The Value of Arts Enrichment

We appreciate the opportunity to apply for a Mission: Small Business grant.

We would not be in a position to do this if it were not for our instructors, our administrative staff, and most importantly our existing clients.

We believe that all of these constituencies value the arts and keep a special place in their lives open to enjoying the arts.

At the same time, we do want to take this opportunity to articulate why the arts are not simply for recreation.

In a trend gaining acceptance globally, the process of creating art has been shown to be linked to creative processes that foster all types of problem-solving.

In his book “A Whole New Mind,” best-selling author Daniel Pink explains why paying attention to one’s right brain (the side that de-emphasizes analytics in favor of inventiveness, empathy and meaning) will pay dividends for that person – and in turn if a society pays more attention to the value of developing right-brain thinking, it will be richly rewarded with a workforce which demonstrates these traits and which merges professional success and personal fulfillment in a new way.

In her upcoming book “Being Visual,” Bette Fetter, the founder of the Young Rembrandts step-by-step drawing program, expresses not only the importance of addressing the right brain and appealing to the visual/spatial learner, but also makes a case that until recently art has not been taught as a process. The end result is most people feel far more comfortable being spectators to art rather than participants in creating art – which is a disservice to them and to their communities.

At The Center on Central, we not only believe that art is important, we break down barriers and de-mystify visual art, pottery, music and other creative processes to position art as something that is truly created by people of all ages and abilities. This also includes a population labeled as having “special needs” or having an “autism spectrum disorder.”

Katie Opher’s background as a Music Therapist in private practice and on a contract basis with numerous schools and educational institutions, while continuing to serve as an adjunct faculty member in the Creative Arts Therapy program at Drexel University gives her a unique perspective and a unique ability to influence decision-makers about the value of the arts in helping organize young minds.

We believe that everyone can be an artist – and that everyone can be a better artist after receiving instruction than they can simply by “winging it.” We have a delivery mechanism which adheres to these core values, employs artists who might not otherwise be able to pursue art as a career and fosters our clients’ appreciation for the artistic process.

We hope that you see the benefit in what we are doing and will support us financially in our efforts to do what we do even better and involve even more people in it.

Thank you for your consideration,

Katie and Ron Opher, co-owners, The Center on Central