I have mixed feelings about this. My sons are both involved in technical careers. They both develop S/W for a living. They both were also involved in the arts,

I have mixed feelings about this. My sons are both involved in technical careers. They both develop S/W for a living. They both were also involved in the arts, both musical and graphic. The younger one continued with music through college (UIUC marching band.) In fact, there were probably more STEM majors in the Marching Illini than music majors because marching doesn't really attract music majors. Notwithstanding, there is a strong mathematical underpinning in busic and graphical arts and it seems not unreasonable to consider that effort in one area supports learning in the other. For this reason I believe that the arts are an important component in technical education and perhaps earn their place in STEAM. OTOH art on it's own does not seem to stand shoulder to shoulder with the other disciplines in STEM. (The younger one is recently involved in music performance in his spare time.)