Art curriculum offers broad palette of opportunities, shrinking funding for creativity

A simple Google search will say that art has been around since the “Later Stone Age of Namibia,”more commonly known as, forever. It can be a way of expression, communication, an outlet for creativity, and more. Whether it is splattering paint onto a canvas, singing, or playing an instrument, art can be found in every nook and cranny of human experience. 

While this universal nature of the arts would seem to necessitate requisite funding, the arts are not the only activity at West in need of financing. The district has many activities to account for as they try to navigate where to put money. 

Budgeting comes down to choices and priorities, according to Principal Lewis Malczewski.

“There’s two things that people need to understand about budgeting. The district is transitioning from the building school budget and taking care of all the activities,” he said. “For our school budget, we get an allotment of money, and we have to make decisions on where there are the most students. We have to then divide that money up the best we can.” 

From what Malczewski has seen, the arts have been getting more attention than in previous years.

“There’s been more funding to the activities budget from my understanding. Things like plays and musicals get more money than they used to be able to get,” he said.

Besides activities, the art curriculum boasts a broad array of classes for students, many of which do not have any sort of prerequisites, meaning any person can take them.

Art teacher Kelly Spanbauer sees first-hand the impact these classes can have on students. She recognizes the importance of art and the influence it may have.

“The rewarding part of being an art teacher is the fact that I get to see kids have that ‘a-ha’ moment. They try some of the things we do in class and they get to do that in their art,” she said. “Kids are talented and then they take that talent to the next degree, which is always really fun to watch happen.”

Similarly, for Linda Geffers, her career derives from her personal love for art, while also building relationships with students.

“I’ve stayed in art all these years for the relationships. I like this age group, I like watching students grow,” she said.

Junior Kate Ruby is in Drawing and Painting 3 this year and has been doing art for most of their school experience. They find art to be a way to express themselves that goes beyond the possible monotony of other schoolwork.

“I’m able to express my creativity. It’s one of my favorite hobbies and it makes me feel a lot better than other classes,” they said.

Junior Sofia Crowley sees art classes as something that she’s grown up with, and that manifested into extracurriculars here at school.

“My mom is a graphic artist, and my dad is in the band and loves to play music, so the arts have always been around my household,” she said. 

Beyond just creating a final project, art can teach community, creativity, and overall well roundedness for students. It can give students a look into their future and what future jobs require. Geffers sees the impact art classes can have outside high school. 

“The arts are important in general for students because one of the biggest things job seekers are for is creativity, thinking outside of the box,” she said. “You can be the smartest person, but if you can’t be creative and come up with new ideas, you can’t capture customers or clients then.” 

Spanbauer shares the viewpoint that art class can build creativity, which in turn sets a precedent for future careers.

“Creativity is the number one sought after attribute that businesses look for,” she said. “They want their employees to be creative. I think it gives students the confidence they need to know that they can do something; it’s not always just math and science. All of those things are important but you need both types of abilities to get an end goal.”

Junior Brandi Root is in advanced art this year and feels a sense of togetherness in her art classes. 

“My favorite part is probably the community that it circles around,” she said. “I enjoy doing art because it just expresses a lot of emotions.”

Art shows are held periodically throughout the year as students work on new projects. Shows are set up gallery-walk style for parents and friends of art students to look at what their friends, children, and students are doing in their classes. 

“Basically, it’s a gallery of the students' art work in, but in the hallway outside the auditorium. I do wish there was more space,” Ruby said. “It gets hot and crowded despite the low number of people.” 

However, Ruby sees a lack of recognition for art shows. The school, they feel, often tends to leave out the fact that they are happening. 

“With art shows, there’s no promotion for it,” they said.

Similarly, supplies can be hard to get because of the absence of sufficient money. For Spanbauer, this can limit what students can do. 

“We have had some budget cuts in the last several years and could definitely use more funding,” she said. “We have to be a little bit careful sometimes as to what we’re all able to do and what we can get.” 

Despite this issue, students are still able to make-do, despite a need for more.

The reason that STEM classes or sports get more recognition can be due to age-old stereotypes: “What are you supposed to do with that degree?” or “That won’t get you anywhere in life.” Ruby notices this as a potential reason other curricular areas take precedence over the arts.

“The stereotype towards art is it’s not gonna get you anywhere in life,” they said. “The ‘core classes’ and sports are much more important at this school.”

With the sheer number of art classes there are, supplies can get expensive. Art is a limitless subject, there are millions of things to do, millions of projects to create. An absence of sufficient materials can limit a student’s imagination, according to art teacher Jason Ryf. 

“Obviously in the art world, there are tons of different things that we can paint or draw or work on, but if we can’t afford to do it, then they don’t get their opportunity,” he said. “This might be the only space that they’re able to do that,”

Funding for the arts, Ryf sees, has been on the decline, and students have a harder time trying new things with the materials that are available. 

“If they gave us $50,000, we would still want more, isn’t that just human nature?” he said. “We used to have lab fees for students, but now we don’t. Just overall budgets are being cut just because that’s how the world is going at the moment.”

Ruby notices the disparities among different activities at West, and the unequal attention and money different things get.

“The football team has a lot more funding. Sports gets more funding than a lot of other activities,” they said. “Like new art supplies are funded by the cafe, not district funded.” 

Lack of materials can stiff creativity. 

“We kind of have to go back to almost the basics of having the main stuff,” Ryf said. “It’s not like it’s construction paper and crayons, but it has limited us as to what we can provide to our students and their creativity.”

by Anika Flores

Published on October 30, 2023

Oshkosh West Index Volume 120 Issue 2