At a recent event I attended for the NYC Arts and Education Roundtable, John Patrick Shanely, the guest of honor, gave an extremely inspiring speech about self-discovery. I’m paraphrasing, but the crux of his story centered around the idea that we are all born as fully-formed individuals, complete with likes, dislikes, passions, opinions, desires and fears….only we don’t know what they are yet because, as babies, we haven’t experienced anything. As we grow up, our exposure to the world, people, places and activities slowly reveal our preferences and we learn that we’re innately drawn to certain situations and repulsed by others.
His point was that these experiences are not cultivating our opinions or preferences in the moment, but rather they are unlocking predetermined aspects of our personalities that were imprinted on our souls long before we were born. The more exposure we have to different experiences, the more we get to know ourselves. However, if we are not exposed to these experiences, these talents and passions remain locked. Shanley credited his successful career as a playwright to a chance encounter he had in his high school’s theatre. He never knew he had a talent for writing until it was revealed to him through this experience. When children are only exposed to a limited number of ideas and subjects, at home and at school, they miss out on valuable opportunities to discover and unlock their hidden talents and passions that live inside them.
The arts, in all mediums, provide children with an opportunity to experiment and play in order to find the perfect fit. One might gravitate to the violin, another to the theatre, a third might create new worlds with a paint brush, and a fourth might realize they prefer math and science…all are wonderful discoveries, but they will only occur if children have access to all of these experiences. Mayor de Blasio, Comptroller Scott M. Stringer and Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña announced that New York City will spend an unprecedented $23 million in additional arts funding for New York City schools. This is encouraging news for NYC Children’s Theater, and all of the other arts professionals and cultural organizations in the city because it means we will be able to continue our contribution to providing the children of NYC with a well-rounded education which can only result in creating a new generation of well-rounded individuals.
– Brooke