Poverty And The Arts. Art has long been considered to be for both expression and resistance by human beings. Within that creative space, as well as its possibility, an opportunity is provided to different ways to fight poverty and relieve global suffering for the poor.
The Role of Art in Reducing Poverty
Here are three of the best ways in which the role of art can be hugely helpful in reducing poverty.
*First and foremost is the fact that programs involving art are able to focus on entire communities that are faced with poverty, as well as offer multiple forms of opportunities and services when it comes to employment, expression for the voiceless, creating both beauty and hope amidst poverty and blight, and so much more. These types of programs tend to target those individuals such as at-risk youth, juveniles, and adults, providing them with space and opportunities that they otherwise wouldn’t necessarily have access to.
*It’s also worth noting that both art and creative expression are able to help with providing employment and income to those individuals who are currently impoverished. Non-profit programs that are able to help develop artists can provide a more equitable profit share from work that has been sold, as well as investing in opportunities for others who are poor to enable them to both thrive and create as artists. This will result in a much larger return will be possible that is larger than a single individual’s income, as well as the chance to influence overall poverty levels in a community.
*Art can also help with ensuring that children currently living in poverty will be able to increase their overall chances of being able to go to college, as well as obtain employment thanks to factors such as developing critical analytical skills, fundamental cognitive capabilities, and more. A recent report from the Committee on the Arts and Humanities reveals that low-income students who were greatly involved in the arts not only performed better and stayed in school longer, but they also were more likely to graduate high school, go to college, obtain employment, perform volunteer work in their respective communities, and more.
Art and Poverty
Poverty And The Arts. Art From the Streets is an Austin-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that was established in 1991 to give transient people a way to develop as artists and to use their creativity to climb out of homelessness. Purchasing artwork supports the artists directly. Donating to our program helps us to offer a free Open Studio for the homeless and at-risk.