A Peek at the Canvas: March
by Frank Caracciolo
The most recent episode of The Blank Canvas with Frank Caracciolo is out now. Released on June 17th, the episode features a conversation with Lester B. Pearson School Board’s Director General, Dr. Cindy Finn.
Frank Caracciolo: And so, I just would can you just talk about that a little bit for us, you know, the importance of the arts and we’re going to get into a little bit more of that, but from your perspective as a Director General of the school board, how is it for you when you view the art teachers, the arts that are going on in our schools?
Cindy Finn: Right. I view education in general as a transformative and positive experience. And I know that’s probably influenced by my own background. I really enjoyed school. I enjoyed the academics, I enjoyed sports, I enjoyed the arts. But I think there’s an especially important piece around arts and music and the role it plays in education because not every child excels in a classroom setting and not every child is an athlete. But every child has a capacity for self-expression, so I believe the arts are one of the most accessible ways that students can get to know themselves. Understand the world around them, and even advocate for social justice or for societal change.
So that started for me at a very young age. I was very involved in musical theater and choirs in my youth and in high school—I’m a very proud Saint Thomas Graduate—In high school that really opened a lot of doors for me. I met people in extracurricular activities, I love to sing, so for me it was an outlet for expression. It was a way of socialization, and I see it very much the same way many, many, many years later. It’s been a while since I myself was in high school, but I actually think it’s so much better these days than when I was back in high school because we really do have an emphasis on the arts and true artistic expression.
I mean, you mentioned that I do go to a lot of events. I do try to move around the school board and accept invitations to go to events and I am just always blown away the quality of the artwork, the caliber, the way teachers push students to think about art, to express themselves, whether it’s through visual art, dance, music, drama, improv. Like, there’s so many opportunities for self-expression and so many opportunities to grow as a community. Like I really believe in the power of the arts to transform… It helps us understand current events. It helps us interpret historical events. It helps us understand our place in the world.
And so, it’s so important to have those outlets, and I’m so very proud of our teachers and people like you who are out there every day trying to inspire teachers to engage students, even students who don’t see themselves as artistically inclined, like there’s a place for the arts, for everybody and that’s what I love. It’s a true experiment in inclusion. You know everybody can be moved by the arts. Everybody can participate in the arts and there’s so many good examples, and I’m sure we’ll get into some of them, but there’s so many amazing things going on in our school board that I think really increase and really refine the student experience when they’re in one of our elementary or high schools.
