Reopening the curtain on arts in New York City

Originally posted in New York Daily News

Thousands of theaters across the country were shut down in 2020 because of national and state quarantine policies. The arts, entertainment and recreation sectors experienced the greatest employment decline in the entire economy, plummeting by 50.7% between Feb. 15 and April 25, 2020.

While some sectors can go remote, the performing arts sector — home to many classical musicians, ranging from violinists to opera singers — bore the greatest burden of these restrictions. Arguably the most central hub for the arts in the entire United States, New York City was among the hardest hit.

And the performing arts are still suffering. Although Broadway is beginning to reopen, casting the characters in a show and stewarding an overall production takes time. The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for example, shows that employment in the performing arts is 44% lower in May 2021, relative to February 2020, whereas total nonfarm employment is 5% lower.

While mass layoffs are always hard to cope with, the adverse effects on the fine arts have been especially damaging to society. The arts, when done right, have a wide array of benefits beyond bringing delight to the end-use consumer. By bringing people together who often hold wildly different political opinions, the arts can help diffuse political polarization. Moreover, by drawing people together and fostering social interaction, the arts foster greater creativity and innovation.

In a newly-released report through the American Enterprise Institute, I argue that arts are also important for education, and there is large public support for arts education too. The arts confer substantial benefits to children, ranging from improved cognitive and non-cognitive skills to heightened socialization to the cultivation of executive function skills. In other words, the arts do not just entertain and inspire adults, learning about the arts also induces childhood development.

Among the three policy recommendations from the report, one of the suggestions is the allocation of COVID-19 relief funding towards arts education in schools, together with an integration of skilled arts into the educational system. With so many artists out of work due to the closure of theaters, the decline in demand due to migration out of New York City, or a combination of them, these artists still have important skills that can be effectively utilized in the city. In particular, suppose that schools without an arts education curricula could receive funding that is specifically allocated towards hiring interim arts teachers and consultants to instruct children?

In our research, we discuss the scientific literature on arts education in early childhood and explain that the arts can also be highly therapeutic, particular for those who have experienced trauma. That is especially relevant for many children who were pulled out of in-person schooling and were unable to socialize regularly because of the national and state quarantines.

Moreover, other research of mine finds that the surge in child-care regulations, including declines in the child-to-staff ratio, adversely affected maternal labor force participation and employment. That means many families may have suffered financially because mothers had to drop out of the labor force to care for their children, limiting the amount of money that they have available to spend on typical expenditures, such as private tutoring or the arts.

However, that will require a change in the general attitudes between educators and practitioners. Currently, there is a rift between the two, but that need not exist. Educators need practitioners who are skilled and understand how the sector works, and practitioners need educators whose job it is to impart knowledge and assess it among new cohorts of learners. There is a win-win deal here, if only we reach for it.

Makridis is a research professor at Arizona State University and chief technology officer and head of research for Living Opera, an arts and education technology startup.