When the arts disappear from schools

This week Enquirer reporter Sara Pearce wrote a piece about Cincinnati Public Schools' $6 million art collection, which is being exhibited at the Cincinnati Art Museum and Cincinnati Museum Center.

It's a creative, publicly beneficial way to show and share the art, but it's also a bittersweet issue. Art and music are wonderful things -- wonderful things that are at risk of disappearing from Cincinnati Public Schools. As budget cuts loom, it's hard to hold onto the arts. And in CPS, it's become hard to hold onto many extracurricular activities, from athletics to clubs.

I'm sure some taxpayers, faced with a high-millage levy in March, will suggest selling off the collection. It wouldn't be enough to solve this budget crunch and it would be the loss of both a financial and symbolic investment. Still, the district is close to a fire sale, where far more precious things than adult artworks may have to go.

Years back, I had the opportunity to view an absolutely beautiful collection of the artwork of Cincinnati Public Schools students -- hundreds of still lifes, self portraits, landscapes and sketches done over decades. It told me all I ever needed to know about the quality of education in the district and the potential of its students.

I hope, if and when the district gets through the troubled times it now faces, there are again such rich opportunities for all Cincinnati students.