ART. MUSIC. Today these things don’t matter to most school boards. With the budget cuts happening now, they’re the first thing to go, but that’s not the way it should be. Art and music provide a creative release for students after a long day of school. Not only that, but they make us use a part of our brains that we would never otherwise use. Most importantly, the arts make everyone different.

I’m an artist. I like to use my hands and be creative. Even those who don’t consider themselves ‘artistic’ know that sometimes it’s just fun to slam a piece of clay on a table when you’re mad, or bang on the keys of a piano with no purpose. Art is a release. Some of the best songs ever written were composed after hearts were broken or minds confused. After a day at school, the last thing I want to do is solve a bunch of math problems or read a chapter in my science textbook. My art is a place I can escape to where no one else can enter; where I can be myself with no rules. But art isn’t just an emotional release. To all those skeptics out there, it has its physical benefits.

There are lots of parts to the brain, but for those who are more simplistic like me, we’ll divide it into left and right sides. The left side is the more ‘logical’ side. It solves math problems, answers questions, and does all the more ‘stable’ or ‘rational’ thinking. The left side, however, is the creative side. Art exercises this side of the brain more than math problems or textbooks ever will. There it is. Art is a necessity to our mental health. School boards could very well cut art and music programs out of schools due to the small budgets. What would happen then?

There are a couple billion people on this earth. No two are exactly the same; even twins. Obviously, we’re different because of our physical appearances, but what about our creativity? The best thing about art and music are that no one person can create the same piece of art or music. Everyone thinks differently and it’s expressed in art. You have abstract and concrete art; slow and up-beat songs. The arts keep everyone different. Can you imagine a life where everyone was exactly the same? What fun would that be? Not a whole lot, for sure.

Without art, I’m not sure where we would be, but it definitely wouldn’t be pretty. We could all be the same because of no difference in creativity. We could all be too logical for our own good because our right brains received no exercise. Maybe we would all just stew around in anger or sadness because we had no release. Art and music definitely leave an impact on our culture.