According to research provided by Stanford University, young people who participate in the arts for at least three hours on three days each week for one full year or more are:

• 4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement
• 3 times more likely to be elected to class office
• 4 times more likely to participate in a math and science fair
• 3 times more likely to win an award for school attendance
• 4 times more likely to win an award for writing an essay or poem

In addition, students who participate in making art are more likely to:

• Read for pleasure nearly twice as often as their peers who do not participate in the arts
• Participate in youth groups nearly four times as frequently as their non-art-making peers
• Perform community service nearly twice as often

A May 2004 publication by The California Art Education Association states that:

• High school students who have taken four years of Art score 100 points higher on the SAT.
• The Arts teach the skills essential for success in the global marketplace: risk-taking, out-of-the-box creative thinking, team problem solving, excellence as the standard, and academic discipline.
• Students who take art have improved attention spans and foundations of success on which to build.
• Participation in the arts promotes tolerance for other cultures. Art is about working together, about communication, about bridges and connections.

Over the last two years, 40% of total funding for state arts councils has been eliminated. California and other states have cut their arts budget by as much as 90%. In many schools, classroom teachers are being asked to integrate art into their core curriculum. This would be ideal if all educators were also trained in how to teach visual arts, but asking someone without art training to accomplish this task is like asking someone trained solely in how to pilot a boat to pilot a jet.