Arts Department Budget a Major Concern Among Students

Every year, Athenian spends around $70,000, 35% of the instructional budget, on its arts programs. This might sound like a lot, but 82% of Athenian students said it was too little. Athenian’s approach to the arts and spending is divisive among students, with some thinking it’s too overbearing and forced upon students, and others thinking it is underfunded and undervalued. A survey of Athenian students’ opinions on the arts reveals what they truly think.

One of the most memorable features of the Athenian arts experience is the CFTA, one of the first buildings that was built at Athenian, and originally served as the school’s library. When surveyed on the quality of arts facilities, on average, students gave it a 4.3/10. 

Nicole Ng ’24 said, “I like the CFTA. I think the dance studio needs a ceiling, that’s all I have to say. I think it’s nice.” 

Aiden Jun ‘24 said, “There are spider webs everywhere, and the building itself is quite old, compared to other departments. For example, the CIS was only built a few years ago.”

In the future, arts department head Adam Thorman hopes to build a new CFTA, but acknowledges that the budget may only be able to support such a big project later.

"I think a theater should be a centerpiece, right in the middle and accessible. All the art teachers are in different places—Trish teaches down in the CIS, Nora and Emily are in the Dase Center—we are pretty spread out. We would love to have arts be part of the campus center, [as a] gallery space, but that’s all big down the road stuff," Thorman said.

Another popular topic is the funding of arts programs. Adoabi Nwatu ‘23 said, “I feel that Athenian has gone from being a STEAM school to being a STEM school; because of this the arts and its students have suffered. If Athenian is focused on being a well-rounded school, then we must take the time to properly fund and support the activities that are important to the student body.”  

Katie Cooper ‘24, said, “I mean, in terms of where theater tech is, I think that we require a lot more equipment. We're always promised new things like lights or lumber, but we always end up renting them out or having to find an alternative.” 

Additionally, students have a lot of opinions regarding the value that Athenian places on the arts. Of the students surveyed, 84% felt that the school placed too little emphasis on the arts and only 9% of students said it placed too much emphasis on the arts. 

AJ Baldridge ‘26 said, “the visual arts department needs to be more recognized, as all the attention goes towards musical arts and theater.” 

Hunter Foster ‘23, said, “When I was a freshman I felt like it was way too hard for me to get into a traditional art class. Art is my passion and main focus of study and honestly that was just quite frustrating and discouraging because of the emphasis I thought Athenian was putting on the arts.”

Despite students' reservations about arts programs, overall, students seem to appreciate them, and on average gave the quality of the programs a 6.9/10. Although this might not be up to the high standards of a school like Athenian, it still speaks to a generally positive sentiment among the student body. 
And the thing students said they appreciated most? The teachers. 

“The teachers in the arts department are great, they’re really humorous and supportive,” said Aiden. 

When asked about her feelings about Athenian’s arts programs, drama teacher Misty Ty said, “It's absolutely wonderful working here and it really feels like I won the Academy Award of schools. If schools were an Academy Award, I definitely got it. Not just nominated, I won the award, because I feel really, really blessed to be at the school.”