This week was my last week of class for my junior year as a dance major. We've had to transition to online classes because of the coronavirus, so my assignments and lectures have all shifted from their original plans. One of my classes has been requiring our responses to different TED Talks every week, and this last week we watched one called "Why must artists be poor?" I wish I knew the answer.
The speaker was Hadi Eldebek, who frankly I do not know and did not do any research on. Eldebek explained that he was working towards his masters in engineering when he decided to drop out and become a full time artist. His peers gave him the response you are probably thinking right now, "What is he doing?! Dropping out of engineering for ART? He would make so much more money as an engineer." This hits close to home for me, because comments like these caused me to almost study engineering in college instead of dance. These commenters are simply misinformed.
Eldebek then brings up some numbers that show how much the United States values artists, and I will link the video if you would like to check them out. The numbers are shocking. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is the spare change at the bottom of your purse compared to Europe's equivalent programs, and it's absolutely nothing compared to the U.S.'s trillion dollar military budget. Military marching band spending alone is almost double the entire NEA. On top of that, the NEA mostly funds big arts companies who already have established audiences. Eldebek also mentions this funding is completely disproportionate to the amount of money that non-profit arts businesses generate for the U.S. economy. This speech was recorded as of 2016, so these numbers may be slightly different today.
So these numbers tell me that the U.S. and its residents don't care about the arts, right? Well, how come some of the most rich and famous people in the U.S. are artists? Why will we pay hundreds of dollars to go see Rihanna, Justin Bieber, or Billie Eilish, but don't go to our local theatre? How come so many 4 year old girls are sent off to the nearest dance studio in pink tights for their first ballet class? How come in quarantine we are all dancing in our kitchens, making videos for tiktok? Or watching hours of movies and television shows on Netflix? Why do we marvel at the beauty of a designer jacket? How come we choose to listen to music while we drive?
Something is clearly out of alignment in the mindset of Americans. We have been taught that the arts are not profitable and rather, expendable, while simultaneously being with the arts every day. As an artist, this honestly sucks. Being an artist is to be constantly told your work isn't worth it, that you should have a backup plan, that you're wasting your intelligence, and to still create. I feel this all too often in dance class. I get so worked up about whether my leg can rotate any more or lift any higher, while people are risking and saving lives for work on the daily. That feels ridiculous sometimes.
Despite this, there are so many more other times when I read a book, watch a movie, or see a performance that changes my life. Art and artists give me things to believe in. They reveal truths, some complex and some simple, that are far more valuable than what they teach you in school. A lot of school is just getting through, just getting the grade or doing the work. I never enjoyed that, and I don't think it's very valuable. I loved school when it was about digging deep, even if it was in a subject like physics or history. That's why I loved the teachers that pushed me for more, that helped me to understand the concepts and not just how to get the right answer. I think about my high school English teacher every time I create because she used to read my essays and say "More. There's more there." Even when I felt I had dug up every idea behind the literature and inspected it closely, still more. I'm constantly being reminded of this as a dancer, and trying to remind myself as a creator.
Art is about digging deep and being critical of what is around you. So no, I'm not wasting my brain. I think my brain needs this constant challenge, to always analyze and reconstruct my perspective. Yes, I enjoyed calculus and physics in school, but that was because I had teachers who pushed me to see the world differently. Those are the people that should be getting paid the most in my opinion, those who are trying to change the world. Well, besides our health care professionals who are heroes right now, and always...
In this fearful time, it has been extremely helpful for me to find art, to continue growing and learning despite everything else being stopped. It may look different now, through Zoom calls and online resources, but it is important. These people have important things to say, and we should listen and support them.
TED Talk by Hadi Eldebek:
.com/talks/hadi_eldebek_why_must_artists_be_poor?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare#t-388870
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