The production of art should be viewed as a necessity for everyone, the rich or poor, smart or dumb, disturbed or not (Sweet pp). The contemporary tendency to diminish the importance of what used to be referred to as a "liberal arts education," and the downsizing of art and music classes in our grade schools, certainly underscores society's miscomprehension of the "basic need to know ourselves and the best means to exercise that knowledge" (Sweet pp). Joseph Campbell speculated that art and its creation were the only religion left in society, and De Tocqueville's Democracy in America suggests that art embodies the individual's power to combat the tyranny of the majority (Sweet pp). In June 2005, the International Society for Performing Arts' Board, which is supported by 210 delegates from 28 countries representing Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Africa, voted to endorse a statement urging the world's government at all levels to acknowledge that art has the ability to connect people of all ages, ethnic origins, and economic and social backgrounds with their own imaginations and cultures (ISPA pp). It also allows people to bridge cultural barriers that might otherwise divide them, and more importantly, it plays a role in the lives of young people and should be an integral part of school curriculum at all grade levels (ISPA pp).

The role of the government...

Federal support for creative activities can be traced to the United States Constitution itself, when the Founding Fathers authorized the establishment of a copyright system, for by allowing creators to retain the financial interests in their intellectual property, they were encouraging creativity, which they believed were in the interests of the nation, and encourages creativity through the free market system of capitalism (Government pp). Art has been encouraged through tax deductions for charitable contributions to non-profit educational institutions, museums, symphonies, and other artistic organizations, an indirect government subsidy through the tax code (Government pp).
Works Cited

Government Support for Cultural Activities. Retrieved August 31, 2005 at http://www.csulb.edu/~jvancamp/freedom2.html

ISPA Urges World's Leaders to Support the Arts. 2005 June 22.

International Society for the Performing Arts Foundation. Retrieved August 31, 2005 at http://www.ispa.org/gateshead/statement.html

Sweet, Robert Burdette. Creatures of the metaphor. (the importance of art and metaphor to society). The Humanist. 1995 November 01. Retrieved August 31, 2005 from HighBeam Research Library Web site.