Art Advocacy

I will advocate for arts in my school district by being an active and present member of the staff. I think that it is easy for the arts to be segregated from the rest of the core classes. As an instructor I want to build relationships with these other departments, so they will know what is going on in the art classroom. That way when it comes time to advocate for my program, I will have support from other departments and staff members. I think that pushing students to create great art is a form of art advocacy. When other students and staff see the visual evidence of what the program is accomplishing they will be able to better understand the value of the program. Helping the students in the arts succeed shows that advantages that the arts have of reaching students who may not excel in the traditional classroom. Students are also the most effective at promoting art classes. If they enjoy what they are taking they are more likely to encourage their peers to be involved as well.
The risk in advocating for the arts may be that it alienates other teachers, because they may feel that you think your program is more important theirs. However, I don't think that advocating for the arts would do more harm than good. If the statistics are any proof, art education is a valuable resource for developing successful students in all classes and should be advocated for!