the value of community-based arts

My friend, K, recently wrote inhis blog about seeing a community theatre production and being pleasantly surprised at the talent level.

Too often the term "community theatre" becomes synonymous with "poor quality" or "bad art." This is too bad because the idea often will keep people away simply because they expect it will be bad simply because it's community based.

Not everyone can afford to drive to the nearest sizable city to take in a play or concert or visit an art gallery or museum. In fact the cost of such a trip is often prohibitive to many. It is this very reason that community-based arts programs (whether they be theatre, an art gallery showing, or a local concert) are vitally important.

In an era when we are losing school-based arts programs yearly, the communities have an even more important role to play in offering opportunities to families to be both spectator and/or participants in the arts.

For some, the community theatre might be the only theatre they see in their lives. Would that I could send everyone to New York to get the full Broadway theatre experience, but I can't. I might encourage people to take in a show at a nearby school or touring production, but I know that realistically, most people I know won't go.

Most community-based arts programs are run by people who (whether they can verbalize it or not) recognize the need for art in our lives. Many might only see it as looking for a chance to act or the opportunity to play an instrument, but what they are expressing is the inherent need for art in our lives. How dull would our lives be without art?

Looking back to yesterday, when I visitied the Vesterheim Museum, I was quite taken by the art that decorated nearly everything in the homes of these poor Norwegian families. Everything...EVERYTHING...(from bed posts to steamer trunks to wall-mounted shelves) was either delicately hand-carved, or painted, or both. At times the craftsmanship wasn't any too great, but I was impressed with their obvious need for art -- and their recognition of the need for art.

People today don't recognize this need for art. In part because we are inundated with advertising masquerading as art. Book covers, video covers, cd covers, magazines, junk mail are all often poor substitutes for art.

Some might argue that community theatre is also a poor substitute for professional theatre/art, and yes, I would agree, but isn't experiencing a play live, where actors feed off of the audience response a unique and important aspect of theatre? Do we get that from sitcoms and other television programming? Isn't walking through an art gallery and seeing the actual paintings and sculptures a richer experience than thumbing through a book or magazine? Isn't attending a concert more exciting than listening to a cd or radio? Why did I take my kids to the museum yesterday? Why didn't I just check out a couple of books from the library?

Because the arts are about the here and now. About the personal involvement, even as spectator, to a more enriching experience. Without the community-based arts programs too many people would lose out on the experience.