So I just got back from a focus group/open house discussing the future of Arts, Culture and Heritage in Ottawa. They've been working on their plan for nearly a year now and it's pretty complete and touches on so many different aspects, from First Nations inclusion, to artists' housing, to infrastructure, to encouraging youth in the arts.
It's always that last one that surprises me; "youth in the arts". The mere fact that it needs to be singled out indicates that there's an issue, but I still can't seem to wrap my head around it.
I remember being in High School, where everyone was involved either in arts or music (I played a terrible trumpet, for the record), but it's true that most people move out of arts and artistic endeavours as they get older. You don't need an art credit to graduate High School, at least not at my school, but you needed at least 4 science credits and one social sciences.
Now that I'm older I find that a bit suspect. I mean, it's clearly discriminatory against the arts and social sciences, but I suppose that, for many kids, if you didn't need that math credit you would've never taken it. We all need math, I don't care what people say. I spent this weekend trying to convert a heritage recipe, and let me tell you: whatever old classmate that said fractions were a waste of my time was full of it.
So this brings me back to the fact that youth need to be encouraged in the arts. I can't help but ask "why?" Younger people are, by nature, creative. Is it that their parents and communities steer them away from art because it leads to an uncertain future? Are we all just stifling creativity for the sake of a stable income? I don't have an answer for that. I suppose that by "encouraged" they mean more that they need to be supported so that they don't leave the arts, so that it's something they pursue. That, I can get behind.
It still strikes me how everyone in the room was so much older than me. The youngest person couldn't have been younger than their mid-forties. Where were the youth that wanted support for arts and culture? Do they want support? It goes back to that classic issue of youth apathy, which concerns me.
Teens and youth are always viewed as the "ungettable get" in our field. At my museum, we don't even bother targeting them because we're still trying to build up our main demographic: families. I know that teen programs have been successful in the past, but is all the effort worth it? I want to be idealistic and say that one life changed is a success, but is that really a valuable way to spend our time in this day and age? Again, I don't know.
Regardless, I'll be the only person under 30 representing the heritage sector (despite the fact that we were right down the road from the college "Applied Museum Studies" program). I'll put in my two cents and enjoy some coffee with the older gentlement at my table. At least I can prove that some of us care.
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