France Barral // Unaffiliated // Granite School Board District 1

  • How have the arts, culture, and/or humanities impacted your life?
    • Immeasurably, I can’t imagine life without arts. Arts are so pervasive in all our lives that we actually could not live without them. Whether it is music, literature, theater, visual arts, dance, the arts provide us with a unique way to connect as human beings; it brings us together and energize us.
  • Utah's humanities and arts employ 123,000 Utahns, provide $4.4 billion in earnings, and $13.2 billion in sales. This is a larger economic impact than agriculture, mining, and real estate. Do you consider the arts and cultural sector an economic driver in Utah?
    • Yes
  • Fiscally responsible government investment in the arts and humanities (including humanities and arts education) means to me:
    • Small sums can be levied across all (or most) taxpayers to endure that all of us have some exposure and benefit from enjoyment from the arts.
  • Items of Business I support:
    • Credit requirements for participation in the arts and humanities should be increased
    • K-6 Students should have increased exposure to arts and humanities education
    • 7-12 Students should have increased exposure to arts and humanities education
    • I support the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program which puts one arts specialist in most elementary schools
    • I support the POPS (Professional Outreach Program in the Schools) which sends 13 professional arts organizations to all UT school districts
    • I support the iSEE (Informal Science Educational Enhancement) which sends 10 professional science, zoological, and natural history organizations to all UT school districts
    • I support working to increase funding for arts and humanities education.
  • How would you expand participation in the arts and humanities amongst all students?
    • I am concerned that property taxes would levy vastly different sums based on geography and therefore would create inequalities of the worst kind. We can expand both 1. performing/doing art (Dance, visual arts etc...)- 2. watching and learning to appreciate art (through field trips in part). I favor shows at the end of the year - these could become more commonplace, maybe be part of the curriculum. I also favor including in the curriculum learning about great artists. This would be eye opening for students.
  • Anything else we should know about you?
    • Art is a very important part of my life. It should not be a privilege, but a right for all the students to the Granite School District.