Arts Enhance Our Community

A robust cultural life, with strong arts organizations and cultivation of our area’s artists and residents is integral to Orange County’s future. According to Richard Florida, Carnegie Mellon Economics Professor and author of Rise of the Creative Class, “A region's overall standing in the creative economy is a barometer of a region's longer run economic potential. Specifically, cities which attract and retain the creative class prosper, while those that do not stagnate.”

The Positive Effects of Arts Education
Arts education makes a tremendous impact on the developmental growth of every child and has proven to help level the "learning field" across socio-economic boundaries.
Arts education has a measurable impact on at-risk youth in deterring delinquent behavior and truancy problems while also increasing overall academic performance among youth engaged in after school and summer arts programs targeted toward delinquency prevention.

According to national research conducted by Americans for the Arts, students who are regularly involved in arts education are:
·      4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement
·      3 times more likely to be elected to class office within their schools
·      4 times more likely to participate in a math and science fair
·      3 times more likely to win an award for school attendance
·      4 times more likely to win an award for writing an essay or poem

Young artists, as compared with their peers, are likely to:
·      Attend music, art, and dance classes nearly 3 times as frequently
·      Participate in youth groups nearly 4 times as frequently
·      Read for pleasure nearly twice as often
·      Perform community service more than 4 times as often