Sanjana_Pandit

The Missing Essential

written, designed, and photographed

by Sanjana Pandit

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Foreword.....................................page 6-8

Introduction.........................................page 9-12 Chapter 1: How Creativity Works................page 13-18

Chapter 2: Academics v.s Creativity..............page 19-22 Chapter 3: Budget Cuts.........................page 23-26

Chapter 4: Villa Montalvo Arts Center.......page 27-28

Works Cited....................................page 29

Table of Contents

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to all art programs

struggling to remain alive

Dedication

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Foreword Eversincetheageoffive,Ihavealwaysbeeninterestedindrawing,paintingorinvolving

myselfinactivitiesrequiringacreativemindset.Iusedtothinkartisticskillswereanabilityev-

eryoneobtained,butitwasn’tuntilItookmyfirstlegitimateartclass,Irealizedhowdifficultit

wastoproduceavisuallyappealingpieceofwork.Thereareseveralfundamentalsandrulesone

mustcomprehendinordertocreateart.Ultimately,sparkingone’screativitytakestime,butis

essentiallybeneficial.

Lastyear,IvisitedVillaMontalvoArtsCenterinSaratogaandinstantlycherishedthe

ForewordForeword

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Villa Montalvo house

buildings, statues and nature. Soon enough,

I started volunteering there and assisting the

volunteer coordinator with some photography

projects. Because I was so connected to Villa

Montalvo,Iwantedtodomoreresearchonthe

eventstheyheldandseehowelseIcouldgetin-

volvedwithinthiscenter.Outalltheopportuni-

tiesIdiscovered,theannualVillaMontalvoArts

SplashFestivalwas the one that stood out for

me. This festival allowed practically anyone to

submitanapplicationformforaprojectthatcon-

veyedwellness throughvisual arts.Twoweeks

aftermyfriendandIsubmittedourapplication

form,wereceivedanemail fromCharleeWag-

ner, the person in charge of this event, stating

thatthefestivalhadbeencancelled due to budget cuts. This was when I was truly exposed to the harsh funding issues art centers, along with pro-grams in local schools, were facing and how these cuts negatively impacted children. Through this book, my goal is to inform people about these cruel funding cuts in the art sectors all across the

country. I wanted to take one step further and also describe the process of creativity and how this process is equally beneficial as hav-ing an academic skill set in the real world. I related these budget cuts and the importance of creativity to Villa Montalvo Arts Center.

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Since this center is mainly volunteer-based, there are a plethora of dilemmas with fund-ing that negatively affect their production of plays, shows, and even festivals such as the Arts Splash Festival. I also discussed a couple aspects of the history behind this center and how it has progressed to this day. Villa Mon-talvo spreads the importance of arts, thus also spreading the importance of creativity across the country.

Lilacs in the Villa Garden8

Introduction“Astudyconductedinthe1940saskedpeoplewithvariouskindsofbraindamagetocopya

pictureofahouse.Interestingly,thepatientsdrewverydifferentlandscapesdependingon

whichsideoftheirbrainremainedintact.Patientsreliantontheleftsidebecausetheright

onehadbeenincapacitateddepictedahousethatwasnonsensical;frontdoorsfloatedin

spaceandroofsweredrawnupsidedown.However,eventhoughthesepatientswiththeir

leftsideintactdistortedthegeneralformofthehouse,theydidinfact,carefullysketchits

detailsanddevotedlotsofefforttocapturetheoverallshapeofthebricksinthechimney

orthewrinklesinthewindowcurtains.Incontrast,patientswhowereforcedtorelyonthe

righthemispheretendedtofocusontheoverallshapeofthestructure.Theirpictureslacked

details,butthesepatientsgotthebasicarchitectureright;theyfocusedonthewhole”(Lehrer

11).

