The Arts, Education, and Community Growth

W. Terrence Kilroy

The 2002 Citistates Report, by experts Curtis Johnson and Neal Peirce, studied the Kansas City region's opportunities to move forward. They ident-ified crucial issues such as infrastructure, transportation, race, education and quality of life.

The conclusions about our potential were optimistic. Our region enjoys many natural and historic advantages. Johnson and Peirce cited several areas of opportunity for our region to pursue that included children's issues, schools, and life sciences. One oppor-tunity identified for our region that may have surprised some readers was the "arts."

Johnson and Peirce emphasized how important a strong arts community is in attracting young people to select Kansas City as the place they want to live. They felt culture was critical to our region's future.

The best and the brightest minds gravitate to cultural centers. And where raw materials such as grain, coal and iron once fed industry, people are now the essential raw material for the kind of business and industry which feeds future community growth. Not just the top people--the need for bright, stimulated minds reaches deep into many strata of the work force.

Kansas City is in what amounts to a life-or-death competition with dozens of other metropolitan areas around the country to attract and retain business, industry, research facilities and governmental offices. Tax incentives aren't enough. The Citistates Report observed:

Today, cities are hell-bent on attracting talent--the human skills that permit a region to build more wealth and influence than it could develop by simply dishing up mediocre jobs or serving as the back office for some other metropolis. To excel, companies must be able to draw employees who are naturally good at dreaming up creative marketing strategies, making scientific discoveries, or developing venture capital savvy.

But here's the catch: Those are also the people who usually opt for cosmopolitan, urban settings. Indeed, bringing creative people together and providing public spaces where they can spontaneously mix and exchange ideas has been a central function of cities--from the ancient libraries of Alexandria to the technology-rich urban neighborhoods of the Internet age.

We can already be proud of a world-class art museum and a flourishing arts community. A new performing arts center would have the ability to attract newcomers and be a legacy to future generations.

But an area of arts we neglect to think about is the valuable role the arts play in schools. For students, the arts may or may not become a regular vehicle for expression. For them, the arts may or may not become a career. But for each of them, as for all of us, exposure to the arts and an appreciation for the arts is essential.

The arts give students a basis for applying skills learned in other disciplines, such as language, logic and mathe-matics. Research demonstrates that the arts teach skills that cut across other disciplines, particularly in core areas such as math and reading. Arts education assists students at all levels and it can particularly help our disadvantaged youth. Studies have also demonstrated that the arts are a precursor to higher-order thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

That's quite a list. And it's a direct parallel with the types of skills necessary in the 21st century job market, where healthy communities will grow and prosper. In short, we need an educational system that not only teaches the basic building blocks of literacy and logic, but also prepares students for their application beyond the classroom.

So, assuming that we're preparing our children not just for survival, but for a rewarding life, the arts must have an important place in education. It's a small step from this conclusion to the acknowledgement that a flourishing cultural environment is fundamental to community growth.

If the Kansas City metropolitan area is to meet its challenges for growth, we simply must continue to expand the minds of our children and the cultural resources of our community. There are other important priorities, but none that offer a greater return on investment than these two.

A community symposium on this subject, hosted by the law firm of Shughart Thomson & Kilroy and the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, will be held on September 14, 2004, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Johnson County Community College. Dr. Charles Carlsen, JCCC president, and actor Paul Sorvino will speak on the importance of the arts to the educational process and as a catalyst for community growth. This symposium is 19th in a series of lively and continuing conversations on topics important to the region's future growth and success. For information on the 2004 Symposium, visit www.stklaw.com and http://www.gkccf.org/page14263.cfm.

W. Terrence Kilroy chairs the Labor and Employment practice at the law firm of Shughart Thomson & Kilroy, P.C. He may be reached at 816.421.3355 or by e-mail at tkilroy@stklaw.com.