“If any man will draw up his case, and put his name at the foot of the first page, I will give him an immediate reply. Where he compels me to turn over the sheet, he must wait my leisure.” — John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich

I do not know how I missed this post over at ARTSblog, but I did. Randy Cohen makes a compelling case why it is important to support the arts. Cohen begins with the above quote from the 4th Earl of Sandwich. His point? Just like we tell our students to provide a hook to draw people into their writing, we, as arts advocates, need to state our case as succinctly as possible; preferably in one page. Sadly, that is what we are often accorded because the arts are not perceived as necessary. And, frankly, they aren’t a necessity the way food and water may be, but, like any good friendship, they certainly make life sweeter.

Briefly, Cohen’s top 10 reasons for supporting the arts are:

1. Arts promote true prosperity
2. Arts improve academic performance
3. Arts strengthen the economy
4. Arts are good for local merchants
5. Arts drive tourism
6. Arts are an export industry
7. Arts spark creativity and innovation
8. Arts have social impact
9. Arts improve healthcare
10. Arts mean business

Check out the full article. Randy Cohen includes links to supporting documentation within his piece and provides a printable version (downloadable from Americans for the Arts) as well.