Whatissosignificantaboutdepictinganimageofahousewithonlyusingone

hemisphereofyourbrain?Studieshaveproventhattherightsideofthehumanbrainisthe

creativeside,thesidethatlooksatthebiggerpicture,thesidethatallowsonetothinkout

ofthebox.Nowadays,therighthemisphereofthehumanbrainisnotbeingputtouseona

regularbasis.Whyissuchanessentialpartofthebrainnotbeingusedenough?Theanswer

lieswithinthestruggleseverycommunityandschooldistrictfaces:budgetcuts.9

It is no surprise that the art

departmentsaretheonesthat

arestrugglingthemostinthis

economy. Kimberly Dicker-

son, coordinator of the Los

Altosartdocentsreflects,“It’s

sad,Iwishthattheartsweren’t

cut.Theyarealwaysthefirst

thing to be cut on the bud-

get.”Art programs in school

districts are not the only

ictimsbeingaffectedbythese

cuts; Villa Montalvo Center

of Arts is also facing severe

challengeswhen it comes to

basicfunding.Thiscenterfor

theartsislocatedinSaratoga,

California and supports arts

entirely through the produc-

tionofplays,exhibitions,fes-

tivals, and other events that

allowartistsfromaroundthe

worldtoexpresstheircreativ-

ity. Not many understand

howmuchwecanbenefitfrom

acquiringacreativemindset.

VillaMontalvo Center is an

oasis of culture and nature

whose goal is to create and

displayallkindsofart,nurture

artists, and use its grounds

in innovative ways that en-

gage people in the creative

process and ultimately con-

veythevitalityofthearts.10

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c

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c

controlsaplethoraofthingswedoinour

dailylife,suchasdealingwithimagina-

tion,vision,pas-

sion,writing,

music,drawing

energy,typog-

raphy,colors,

andothersimilar

tasks.Thenwhat

doestheleftside

ofthebraindo?

Theleftside

focusesonlogic,

words,organization,planning,numbers,

processing,analyzingandstrategy.

Chapter 1: How Creativity Works

Firstofall,letsestablishthattheright

hemisphereofthebrainisthesidethat

initiates

a creative

mindset,

whereas

theleft

sidedeals

withthe

morelogi-

calpieces.

Whatelse

doesthe

rightsideofthebraindo?Thecreative

sideofourbrain

Thesedaystheleftsideofourbrain,thelogicalside,isbeingusedmuchmore.

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If our graduates are going tosucceedintherealworld,thenthey have to be able to makestuff’”(Lehrer231).Withabout98% of seniors graduatingNOCCA,amajoritygotosomeofthemostprestigiousschools,such as NYU and UCLA.

Kyle Wedberg, the CEOof theNewOrleansCenterfor Creative Arts (NOC-CA) believes,“ ‘Everyoneagrees that creativity is akey skill for the twenty-first century…but we’re notteaching our kids this skill.

this skill. We’ve become soobsessed with rote learning,with making sure that kidsmemorizetheyearofsomeoldbattle.Butinthisdayandagethat’stheleastvaluablekindoflearning.That’s thestuffyoucan look up on your phone!

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Thisfactthatthisschoolhasanemphasisoncreativityratherthanacademics,provesthat

studentswhoacquirethecreativeskillsgetintothesamewell-knowncollegesasthestudents

whosehighschooleducationrevolvesaroundthenon-creativeclasses,suchasscienceandhis-

tory.Consideringboththesebenefits,whichhemisphereofyourbrainwouldyoubewillingto

giveup?AlthoughWedbergmighthaveadifferentopinion,Ibelievethatthecombinationof

bothsidesofthebrainprovetobecrucialtoanindividual.Therighthemisphereisthenotonly

sidethatisessentialtoanindividual;we need both sides. Ifcreativityexistsineveryone’sbrain,what’ssovaluableaboutit?Doesn’teveryoneuse

iteasily,eveniftheyarenotawaretheydo?Thisisacommonmisconception;implementing

creativityisnotaseasyasyoumaythink.MiltonGlaser,anAmericangraphicdesignerknown

forhisI♥NYlogoandBobMarleyposter,elaboratesonthisissuebysaying,“There’snosuch

thingasacreativetype…Asifcreativepeoplecanjustshowupandmakestuff.Asifitwerethat

easy.Ithinkpeopleneedtoberemindedthatcreativityisaverb,averytime-consumingverb.

It’sabouttakinganideainyourhead,andtransformingthatideaintosomethingreal.And

that’salwaysgoingtobealonganddifficultprocess.Ifyou’redoingitright,it’sgoingtofeellike

work”(Lehrer69).

