As 2017 comes to an end, we ask you to consider a year-end, tax-deductible gift to the Lawrence Arts Center, a gift that will improve the health of our entire community, from preschoolers through senior citizens. When you give to the Lawrence Arts Center, you can feel confident that you are giving to an organization that cares about the well-being of all our community members and that is creatively working towards the health of both the whole person and the whole community. Arts programming contributes to:
1.Youth Health and Engagement: Youth arts education contributes to psychologically, intellectually, and socially healthier youth and communities. Because the arts appeal to different learning styles, children who have access to arts education programming demonstrate greater academic success and lower dropout rates, as well as a greater likelihood of civic engagement. Our arts education programs, which include outreach to public school classrooms and teachers across the state is developing healthier youth and engaged citizens.
2. Senior Citizen Health and Engagement: According to a recent study conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts of almost 1,500 adults, ages 55+, those who attended arts events and participated in arts programs, “experienced slower rates of decline in cognitive and physical functioning over the last decade, and less growth in hypertension,” compared with those who did not. Because engaging senior citizens in creative activity is correlated with greater intellectual and physical health, the arts are increasingly being seen as a way to lessen the burden on the national healthcare system and to save taxpayer dollars on healthcare costs. A simple visit to the gallery or a ticket to a performing arts event can lead to a healthier senior population.
3. Special Impacts for Special Audiences: Arts participation and attendance have also been found to be particularly beneficial to groups suffering from psychological trauma, mental health issues, and major medical interventions.Veterans, in particular, have reaped the benefits of the arts as a means of processing and overcoming traumatic experiences from the battlefield, but news stories on the healing power of the arts for those undergoing intense stress in a variety of situations abound.
The Lawrence Arts Center’s programs—from our free exhibitions and senior ticket pricing for theater performances to our robust financial aid fund which provides access to arts education programs for those in need—are designed to provide a low-cost way for individuals to feel better, whether that’s physically, psychologically, intellectually, socially, or spiritually. We know that our programs strengthen the well-being of individuals and of our community as a whole.