From an Ottawa Citizen article published on September 8, 2020.
By Jessica Ruano
Board Member, MASC
Author and speaker Sir Ken Robinson passed away last month after a brief battle with cancer. I was introduced to him years ago through his humorous and compelling TED talk titled “Do schools kill creativity?” Through a series of anecdotes backed up by his own extensive research, Robinson made a strong case for arts education and challenged the global tendency to exclude the arts from our school curriculum – an argument that rings true today.
With schools re-opening across Ontario, there are ongoing discussions regarding what to prioritize in the time of COVID-19. It is critical that we take this opportunity to look to Robinson’s work to explore what it means to put our students first.
As an Ottawa native, I was privileged to attend Canterbury High School for drama. My passion for theatre also led me to take classes at Orleans Young Players (now the Ottawa School of Theatre) and the Ottawa School of Speech and Drama. I benefited greatly from these opportunities, which determined the trajectory of my life and chosen career in the arts. However, not all children and youth have the same exposure to arts experiences because government institutions and scholastic curricula consistently underfund these initiatives.
Robinson asks, “Why?” The arts teach critical thinking, teamwork, self-expression, and they show us diverse ways of thinking and being, including from a variety of cultures. Through the arts we become better acquainted with others, so that they are no longer “the other.”
And yet the arts are often reduced to electives, rather than essential school subjects, if offered at all. With increased standardized testing and inflexible curriculum structures, children and youth are regularly discouraged from pursuing activities they truly love, that they are skilled at, in favour of subjects deemed more “academic.”
MASC, an Ottawa-based arts organization celebrating its 30th year, connects professional artists with schools and communities across Eastern Ontario and Western Québec. You may not be familiar with MASC, but your kids are. Remember when they told you about that awesome dance performance at their school? How about when they took home those beautiful multimedia artworks? Oh, and that amazing spoken word poem they wrote about climate change? Chances are, those were MASC artists visiting your kids’ classrooms and inspiring them to create, to express and to think critically about the world around them.
While current physical distancing measures are limiting artists’ ability to provide in-person arts experiences, MASC is now offering virtual opportunities for live workshops and performances as an alternative to its usual programming. Suzan Richards was recently in the news for teaching Afro-Caribbean dance to seniors in Lowertown to combat isolation and stay active from their balconies. Claudia Salguero has been working from a distance with 32 families in Sandy Hill to paint a series of canvases to form a large mural that will be mounted in their community. Since the beginning of the pandemic, MASC artists have been finding creative ways for people to stay connected even if they can’t be in the same space – and this important programming will continue through the school year.
Over the past few months, school boards across Ontario have been hard at work preparing to reopen schools with students’ safety as a priority. As the fall semester begins, it is imperative that school boards expand their discussions to include space for arts programming in schools. Now more than ever, children and youth are craving that sense of connection and searching for meaning in an especially confusing and unpredictable time. If we can learn anything from Robinson’s work and legacy, it’s that arts education is critical to building strong and resilient communities, especially in times of crisis.