Howdoyouinitiatethisprocessoftransformingyourideaintosomethingtangible?

Althoughthereisnospecificansweronhowtostartthecreativeprocess,studieshaveshown

thereareacouplewaystohelpsparkcreativity.Onewayistorelaxyourself.Haveyoueverno-

ticedwhenyou’retakingawarmshowerthatthebestideascomeintoyourmind?Thisisbe-

causethewarmwaterinstantlyrelaxesyourmuscles,allowingyourinnercreativitytoemerge.

Anotheristolet yourself go. JonahLehrer,theauthorofImagine: How Creativity Works thinks,15

“Thereissomethingscaryaboutletting

ourselvesgo…whilethisspontaneous

methodmightbefrightening,it’salso

anextremelyvaluablesourceofcreativ-

ity.Infact,theactoflettinggohasin-

spiredsomeofthemostfamousworks

ofmodernculture,fromJohnColtran’s

saxophonesolostoJacksonPollock’s

drippaintings.”Ifrelaxingyourselfor

lettingyourselfgoseemstoochalleng-

ing,oneeasywaytosparkinnercre-

ativityistosimplytravel.Interestingly,

whenyouleavetheplaceyouspend

mostofyourtimein,yourbrainshifts

intoanewmindset.Youstartthinking

aboutnewpossibilitiesandcondone

problemsyouhadtodealwithback

home.Travelingallowsacreativemind-

settobesetintoplace.

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Whatisthevalueofhavingacreativemindset?Doesn’tcreativity just allow youtomake pieces of art andgiveyoutheabilitytodrawwell? This is also a com-mon misconception. Yes,creativitydoesinfactallowyou to create visually ap-pealingpiecesofart,butit’smuchmorebeneficialthanthat.Yes,creativitydoesinfactallowtocreatevisually

appealingpiecesofart,butit’s much more beneficialthanthat.Creativityallowsindividualstobemoresuc-cessfullaterinlife.Accord-ing to Kimberly Dicker-son,coordinatoroftheLosAltos art docents, “…Peo-plewhohavehadexposuretocreativeartsthroughouttheirupbringingdefinitelyaremoremarketableinthejob market. I think that

they problem solve better.I think that they learn howto deal with other people. Ithink they’re more flexible.I think that they’re not justbooksmart,buttheyalsohavea more well-rounded overallpersonality and that for anemployerisabetterfit.”Acre-ativemindsetdoesn’tonlyhelpindividualsinthefuture,butitalso helps them throughouttheirlives,especiallyinschool.

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Believeitornot,creativitydoesinfacthelpstudentswithpurelyacademicsubjectssuchas

mathorhistory.JeanneYu,amathteacheratLosAltosHighSchoolandaformermajorin

mediaartsandfilmincollege,believesthat

“Studentsdefinitelyneedtobemorecreativeintermsofsolvingmathproblems,andIthink

that’soneofthereasonswhyIwasmoresuccessfulinsolvingmathproblemsasakidbecause

Iwaswillingtoapproachitfrommultipleperspectivesanddifferentcreativesolutions.Ithink

alotofstudentsnowadaysandmaybehistoricallytrytojustsolvetheproblemstepbystep,the

processwhatevertheteachershowsthem,orlike‘drillandkill’andtheyjustdotheproblems.

Butsomeoftheproblemsrequirethinkingoutoftheboxalittlebitandmakinglinksandas-

sociationsbetweendifferentpieces.”

Creativitydoesindeedallowindividualstothinkoutofthebox,andthusapproachproblems

fromadifferentperspective,whichisespeciallyhelpfulincoreacademicclasses.Infact,some

arguethattheskillsweobtainfromcreativityaremoreimportantthantheskillsweusewith

academicsnowadays.

