谢振礼 雅思范文: 资助艺术
IELTS Writing Task 2
China 20180512
Topic:
Some people believe that arts such as painting and music cannot directly improve the quality of people’s lives so that government money should be spent on other things. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Essay:
Simply speaking, creative arts can have a powerful ‘feel-good’ effect on the human brain and directly improve the quality of people’s lives by reaching their souls. While placing a value on artists’ contributions to society, it is not easy to make a living as an artist, such as a painter or a musician. Therefore, governments should give financial support to artists in need.
To begin with, some people think that governments do not have a duty to meet the financial needs of artists. One reason is that there are artists making money from their artistic work, and they have jobs just like other professionals with remunerations. Sometimes there are many artists becoming wealthy by selling their artistic pieces; so, in this case, any financial aid is a waste of money. Another reason is that government budget is usually skinny, particularly at a time of mass unemployment and world-wide recession; and under these circumstances a great number of people (not only artists) are being affected and accordingly they all ask for help. Still another reason is that there are private organizations donating to various arts foundations, which means that there may be no need for government involvement. Finally, the most compelling reason is that more fiscal money is required to be spent on public services ranging from education to healthcare to infrastructure to security.
However, others believe that it is necessary to help creative artists in terms of money. It is mainly because, even in developed countries, artists’ low wages or unemployment remain a worrying issue, but few are willing to address this problem. It is as if helping artists were nobody’s business in today’s rather materialistic environment. In this respect, governments on their parts must have more concerns since helping artists is beneficial to society, considering that people, deep inside their souls, can gain pleasure and enjoyment from all kinds of arts, and art appreciation can stimulate feelings of well-being and improve quality of life. Besides, artists deserve financial support from the fiscal budget or private sectors, as a recognition of the spiritual role they play in an increasingly dusty society. No doubt, each form of arts has its purpose to purify human souls in everyday life. To stress this point, there is a famous line from Pablo Picasso: “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”
To sum up, it necessary for governments to pay attention to the financial needs of creative artists like painters and musicians. In spite of their contributions to society, many artists indeed find it difficult to have their ends met. If nothing else, the public should at least be thankful for ‘feeling good’ when appreciating creative arts in every form.
Related topic:
Some people think that governments should give financial support to creative artists such as painters and musicians. Others believe that creative artists should be funded by alternative sources.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
