Kids Take a Stand on Having Arts in School the Getty Center, Hosting 'Kids Congress,' Leads a Push to Reintegrate Arts Education

Beginning of article

Kids need art.

That's the message that the Getty Center, a private foundation fostering appreciation for the visual arts and humanities, is sending as it prepares to open to the general public on Dec. 16. As its final splashy pre-opening event, the Getty Education Institute (GEI, one of five institutes making up the center) recently hosted a three-day "Kids Congress on Art."

With the aim of allowing youngsters to express their own views about the importance of art in their education, the congress involved middle-school delegates from all 50 states (and a Japanese Army base) along with adults active in the arts and in support of art education. "We tend to make a …