Why should kids get involved in the arts? That's the question Children's Express reporters put to a host of famous people at the launch of The Prince of Wales Arts and Kids Foundation at Buckingham Palace. Here's what the celebrities thought...
Sanjeev Bhaskar, comedian
"I did a little bit of art in school and I wasn't fantastically great at it, but it doesn't matter. The thing is that art, any kind of art, is something you can do on your own. And that's what's really useful. It's really difficult to draw, paint, do music or any kind of art if you don't feel anything. It's all about feeling and putting those feelings onto a page or a canvas. That's why I think it's very important for children to go into the arts."
Joanna Lumley, actress
"I think it's important for art to get into children, rather than children getting into art. All children should know music, painting and reading and it shouldn't be something that happens at schools or anything serious. It should happen at home. I think every child should be read a book in bed. I think TV is great, IT is great, and cinemas are great but books are better."
Tessa Jowell MP, Culture Secretary
"Hard evidence shows that children who have the opportunity to take part in the arts are more ambitious for themselves. They also tend to do better at school. To go to the theatre or to do artistic things, which are exciting, enables you to understand things in a different way. By doing these things in school, you learn without self-consciously applying yourself, in the more routine way of the classroom."
Baz Luhrmann, Film Director
"It's absolutely central for children to get involved. We cannot live without young people connecting with the arts. That's not to be allowed. Who are we? And what are we about? We can find a lot of those answers in our great songs, our great stories and in our great dance and music. You have to believe that things can happen and not give up. If you think of something you want to do, just do it. Don't wait for someone to tell you how to do it."
Richard E. Grant, actor
"Art is something that makes people's lives more enjoyable because you know how to express yourself. It is something that everybody should have the right to do and not just something out of the ordinary. It shouldn't be focused on making money. I think it's a very good thing for young people to get involved."
James Naughtie, BBC presenter
"I think the arts are a way of releasing energy and setting kids minds on fire. It is a liberation for an adventure. More people find out who they are through the arts than through anything else. It's like sport. It's a way of letting the real person escape and be themselves. You can unlock somebody's imagination via the arts. The more kids that are exposed to the different kinds of art the better."
Juliet Stephenson, actress
"I think children have the most incredible, imaginative power. They are probably better at making up stories and inhabiting stories than adults are. Children should be given lots of opportunities to do art and they should have fun doing it. I'm very, very sad that so much drama and music has come out of the school syllabus. I think that any campaign to draw attention to this and to make it possible for children to have access to the arts is a very good thing."
Griff Rhys Jones, actor
"I think there are two real reasons why children should get involved in the arts. One, because there is a lot of fun to be had and there are a lot of great things to be seen. The thing about the arts is that they're the best entertainment human beings have ever produced. But the other thing I find really important is that you learn about discipline, you learn about working together in a team and it is the best work experience you can get being a child. Anybody who encourages that gets my vote."
About the team
This story was produced by Shannon Carr, 13, Wei Jun Chung, 14, and Rachel Walmsley, 15. It was published on the Arts and Business website.
