So what it boils down to, in my humble opinion, is that we need

Hear the words of Phil Lesh, musician, seeker, and voice of generations, who declared: “So what it boils down to, in my humble opinion, is that we need to support the arts in schools, and at every other level in the education of children.” These words, though spoken with humility, are thunder in disguise. For they remind us that the arts are not decoration, not an afterthought, but the beating heart of the human spirit. To deny them is to raise generations of hands skilled in calculation but empty of imagination, of minds trained to produce but unable to dream.

The arts—music, painting, poetry, dance—are the language of the soul. They teach what equations cannot, what sciences alone cannot reveal. They awaken empathy, creativity, resilience, and wonder. In the schools, where young hearts and minds are first shaped, the absence of the arts is like a garden without flowers—functional perhaps, but barren of fragrance and color. Lesh, who lived in the transformative power of music with the Grateful Dead, speaks from the knowledge that art saves lives, awakens minds, and binds communities together.

History gives us endless testimony. In ancient Greece, the cradle of democracy, the arts were woven into the very fabric of education. Children were taught not only philosophy and mathematics, but also music and drama, for the Greeks knew that a citizen must be both rational and imaginative. And in the Renaissance, when the arts flourished alongside science, Europe awakened from centuries of stagnation into an age of beauty and discovery. Where the arts were cultivated, humanity advanced; where they were neglected, the spirit withered.

Consider also the tale of José Antonio Abreu in Venezuela, who founded El Sistema. By bringing orchestral music to impoverished children, he transformed lives of despair into lives of dignity. Those who once wandered the streets aimlessly now stood upon concert stages, disciplined, united, and radiant with hope. This is the living proof of Lesh’s words: when we support the arts in schools, we are not indulging in luxury—we are sowing seeds of transformation.

The meaning of Lesh’s declaration is thus unveiled: the arts are not merely for the talented few, but for all. They belong in every school, in every home, in every layer of education. For through them, children learn not only to express themselves but to understand one another, to see beauty in the world, and to imagine new worlds yet to come. To deprive them of the arts is to deny them their full humanity.

The lesson for us is clear: we must defend the arts wherever they are threatened, and champion them wherever they are undervalued. It is not enough to say that reading and arithmetic will suffice, for a society without imagination becomes a machine—productive, but soulless. If we wish for our children to grow into whole beings—creative, empathetic, resilient—then we must give them the gift of the arts, and defend it as fiercely as we defend bread and water.

And what actions must we take? Support music programs in schools, fund libraries, theaters, and community art centers. Encourage children to paint, to sing, to write, to dance—not only for applause, but for the shaping of their inner lives. If you are a parent, make art part of your home; if you are a teacher, make art part of your lessons; if you are a citizen, make art part of your cause. For in every brushstroke and every note, there is the possibility of awakening.

Thus let Phil Lesh’s words echo through the ages: “We need to support the arts in schools, and at every other level in the education of children.” This is not a suggestion but a summons. Let us rise to it, for in protecting the arts we protect the soul of humanity, and in giving them to our children, we gift them not just knowledge, but life itself.