April 1, 2011: Arts and Science

A few weeks ago, the 2nd graders presented research exploring how communications have evolved in recent history. For these children, the record player is from their grandparents’ generation, CDs from their parents’ time, and iTunes is the current source of music. It was an awkward moment when I shared that records were also of my generation, silently assuming that they thought of me as part of the “parents’ generation,” and one student responded, “same thing: you and grandparents.”  

As a child and adolescent, I had records and they were magical. That a black, sleek, grooved disk could, together with its player, create music always impressed me. With cassette tapes, music became portable and personal, another leap into a new magical world in which you could hear your song anywhere you went. And now, I still can’t seem to let go of my CD collection, despite my friends’ invitations to meet them in the 21st century. I do now have invisible music that I store on a device that is the size of a large watch AND keeps track of how many steps I take in a day. I am sure that the thing cost more money than any boom box I ever owned, and yet is so small, I am sure to lose it. But I will forge ahead with whichever technology I must endure; I love music that much.

 Our passion for music drives technology, and technology inspires our access and appreciation of more and different types of music. The same relationship extends to all of the arts and sciences.

The relationship between the arts and sciences is older than even the “grandparents’ generation.” Color theory. Light. Architecture. Culinary Arts. Most artists I know are also quite a bit scientific, and most scientists quite a bit artistic. Observe, hypothesize, experiment, create, recreate. Artists and scientists have so much in common.

 In April, we celebrate the Arts and Sciences of Our Community. We begin celebrating science next Tuesday with the Middle School, as we are the invited guests for their Science Day. We also invite parents (or friends of BA) who have scientific or artistic talents to contact us (hkiser@balboa-academy.org) if they are interested in sharing experiences, ideas, or charlas.