Wayne Salomon’s dedication to art education made my high school experience meaningful. During a period of time when I felt lost, insecure and afraid, Wayne believed in me. He pushed me to use all of my emotional unsteadiness to find passion and grace. He pointed me in the direction of others who recognized that art would make life both manageable and meaningful. He helped me understand how art heals and nurtures wounds you don’t even know exist.

Artistic expression, creativity, is vital to K-12 education. The reasons may be more invisible than math or science. They may not lead directly to the acquisition of specific technological skills. But they will most certainly lead to innovation. 

I’m sorry that in his SoTU, Obama focused his attention on making sure our educational system thrives in math and science because I think he believes in the importance of the arts. He knows his audience, and in his efforts to be bi-partisan, he betrayed the real necessity of education - inspiring curiosity through a range of disciplines. In his acceptance speech, Wayne proclaimed the importance of art education “Because,” he concluded, “if we fail to do this, in 50 years, our children and grandchildren won’t have to fight any culture wars, because they won’t have a culture.”

Not only will there not be culture, there may be a lot more teenager lost in a sea of self-doubt, depression, and anxiety. Wayne Salomon’s pedagogical gift is the knowledge that the arts transform lives by inspiring people to explore, to create, to innovate, in whatever direction they are prompted to.

Try. Try Harder. Fail. Fail again. Try again.