We were seven individuals and, according to the panel description, we were ready to discuss “Why are the arts important to child development and how are interdisciplinary approaches beneficial?” Also, “How does funding affect the quality of education in the Arts?” What a cast of characters we were. We could have given Gilligan’s gang a run for their money. After all, we too had a professor (actually, more than one) and arts leaders, radio talent, and composers to boot. The panelists and I joked that if no one came, we were happy to have met each other and we agreed to take an hour to converse over lunch and the inevitable South Beach cocktail.

Just then, our lunch plans faded as the room was ready and we could enter. To our surprise, we were followed by what seemed to be our audience. We were delighted, even if the panelist to audience ratio was just less than 1:2. This audience was not comprised of the usual suspects at arts education panel discussions. The majority of our audience was students. However, some were seasoned music professionals and others were international visitors.

The highlight of the discussion was when we opened the floor for questions. I safely waited until the last 20 minutes in case I was in the position of the dreaded “silent audience.” I could recover and fill 20 minutes with a few safety net panel questions. To my delight, our audience was ready to question, push, challenge, and take action. I wondered, “Would folks across the country be ready to do the same in response to a green paper on arts education?”

I found that questions relating to “how could we…?” and “why not?” were too often met with the current reality of how long systemic change takes. As we provided these responses, I realized that for these visionary, can-do, entrepreneurial students change had never been a slow process. 

In the green paper, “Humpty Dumpty Looks to the Future ‘Putting the Arts & Education Back Together Again,” Richard Bell encourages future thinking and action. Ironically, the timeline for completion is 30 years, an arguably slow process. While his “To Do” list is admittedly “highly aspirational”, with 30 years, I think we can unscramble arts and education.