Millennials got art?

by Mesa Arts Center | May 15, 2015

Millennials consume information in headlines, texts and tweets: all breadth and no depth . Elena Sheppard wrote recently in The New York Times, "We've been famously pegged as “the me, me, me generation.” If you type “millennials are…” in Google, the auto fill is “lazy.” Artistically, we've been called “the lamest generation.”

Hmm.

On the other hand, arts evaluation writer Joe Patti proposes in his blog Butts in the Seats that artsand cultural experiences are pretty well suited to Millenials. “The experience is transient and can’t be possessed as a concrete object. It can provide a sense of community and opportunity for relationship building and can make a statement about the person to others.” In other words, the arts are right up the millennial alley of enlarging friend circles and building intelligent public images.

Hmm.

On another hand, Forbes Magazine contributor, Jason Nazar challenges that “Creativity, thoughtfulness and thinking skills are freed when you’re forced to read a full book cover to cover.” We could ascribe the same benefits to attending a Shakespeare play, a Poetry Slam or National Geographic Live! environmental education program. Or volunteering to help produce fantastic arts events like Spark! Mesa’s Festival of Creativity or the Dia de los Muertos Festival. Or enrolling in a class to learn a new skill such as blacksmithing, photography or dance.

Creativity, thoughtfulness and thinking skills.

Mr. Nazar has a good point. Perhaps it’s time to take on a challenge. Maybe it’s the day to say, “I have lived here all my life, this is the first time I have been to the Mesa Arts Center, but it’s not going to be my last.

By LaDawn Lingard

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