When I was in middle school, I was always excited to walk into the music room and figure out which famous pianist we’d be learning about that day.
Although I was young at the time, I understood how bad the budget cuts were, and still are, for music and the performing arts in the Louisiana Education System.
It aggravates me to know that schools within Louisiana would rather focus on improving on their sports teams, but not help with expressing students creativity. Music, performance and art makes up most of our culture in Louisiana, so why should there be budget cuts for these extracurriculars? I have noticed, especially in high school, that they cut most of these electives which is not fair to any members who are a part of them.
Most of these electives have been cut to support more known electives like sports such as football, baseball, basketball, softball, soccer, etc. I remember when I was a choir member in high school, and my school would not help us financially when we wanted to compete out of state. We had to figure out multiple ways to fund ourselves, so that we could go on this trip along with musically representing ourselves around the school.
We were able to go on the trip and even won first place, but we did not get any recognition once we came back to school. Budget cuts have been a big problem within the state of Louisiana, and within the last seven years, the state has cut its support to public universities and colleges by 6%. 6% doesn’t seem like a lot at first, but it does impact a numerous amount of students within the state of Louisiana.
At the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Angelle Hall is the home to the School of Music and Performing Arts.
William Plummer Ph.D is the choir director of choral activities, and he explained how the department stays intact with the university.
“It is very important that our institution keeps up with other institutions. Everything depends on that, recruitment of students depend on that, through being on our campus, seeing our facilities through having opportunities on our campus, which are funded and non funded opportunities,” Plummer said.
Plummer also stated the importance of why recruitment is crucial within the School of Music and Performing Arts.
“It’s important that our institution keep pace with our competitor schools and all of those realms because those are the things that brings students to our campus. Opportunities, scholorships, and facilities. Everyone wants to feel like the school that they’re going to has created opportunities for them through those means.”
The School of Music and Performing Arts share their talents on stage like the choir concerts, the solo concerts, the opera, along with the band performances. This department welcomes everyone with open arms, and gives people the opportunity to share their passions creatively through music. I have been to multiple performances, along with being apart of some of them, and this department expresses their pride and dedication towards music and the performing arts.
Along with Angelle, Fletcher Hall is known to be the home for the College of the Arts.
The College of the Arts has some of the most creative art I have ever seen. I remember during my freshman orientation when I had to go through Fletcher Hall to register for my classes.
Each piece that was created in that building mesmerized me to the point where I kept losing my group because I couldn’t stop looking at the pieces.
I have always experienced some form of art whether it be music, or theatre, but it scares me to know what the future of Louisiana will look like if the state keeps pushing these creative outlets away from students.