Gioia to graduates: 'Trade easy pleasures for more complex and challenging ones'

Gioia to graduates: 'Trade easy pleasures for more complex and challenging ones'

On June 17th Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, delivered the Commencement address at Stanford. It is an excellent speech and worth reading - he makes many valid statements about our consumerism culture and the lack of art and culture in our society today.

here is a short excerpt:
"The role of culture, however, must go beyond economics. It is not focused on the price of things, but on their value. And, above all, culture should tell us what is beyond price, including what does not belong in the marketplace. A culture should also provide some cogent view of the good life beyond mass accumulation. In this respect, our culture is failing us."

as a soon to be art therapist and art teacher, I agree with the need for a change in our education system - the arts are so important for a well rounded education and need to be valued more in our society.