americans. Not as political factions. But as representatives of all of us.

Of humanity.

Think about that.

At the very moment we are looking up at the night sky, searching for perspective, they may be looking back AT US. At a fragile blue planet that holds everything we’ve ever loved, fought for, built, and broken.

And from that distance, none of our noise matters.

Only the question does:

What are we going to do with this place?

We have always been capable of greatness. We have built impossible things. We have crossed oceans, cured diseases, created art that stops time, and sent people to the edge of existence itself.

We are still those people.

But somewhere along the way, we got smaller. Louder. More consumed by the immediate and the trivial.

Artemis II is a reminder that we don’t have to stay that way.

It is a reminder that we are at our best when we are reaching not fighting. When we are exploring not retreating. When we are united by curiosity instead of divided by fear.

So tonight, step away from the headlines.

Look up.

Find the Moon.

And know that above all the noise, something extraordinary is happening. Something hopeful. Something that belongs not to one nation, but to all of us.

As Artemis makes her way home, may she return safely.

And may we, down here, find our way back to something better.

Not just for America.

But for the human race.

Why The Arts Are Important

On By TonyIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Why does a federal agency in Washington, D.C. matter to the arts in your hometown? If you care about your local theater, symphony, or downtown museum, NEA funding likely matters to you more than you realize.

In 2010 alone the NEA supported 2,400 direct grants reaching all 435 congressional districts, totaling more than $110 million. The NEA contributed $43.6 million in partnership funding with state arts agencies, which supported another 23,000 grants to 17,500 organizations, schools and artists in nearly 5,000 communities across the United States.

I read this morning that President Trump has a bust of Winston Churchill in the Oval Office. Churchill was a believer in the art. A quote attributed to him (but not verified), When he was asked to cut arts funding in favour of the war effort, he simply replied “then what are we fighting for?”

But he did say this:

The arts are essen­tial to any com­plete national life. The State owes it to itself to
sus­tain and encour­age them….Ill fares the race which fails to salute the arts with the rev­er­ence and delight which are their due

I also read this morning that the entire budget for the National Endowment for the Arts is LESS than the price of one B 2 bomber. I personally would like to see that matched!

Why Are the Arts Important

  • They are languages that all people speak that cut across racial, cultural, social, educational, and economic barriers and enhance cultural appreciation and awareness.
  • They are symbol systems as important as letters and numbers.
  • They integrate mind, body, and spirit.
  • They provide opportunities for self-expression, bringing the inner world into the outer world of concrete reality.
  • They offer the avenue to “flow states” and peak experiences.
  • They create a seamless connection between motivation, instruction, assessment, and practical application–leading to deep understanding.
  • They are an opportunity to experience processes from beginning to end.
  • They develop both independence and collaboration.
  • They provide immediate feedback and opportunities for reflection.
  • They make it possible to use personal strengths in meaningful ways and to bridge into understanding sometimes difficult abstractions through these strengths.
  • They merge the learning of process and content.
  • They improve academic achievement — enhancing test scores, attitudes, social skills, critical and creative thinking.
  • They exercise and develop higher order thinking skills including analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and “problem-finding.”
  • They are essential components of any alternative assessment program.
  • They provide the means for every student to learn.