For the second year in a row Emily from Newman Grove asked me to sign her shirt.  And for the second year in a row she caught me by surprise.  It’s customary for the kids to sign each other’s shirts, but I’m just the old guy who sits in the corner.  But, as Emily put it, I am a part of all this, so I scrawled my name next to everyone else’s.

It’s the kids, after all, who do the work.  In just one week they learn lines, songs and even dance steps.  They have to be “off script” by Wednesday and they learn the songs before their accompanist, Sandy Sorell, ever gets there to play the piano for them.

The presenters work pretty hard too, though.  Week after week they drive to new towns, audition aspiring actors ages 6 to 18 and then proceed to teach them not just the play but lessons about life.  They teach them how to make friends with strangers, how to work together as a team.  The plays themselves convey life lessons, lessons about bravery and keeping one’s word that the kids learn by acting them out.

I’m talking, of course, of the annual Missoula Children’s Theatre (MCT) which the Albion Area Arts Council has been bringing here since at least 1993.  Always the last full week in June, it attracts kids from near and far.  Many of these young actors have been coming faithfully for the eight years Lori and I have been co-directors of the Arts Council, and probably were coming before that.  Emily from Newman Grove is one of them, as are Sam and Josh from Columbus.

Lori and I don’t play much of a role during the week, but we do try to make sure one of us is always there during the rehearsals just in case we’re needed for something. And we help put up the set, set up chairs and sell the tickets, but the kids don’t see much of this so it’s natural for most of them not to think much about our role.

The kids don’t know that planning for each summer’s play begins 16 months ahead of time so we can start securing grant funding.  Ten months before the play we’ve begun promoting it through our season posters, brochures and advertising.  Six months out the actual contract is signed and a deposit made.  Six weeks out it’s time to start a multi-week advertising campaign in area newspapers and radio and TV stations.  At three weeks out it’s time to put up over 100 posters in the greater Boone County area, and at two weeks it’s time to send out press releases for the performance.  As we get closer to the event we make coupons for the kids to get free ice cream at Shorty’s and get the parent letters ready.  Once auditions are over and the cast list compiled, we check the spelling of all the names and enter them into the programs to give out the day of the show.  And afterwards we make sure all the bills are paid.

So I guess Emily from Newman Grove is right, Lori and I are a part of everything, but we don’t care if the kids realize it or not.  What’s important is that they have the opportunity each summer to get together with old friends and make new ones, to try out and learn a part, to get out there on stage and sing and act their hearts out, and most of all, to have a lot of fun doing it.

Every year the Albion Area Arts Council awards a Fine Arts scholarship to a graduating senior from one of the communities we serve.  Though Lori and I don’t choose the winner – a special scholarship committee does that – we really enjoy reading the applications, especially the students’ answers to why the arts are important in their lives.

The students applying for this scholarship have all been involved with the arts in school, and many have been involved at the community level as well.  The arts are not just something they do for one class period a day – their answers reveal that the arts are an important part of their overall lives.  One student pointed out that the arts are a big part of everyone’s life, saying that the arts are “everywhere around us” — so much so that we often “don’t even notice.”

He’s right – the arts are part and parcel to life.  The arts, after all, convey our feelings and thus have some place in every life.

That the arts are intimately tied to our emotions was made clear by several applicants.  One wrote that the arts “are a good outlet for people to express themselves” and help a person ‘open up and be themselves in the world.’  Another student remarked that art has allowed her to ‘escape the struggles in her life’ and helped her ‘figure out who she is and who she wants to be.’  Another student said that for him art “serves as a kind of therapy,” allowing him to express his emotions.  Yet another said that “when I am on stage performing, I feel as if I’m…invincible.”

A number of students discussed the “skills and life lessons” they’ve learned from participating in the arts.  One mentioned how speech has given her the confidence to speak in front of people and that music has taught her much about leadership and working together as a team.  Another girl noted that while she has “never been the star athlete,” the arts have given her other activities to excel in and helped her to “become well rounded” in her character.

A student from St. Edward summed up the importance of the arts by writing, “To be successful in today’s world, it is vitally important to possess the ability to think, possess people skills, solve problems, demonstrate creativity and work as a member of a team.”  She went on to say that the arts have helped her in all these areas and that the skills she’s gained from participating in the arts “will be the ones that will help guide me throughout the rest of my life.”

The arts are, as the student I mentioned above understands, so interwoven in our lives that it’s easy not to notice them.  But as these applications make clear, the arts are an important part of many young people’s lives.  The arts help them express their feelings, learn more about themselves, and provide them with valuable life skills.  Being able to award one of these young people a scholarship in the arts is a wonderful privilege, but at the same time it’s a shame they can’t all win.  Art is important to every one of them, and they all deserve to be supported and encouraged as they continue to learn and grow.