Author: EuGeneSee
Date: 2009-02-16 02:34
Of course I wasn't suggesting that the government should give direct support to the arts, which would ultimately make them totally dependent upon the dole . . . the self-perpetuating welfare syndrome.
Inasmuch as the government pays for public education anyway, then having more fine arts introduced at the lowest grades, would over time make the public much more attuned to them, and much more likely to support them. The arts would then be more likely to become of a major part of our everyday culture.
My love for classical music, operas, ballet, etc. didn't come about because of it being a part of our family life (my parents were pop music fans who had never been to a symphony concert, opera, or ballet) or anything I ever was exposed to in school (I never had one iota of training in any of the fine arts prior to college).
No, I came upon my musical taste quite serendipitously at about age 5 or 6 when an Uncle gave me a big old wooden 1930ish Zenith radio with a round dial about the size of a dinner plate, a green "seeing eye" tuning indicator, and SHORT WAVE BANDS!! He had to put it into my room, because I couldn't even drag that heavy thing. From that point in time I could turn that beast on at night and fall to sleep to great music like I had never heard before. That was my early fine arts introduction and schooling.
That music came from England, Russia, Italy, Germany, etc., and those folks were playing beautiful music with lots of instruments, not like what the AM stations (FM wasn't much in those days) played . . . pop or country, usually with but a few instruments, like guitars, a fiddle, banjo, and a drum set!
If all kids were taught about the fine arts from the earliest age and all the way through school, I would imagine the average attendance at concerts, operas, and ballets would be several times what is is in our current culture. Art galleries, exhibits, etc. would be much more popular than they are now. T.C. Mits (the common man in the street) would be a much greater supporter of the arts than today, and economies of scale would make art venues much more financially secure.
Eu
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