The Arts Can Help Montana's At-Risk Youth

by Arlynn Fisbaugh, Executive Director
Montana Arts Council

06/12/98 BOZEMAN -- Arts advocates like to say that art saves lives, and, increasingly, those who work with at-risk youth are becoming believers.

The arts give kids who are troubled or failing at school new ways to succeed and cope with problems. For example, the Montana Department of Family Services in northeastern Montana has, since 1990, used theatre performances to teach more than 7,000 at-risk youth about the prevention of sexual abuse.

Artists focus on what is, and what can be, not on what's missing, says William Cleveland, a nationally recognized expert on how the arts successfully impact kids at risk. That's a critical distinction that helps young people discover creative ways of learning, communicating, working and behaving.

Cleveland, who will be a keynote speaker at the Governors' Summit on Youth June 14 - 16 in Billings, helped write the foreword to "Art Works!" published by the Center for Substance Abuse and the National Endowment on the Arts.

In this case study report, former NEA Chairman Jane Alexander states, "Art can save lives. Art can turn around a troubled teenager, help a child kick drugs, get young men and women off the streets and into creative and constructive pursuits. Art can change attitudes, build self-esteem and redirect the path of the wayward. Art can prevent despair."

Research shows that participation in arts can make kids feel better about themselves. A large national study found that youth in arts programs are 23 percent more likely than youth not participating in arts to say they can do things as well as most other people can. Youth in arts programs are also 23 percent more likely than those not in art programs to feel they can make plans and successfully work from them.

Creative ways of providing art opportunities to young people are happening around the country. Here are a few examples.

• In North Dakota, the Council on the Arts supports workshops in Native American storytelling and writing at a state facility for young offenders, helping build self-esteem and academic skills;
• The World of Photography Project in Tulsa, Oklahoma teaches low-income youth basic camera and darkroom operation, providing new career paths as well as creative outlets;
• Wyoming's Young Writers Group has cultivated the talents of many young Sheridan-area writers, helping them work through pressing issues, stay away from trouble, and develop marketable communications skills;
• Washington's Department of Juvenile Rehabilitation and the State Capital Museum have collaborated to help dozens of incarcerated youth in that state build academic skill and career potential by designing and preparing traveling exhibits.

Communities participating in the Governors' Summit will have these and many other examples from which to customize their own community's efforts.

Art Solutions Will be Part of the Governors' Summit on Youth

William Cleveland, a nationally recognized expert on how the arts successfully impact kids at risk, will be the opening night keynote speaker during the Governors' Summit on Youth: Montana's Promise.

The three-day summit will be at the Billings Holiday Inn starting at noon June 14.

Cleveland is the author of "Art in Other Places," a chronicle of collaborations between artists and human service providers in 17 American communities. His address is being sponsored by the Montana Arts Council.

As part of the summit, community and youth delegates from around the state, as well as many Montana organizations, will look for creative outlets for young people. The goal: to reach out to 10,000 unserved Montana youth by the year 2000.

For more information on the Governors’ Summit, contact: Kirk Astroth, Summit Coordinator, at 406 994-3501 or visit our web site at: http://www.mt.gov/mcsn

Send questions or comments to carolf@montana.edu.

You are the 9580th person to access this page.