Julie Andrews Pens Op-Ed Imploring the Arts Be Saved From Budget Cuts

Having to defend the arts from budget cuts is nothing new. Unfortunately, shortsighted politicians are always eager to slash funds in the creative fields in favors of increased spending in things like defense, and this presidential administration is of the same mindset.

Related | With Budget Proposal, Trump Takes Aim at the Arts & Humanities to Make America Dumb Again

In an attempt to save the arts from a reckless loss of funds, Dame Julie Andrews and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, penned a graceful op-ed for CNN, detailing the essential and overlooked ways the arts build and maintain the foundations of successful and winning personalities.

"Decades worth of research attests to the fact that the arts are among the most profoundly important and valuable ways to improve learning and promote success," she said," from early childhood through adulthood."

"And yet, the arts are the first to go when the budget ax falls. Now, with the shifting priorities of our new presidential administration, artists and arts organizations are at serious risk of losing the support they need to do their invaluable work. Funding resources, such as the National Endowment for the Arts, are in danger of being eliminated altogether. And poor, inner-city and rural communities, whose access to such resources are scarce to begin with, will shoulder a disproportionate share of those losses."

Andrews argues that the arts are "fundamental to our common humanity," saying when we make time to attend the theater, museums, and concerts, "we are literally feeding our souls, and investing in and preserving our collective future." Read Andrews' full op-ed for CNN here.