Chapter 2:Academics vs. CreativityChapter 2:Academics vs. Creativity

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Thisisbecausepeoplehaveobservedthat“Childrenusuallyloveclassesinart,music,dance

anddrama,inpartbecausetheartsaretaughtdifferentlyfromothersubjects.Theartsde-

mandstudents’involvement.Theycapturechildren’sinterestinsuchawayastomotivate

themtohonetheirskills,evenifitmeansacceptingthedrudgeryofpracticeandtheyappealto

thosechildrenwholearnbetterwhentheywatchorlistentosomethingthanwhentheyread

it”(NewYorkTimes).Withouracademicskills,weobtaintheabilitytomemorizefactsand

uselogictofigureoutthesolutionoranswer.Incontrast,withacreativemindset,individu-

alsareabletothinkdifferentlybyusingtherightsideoftheirbrain,andinsteadofusinglogic,

theyusetheirimagination.Yuthinks,“...it’sjustamatterofbalanceinanybody’slifeonhow

muchtimetheyspendonanysubject.ButIthinkbeingwellroundedwillhelpsomebodyinall

thetopicsandfieldsthattheydo.”Althoughtheissueofwhetheracademicsaremorebenefi-

cialthancreativityiscontroversial,thereisnodoubtthatthecombinationoftheskillsgained

fromacademicsandcreativeclassesallowindividualstoachievemoreinthefuture.

Unfortunately,onlyaminorityofthepopulationtrulycomprehendshowcrucialthearts

andcreativityareforanindividual’sthefuture.Somebelievethatacademicsandstandardized

testinghaveanegativeaffectoncreativity.“Researchersarguetheprominenceonstandard-

izedtestinghashurtcreativityinchildren”(MotherNatureNetwork).Whereas,otherslike

WilliamJuliusWilson,asociologyprofessoratHarvardUniversitythinks,

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“…the person who scored well on an SAT will

not necessarily be the best doctor or the best

lawyer or the best businessman. These tests do

not measure character, leadership, creativity,

perseverance.”





perseverance.”





perseverance.”

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Nowadays,theimportanceoftheartsisbeingdeprivedbytheemphasisonacademicsandstan-

dardizedtestinginoursociety.

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Chapter 3: Budget Cuts

Ifcreativityandtheartsaresocrucial,whydon’twemakeanefforttointegratethem

moreintotheschoolcurriculum?There’sjustaslightproblem:budgetcuts.Actually,this

isn’taslightproblem;it’sahugeissueingrainedinourcommunity.“Whenthebudgetcuts

cometothearts,itisunfortunatebecauseitisthefirstthingthattendstogo…theydon’tcut

themathclass,theywillcuttheartclass”(KimberlyDickerson).Eventhoughmanyareaware

thattheartclassesarethefirstvictimsofthebudgetcuts,notmanyunderstandwhy.What

doyoufirstthinkofwhenyouhearthewordcreativity?Formany,“hobbies”includingdraw-

ing,paintingandphotographycometomind.These“hobbies”makeitdifficultforindividuals

tosucceedlateroninlifebecauseit’shardtomakealivingoutoftheseactivities.“Theword

‘creativity’inoursocietytendstobeappliedtoartisticendeavors.Butdivergentthinkingisan

essentialpartofeverydaylife,whetherit’snavigatingofficepoliticsordevisinganewsocial-

medianetwork”(CNNLiving).Creativityisessentialforthefuture,nodoubt.“Thisunique

abilityisonethatwillbecrucialtotheworkforceofthefuture.Today’stoddlerfacesauni-

verseofrapidlyevolvingtechnology,anever-shiftingglobaleconomy,andfar-reachinghealth

andenvironmentalchallenges--scenariosthatwillrequireplentyofcreativethinking”(CNN

Living).23

However, this message that creativity is key for the future still hasn’t seemed to be pervasive yet because only certain groups and individuals recognize this significance creativity holds. Sir Ken Robinson, an English author, states that,

“If you speak to business leaders, they say they want people who are creative, who can innovate, who can think differently”

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It’sstrangehowevenwhenbusinessleaderssaytheyareseekingcreativeindi-viduals,thegovernmentcontinuestomaketheartssufferthemostwhenitcomestobudgetcuts.ChristineAn,headoftheartsdepartmentatLosAltosHighSchoolsaysthatshereceives,“$180perclasspersemester,whichdoesnotget[her]verymuch.Oneboxofcoloredpencilsis$24.”Thisamountofmoneydisplaysjusthowbadlytheartclassesstrugglefromthesecuts.KimberlyDickersonfeelslike,“…thestudentsarenotaswellroundedin-dividualscomingoutofschool.Ithinkthatoftentimesthekidwhomightgetintroublemoreoftenactuallygravitatestoamorecreativefieldandfindsmoreinterestthereandwhenthoseopportunitiesarecut,thenthatdisplacesthemsomewhereelseandit’sunfortunate.”Thesecutsareessentiallydeprivinghundredsofchildrenacrossthecountryfromreachingtheirfullpotentialinthecreativefield.26

