The Value of the Arts and Humanities

The President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities published a report of its findings in 1992 titled The Value of the Arts. The Committee drew its conclusions after extensive review of research about the impact of the field on the nation’s citizenry and from interviews with experts representing diverse sectors of our society. At its core, the Committee affirmed that the arts and humanities are basic and central mediums of human communication and understanding. They confirmed that knowledge of the arts and humanities is a fundamental aspect of an educated person.

Among their major findings are the roles of the arts and humanities:

In Education
Recent research points to a direct correlation between arts-based learning and enhanced student achievement. The arts and humanities

• Integrate neurological functions, thereby aiding learning and performance in other subject areas;

• Access a variety of human intelligence and foster the use of higher order thinking skills;

• Engage a variety of learning styles;

• Enhance the learning environment;

• Develop a positive emotional response to learning; and

• Stimulate learning and improve overall academic performance.

There is a powerful relationship between knowledge of the arts and humanities and success in scientific endeavors. The link between art and science is creativity itself. Many scientists and other experts feel that tomorrow’s scientists and engineers need grounding in the arts and humanities to stimulate their curiosity and creativity to help them perceive the world in new and different ways and to understand the ethical dimensions of their work.

In Civic Life

• American culture incorporates the heritage of many people and thereby provides a unique context for multicultural understanding.

• By giving validity to their culture, the arts and humanities provide new opportunities for economically disadvantaged individuals.

• A nation’s cultural life is closely related to its freedom. Freedom and artistic expression both require a habit of mind that values open dialogue and an acceptance of criticism. Because the arts and humanities also require interaction between the artist’s or scholar’s work and an audience, they are essentially participatory, seeking always to create, recreate and renew this open dialogue within a society.

  In the Economy
  

• The arts and humanities are producers of “intellectual capital” which has an enormous monetary value. The creative genius of America is reflected in its music, films, books, records, computer software and countless other works flowing directly from the imagination of its people. These works result from the nurturing of one of America’s greatest resources, its creativity.

• An aesthetic dimension to design in products and graphics plays an increasingly important role in helping companies and countries meet their export, sales and marketing objectives.

• The arts and humanities have a direct economic impact, particularly in terms of increased tourism and improved downtown development.

• The arts and humanities can contribute to changing a city’s image and promote a sense of community and civic life.

• By contributing to the livability of cities, towns and villages, the arts and humanities help to attract investors.

For Their Own Sake
We cannot forget that the most important value of the arts and humanities is in their very existence and being—art for the sake of art, humanities for the sake of humanities. Artists and humanities scholars have special visions that help us understand ourselves and the society in which we live. They reveal ourselves to ourselves and to the people around us. The arts and humanities constitute our most profound means of communication. Through the visual and performing arts, literature, philosophy and history, we speak to our children and their children about what we aspired to today. They constitute recreation in the Aristotelian sense of "re-creation," the rebuilding of the spiritual side of life. Creative activity is a source of joy.