Chuck Close: “THE PROBLEM WITH THE ARTS IN AMERICA IS HOW UNIMPORTANT IT SEEMS TO BE IN OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM.”

Chuck Close is one of the most-recognized artists of our era, best known for his large-scale portraits of friends, fellow artists and often himself.

◄”FRANK” by Chuck Close –Minneapolis Institute of Fine Art

The following is from a PBS News Hour interview with chuck Close, broadcast July 6, 2010 | http://to.pbs.org/cjVRLp

CHUCK CLOSE: I think the problem with the arts in America is how unimportant it seems to be in our educational system.

I went -- I grew up in a town that was a mill town, very poor, Appalachian-like, except it was in the state of Washington. And we had, as a guarantee right from kindergarten through high school, art and music every day of the week.

Today, that is considered to be far less important than the three R's. And there's teaching for testing. And, for those of us who are -- especially for those of us who are learning-disabled or for those of us who learn differently, there was never -- we had a chance to feel special.

Every child should have a chance to feel special.

I'm a product of open enrollment. I went to a junior college that took every taxpayer's son and daughter. And if I hadn't had that, and hadn't had exposure to art and music and something that I could excel at, and something I could feel good about -- I always said, if I hadn't gone to Yale, I could have gone to jail.

And it was a tossup. It could have gone either way.

 

Read or view the entire interview at http://to.pbs.org/cjVRLp