Chapter 4: Villa Montalvo Center of the Arts

TheoasisofVillaMontalvoCenterlocatedinSaratogaisaprimeexampleofaplacethat

isdealingwiththeharsheffectsofbudgetcuts.MontalvoCenterhostsanannualArtsSplash

Festival.WhenmyfriendandIsubmittedourapplicationtobepartofthisfestival,wereceived

anemailinreturnstatingthattherewas“aseriesofprogramcuts”thus“thefestivalhasbeen

cancelledforthisyear”(CharleeWagner).Thiseventopenedmyeyestothetraumaartcenters

andotherprogramsaresuffering.Nevertheless,thevolunteersatVillaMontalvoarealltrying

theirbesttospreadthevalueandsignificanceofthearts.

Howwasthisartscenterprimarilyestablished?JamesDuvalPhelancreatedthishis-

toriclandmark,in1912.Phelanwasdescribedas“apassionateCalifornian”(MontalvoArts

Center)andwasthemayorofSanFranciscoandwentontoachievethestatusof“California’s

firstpopularly-electedU.S.Senator”(MontalvoArtsCenter).NotonlywasVillaMontalvohis

favoritehome,buthealsoinvitedartistsandwriterstoworkontheirprojectsontheMontalvo

grounds.Shortlybeforehisdeath,PhelanwantedVillaMontalvo“...tobemaintainedasapub-

licparkopenunderreasonablerestrictions,thebuildingsandgroupsimmediatelysurrounding

thesametobeusedasfaraspossibleforthedevelopmentofart,literature,musicandarchitec-

turebypromisingstudents”(MontalvoArtsCenter).27

Today Montalvo offers exceptional performing arts programs for children and adults: concerts in their various historic buildings, exhibitions of artists from all around the world, and a “wide range of innovative public programming” (Montalvo Arts Center). When asked the question of whether Villa Montalvo does a good job in spreading the importance of arts, Nayna Patel, vol-unteer coordinator at Montalvo Arts Center, says,” We try and bring in different aspects of art into the organization. So it could be visual, it could be hands on. We try and bring artists from all over the world and that includes culinary artists as well, so it’s all different aspects of art.” “For over 75 years, Montalvo has served the community as a center for creativity, [foster-ing creative minds], offering art courses, performing arts events, gallery exhibitions, educa-tional opportunities, artist residencies and more. Today, Montalvo and its arts programs serve nearly 200,000 visitors each year”(Montalvo Arts Center). Villa Montalvo helps foster the miss-ing essential in one’s life, which in this case, is creativity.

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Works Cited“Academics and Creativity.” Personal interview. 29 Feb. 2013. Chira, Susan. “Creativity vs. Academic Study: How Should Schools Teach Arts?” The New York Times, 04 Feb. 1993. Web. “Importance of the Arts.” Personal interview. 06 Mar. 2013. Lehrer, Jonah. Imagine: How Creativity Works. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. Print. Miranda, Carolina A. “Why We Need to Let Kids Be Creative.” CNN. Cable News Network, 03 Jan. 2012. Web. 19 Mar. 2013. “Montalvo Arts Center | Welcome.” Montalvo Arts Center | Welcome. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2013.

“Neuro News & Cosmo Clues.” Neuro News Cosmo Clues. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2013. “Villa Montalvo Arts Center.” Personal interview. 16 Mar. 2013. “Why Are U.S. Children Becoming Less Creative?” MNN - Mother Nature Network. N.p., 12 Aug. 2011. Web. 8 Mar. 2013. “Why Is Creativity Important in Education? Sir Ken Robinson Video Series from Adobe Education.” YouTube. YouTube, 07 Dec. 2012. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.

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