Malissa Feruzzi Shriver

Nashville is not for the faint of heart, and neither is an Americans for the Arts' conference. There were scheduled sessions that ran until midnight, where some of the panelists broke into song, and early bird specials—eight AM, lights, camera, action.  Nashville has nothing on Americans for the Arts, and Americans for the Arts has something for everyone.  More than one thousand arts advocates enjoyed networking, performances, and fascinating panels, myself included.  Convention themes ran from arts and community to building core skills (does being on your feet for fourteen hours build core strength too?), embracing diversity, reinvention and sustainability, and supply and demand. This conference was definitely not short on supply, and judging from the attendance, demand was high.

I was impressed on so many levels. Four jam-packed days of sessions, exhibitors, meet and greets, and all the big organizations, big names and big ideas. I learned about public art and placemaking, leadership skill development, and how art can translate data, and was fascinated by topics like engaging the biases, values and privileges underneath your work. I am grateful that AFTA organizes these conferences to invest in our field, inform leaders, and stimulate dialogue about relevance and sustainability.

I left this conference feeling fortunate and lucky to work in a field with leaders from all over our country—conservative, liberal, and everyone in between—with a common cause and an issue that unites us. We are promoting a public value, a civil right. We are working to bring something meaningful to all citizens, regardless of zip code, race, or religion. We know from research that arts education benefits students the most who receive the least, due to poverty and circumstances beyond their control.

We cannot afford to disinvest in the arts. We have to double down on solutions. Art works, period.

Dr. James Catteral has said that we need to be framing arts education as “applied creativity,” and I agree. Arts education has been undervalued and misunderstood. This conference was brimming with new ideas and strategies for arts education advocacy.  When I got home, Frank Gehry’s sister, Professor Doreen Nelson, sent me a photo of a student sleeping next to her design project; she felt so attached to her creation, she couldn’t be parted with it.  There are no students sleeping next to standardized tests, you can be sure of that. We are talking about the nature of learning, cognitive engagement, and empathy. Art is a solution for failing schools. Creativity is our future.

I want to thank AFTA for inviting me to be a part of this experience.  I want to thank all of the organizations that presented, and work so diligently to bring arts to our communities, to our students and into our lives. The people who work in this field are my heroes. It is an honor to serve with each and every one. We must continue our efforts to maintain and increase funding for The National Endowment for the Arts, because when governments don’t pay, only the wealthy have access to these experiences.  It is for the rural and under-served communities that we fight for. We are Americans for the Arts, not blue or red but every color, thriving and celebrating our diversity, our cultures and our talents.