I felt I had to say something after reading some of the reviews where people were saying that art can't pay your bills or they know people who are in their 30s who introduce themselves as "artists" but have nothing to show for it because they were encouraged to follow their dream by some high school drama teacher.Let me first say, that I am a paid artist. I work on hollywood films and have worked in New York, Los Angeles, and London. I did have an art program in school, but my parents never encouraged my talents or abilities, because they thought, like many people think, that art is simply not as important as say math or science. My mother would always say "You'll be a starving artist, and I don't want that to happen to you."People can't be more wrong about art. If anything history teaches us, it teaches us about civilizations and time periods through the artists and their work during that time. The painters, sculptures, writers, architects. Those are the people who are remembered, who leave a legacy, not the bank manager or doctor on 42nd street.Losing art in public schools, or thinking it is not important, or discouraging youth against it, is shameful. Overall it lets you express yourself in a way you can't in science or math, it gives you confidence and creative thinking, and it develops you as a human being. These things you can employ in any job at any time.I get really upset when I hear people saying that art isn't important. That you can't make a living off of it. So it discourages children from trying. I'm not saying everyone will make it, but better to try and fail, than regret and never know.