The arts are an indicator species

When I served with my AmeriCorps team, we collectively spent over a hundred hours restoring a small fen in rural Indiana, all to save a specific type of butterfly.

"A butterfly?" you ask?

Why spend thousands of dollars in state and federal resources to sustain the survival of one kind of butterfly that, frankly, can't fly all that well?

Because for some odd reason, if that butterfly could thrive, so could the rest of the flora and fauna that shared its unique ecosystem. By working to sustain an environment that supported that fragile but beautiful creature--that indicator species--we also sustained everything around it.

The arts that butterfly. They are the indicator species for the health and vibrancy of our communities. Just as demographers look at the infant mortality rate of a country to determine how well they can protect and sustain the health of their populations, we must look at how much we value and support the arts to determine the health of our communities. The arts are where we define who we are, express what we dream, and explore what we experience. They are the place where unique ideas, dissenting opinions, and diverse experiences are first voiced. To say that we--as taxpayers, as community members, as Michiganders and as Americans--are willing to withdraw our support from the arts is to say that we have given up on living for great dreams in exchange for simply living. And that, as anyone will tell you, is no sustainable life at all.

As individuals and as a community we have a responsibility to support and protect the arts. In a state where our government arts funding equals out to be less than the cost of a cup of coffee for every man, woman, and child, we need to think about how much value the arts contribute to our lives, and how much we should contribute to the arts.

So if that guitar player on the street dreaming of cutting a record makes you smile on your way to work, or if your kid gets to know someone from a different background during a crafts project at your local library, think about how much value those experiences contribute to your life.

And call your representative; tell them to buy the arts another cup of coffee.