Eng Articulo Arte

Imagine a world without art.
Our day-to-day lives would be void of beauty, creativity and

human expression. The absence of art would be felt in every aspect of our lives. We would no
longer have music to move us, paintings to inspire us or books and films to entertain us. The
world would be stripped of color, texture and vibrancy. Without art, there would not be any
cultural landmarks to admire, no murals or paintings to celebrate our shared heritage and no
poetry or literature to illuminate the human experience. Art is everywhere and everything we
consume, from the outfits we choose to wear everyday to the food we eat.
As a dance student myself, the first time I realized art was undervalued was when I was
in ballet class at five or six years old. I remember our teacher telling us that the theatre in
which we were going to perform had a chipped floor and no curtains, even though it was the
best they could find at an affordable price. I also remember how people, children and adults,
would laugh at me when I told them I aimed to make a career out of dance. Till now, I still get
sneers and comments like “Well, that’s beautiful but it demands too much sacrifice and does
not pay enough.” or, the worst one, “Won’t you do a real job? Dancing is just a hobby”. When I
was younger, I never understood why they would say this to me. I always replied by saying “I
would rather do something I enjoy and just make it by than hate my job and have an
abundance of money”.
It was not until I was older that I perceived society does not care about artists, but they
do want the art they create. Everyone wants a house decorated in a certain aesthetic, but they
complain to artists about the prices of their pieces, and do not take into account how
expensive the supplies are for the artists. Personally, I have felt this issue my whole life. For
ballet I need a pair of pointe shoes every two to four months – professionals use up to 8 pairs a
week in busy seasons – that is around 90€ per pair. Let’s not forget the rest of the attire (tutus,
leotards, slippers, etc.), which is not precisely cheap. Not only are the supplies expensive, but
they are very difficult to find, sometimes internationally. All this adds up to hundreds of euros
each year, which in most cases are not offset by income.
If our work is considered so valuable and important, why are we, artists, so poor and
why have we all accepted this as an aspect of art making? Is it a fabrication that artists are
always broke? This is not always necessarily true. It has become a social stigma that
contributes to the undervaluation of art as a career path. Unfortunately, these questions hold
some truth, as artists often have to fight to be paid fairly for their work. Even sometimes,
clients seem offended by the price of an artwork and ask artists to give the piece for free.
This leads me to another question: Who should really be the one to judge art pieces? As
for me, I think, once an artwork is exposed to the public, everyone has the right to have an
opinion on it, whether it is good or bad. However, most people, especially in modern and
contemporary art, make wrong assumptions around abstract pieces, “A kid can do that” being
the most popular one. This is why we need experts who judge with valid criteria, with
knowledge and studies on art and techniques.
Having said that, arts and humanities education is severely underfunded. Governments
all around the world encourage more students to take STEM degrees. For example, according
to the University at Buffalo, in 2020 China allocated 100% of its research funding to top
universities with concentrations on STEM disciplines. The imbalance between STEM and
humanities fuels the underfunding and lack of popularity of the arts. It all results in society
ignorant of one of its bases: culture.
I truly do believe that if we viewed art as a core function in society, communities and
schools would be more inclined to restore art programs and centers. Art classes and supplies
would be more readily available and creativity in future generations would flourish. We are
slowly fading into a society consumed by technology. Mass production of goods since the
Industrial Revolution and the emergence of AI are two causes of the undervaluation of art.
Artists focus on making quality art, that takes time and increases costs.
Another thing to mention is the scarcity of aids given by the governments, in my case, to
people in superior arts studies. These require many hours a week, more or less the same as a
typical day school. Ballet is a discipline which demands the physical traits of elite athletes, but
dancers are not recognized as such, even if we train twice as many hours. Nevertheless, in
Spain, “official” elite athletes do receive supports like a lower cut-off mark in the EBAU exam
for university or specialized medical professionals who treat their injuries and look after their
well-being. We also need public dance companies, as most Spanish dancers, who are
extremely talented, leave the country to find a well-paid job.
Evidently, art is all around us, but its creators are not well assisted. It is not enough to
support the arts, you also must support the artists. Do not complain about the price of an art
piece and, most importantly, we must stop reinforcing the idea of art as a bad career choice.
We should insist and encourage art education, so that more artists find a fair paid job in our
country and do not feel compelled to leave. We need to prevent society from following the
path of killing creativity or we will soon see us fully immersed in a world without any artistry.

Eng Articulo Arte

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Imagine a world without art.

Our day-to-day lives would be void of beauty, creativity and

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