John Manulis is a Board Member and Treasurer of the Arts for Healing and Justice Network (AHJN), which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary of providing direct, healing-centered, opportunity-expanding arts experiences for youth who have been impacted by the justice system.
Arts education is a powerful force for building a healthier society – it really works! The statistics are striking (these comparisons are between youth/young adults with high arts involvement vs. peers with low-arts involvement):
- Measurable gains in writing, empathy and school behavior.
- 3× more likely to earn a college degree.
- 20% lower risk of suspension for each additional year of arts study.
- 26% less likely to have been arrested.
- 55% more likely to attend college.
- 33% vs. 23% complete calculus.
- 50% expected to work in professional careers such as law, medicine, education or management, compared with 21% of low-arts peers.
- Employment: Arts build the “human skills” employers can’t automate: creativity, communication, teamwork and problem-solving. As AI changes the workplace, creative thinking is one of the skills employers say is growing in value.
- Volunteering and voting: 47% volunteer vs. 26% with little arts involvement. And 45% voted in the 2004 national election vs. 31% with little arts involvement.