View: Arts add value to Westchester

Re "Astorino budget: No tax increase, but 25 layoffs," Nov. 13 article:

The Westchester County Executive's proposed budget for 2016 calls for a 20 percent decrease in county support for the arts. Support for the arts in Westchester is eroding at a time our community needs it most.

As a college devoted to the belief that the arts and liberal arts are indispensible and fuel the creativity and ingenuity of all students, the success of our students and alumni across a wide range of fields speaks for itself. We also have the research behind us. Studies clearly state that students who engage in dance, music, or art succeed at a greater rate in their academic subjects, better SAT scores and are less likely to drop out of school.

Beyond the positive impact on education, the arts are good for the bottom line. The arts inspire people to become creative and in turn create jobs and attract jobs. The county can’t have it both ways. Creative people in biotech and other fields won’t want to live in Westchester without a vibrant arts scene. According to ArtsWestchester, the arts infuse more than $156 million into our local economy, attracting businesses, residents, and advancing urban revitalization. One study, conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, even goes so far as to state that cities with a higher concentration in the arts have higher civic engagement, higher child welfare and lower poverty rates.

We at Purchase College will continue to do our part by welcoming the elementary school students who attend Arts in Education events at the Performing Arts Center, the families who look forward to introducing their children to art for the first time at the Neuberger Museum of Art, and countless audience members who expand their minds at performances and exhibits created by our talented students.

But the county must keep up its end of the bargain. It has shrunk support for the arts more than enough.  We respect the need for reasonable tax levels. But a balanced budget should not mean an unbalanced approach to the arts. Nor should the arts be used as a game between the Executive and Board of  Legislators. There’s too much at stake for our community, because what we do here matters on a human level beyond facts and figures.

When my campus, along with every other campus across the country, was shaken by the events of St. Louis, Baltimore, Staten Island, Ferguson and other places and now University of Missouri, we had difficult conversations and worked together to form action plans to ensure that all our students feel safe, valued, and respected. But, we also needed a catharsis that only a powerful piece of art could bring. This month our Theatre Conservatory presented an excellent production of James Baldwin’s play “Blues for Mister Charlie,” based on the life of Emmett Till. Written in 1964, unfortunately it could have been written today.  And just recently I stood in solidarity with our students, faculty, and administration at a protest in support of the Mizzou activists. I was not surprised that it was the words of James Baldwin that one of the students quoted that clearly moved us all. It’s important to join together and recognize the universal truths laid out in a very powerful piece of theater. The bottom line is that the arts say something about who we are as a society, and we need that window and that creative outlet just as we did in 1964 when the play premiered.  How we treat the arts and artists also says something about who we are as a society.

This budget play is almost in its final act. Legislators have only a short amount of time to restore these funds. I urge all Westchester residents to add their voices to my concerns. Tell our representatives that the arts are vital by signing the petition of the ArtsWestchester organization and share it with others or attend an upcoming budget hearing.

The writer is president of Purchase College, State University of New York.