The arts in any culture are what bind people together. You don’t even have to like someones art to engage in looking at it and or experiencing it. The arts are so vast in expression and form that without some people even knowing it, they are actually artists themselves.
Art is painting, sculpting, photography, printmaking, music, theater, film, dance, literature and more. Even the intentional gardener or cook, the interior designer and the crafts of pottery, woodworking and metal working are all forms of art. How about those who produce fashion, make-up and hair design? How those things are done matter to each of us as we are drawn to beauty, style and something that gives us an emotional connection. Need I go on and on? The fact is, some of these practices are fine art, some are crafts, some are visual, some are performing, but they are all ART!
Art can be controversial stirring up the depths of people’s passion for, or against it. It has a certain power to compel us to hope, heal, believe, stand in wonder, change the way we see the world or even the way we believe! We all seek it out when we read a book, go to a movie or place a painting on our wall, not just any painting, the one we search for till we just know it’s the one! How about the song that gets stuck in your head or you play it when you need to shift your mood? It’s all art, and we emotionally need it.
Wikipedia states in part, that; “Art is a diverse range of human activities in creating visual, auditory or performing artifacts (artworks), expressing the author’s imaginative or technical skill, intended to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional power.[1][2] In their most general form these activities include the production of works of art, the criticism of art, the study of the history of art, and the aesthetic dissemination of art.”
In the arts, disagreement is accepted and even sought after at times. Both the one who creates and the one who views or digests the art are in collaboration with one another. Because of this, the community created by the arts becomes a great source of inspiration without which society withers on the vine and dies. Think about the poets who have read at inaugurations, the musicians who have played on the world stage, and painters whose murals cover the ceilings of historical architectural masterpieces. People of every tribe and nation, every tongue and color all seek the beauty and the story the art tells. The impression that art leaves on our souls lasts forever and is always growing as we partake each day of new art, old art, inspiring art.
The thing about art that makes it essential is that everyone is right. Art is emotional and feelings are neither right nor wrong, they just are. Everyone creates what they want or consumes what they like. There really shouldn’t ever be judgement of art because it’s a pointless pursuit. However because by it’s sheer nature art causes passion. When one loves a certain kind of music he may also hate another type of music. How can this be? There is no accounting for taste, for what soothes the soul or what inspires it or even what bores or frightens it. Art can be as polarizing as politics or religion in the context of friendly banter, but it seldom ever separates, rather it provides a necesary outlet for human discourse.
Practicing artists whether professionals or hobbyists are constantly seeking for the next new idea. They tend to be rule breakers and they hate to be boxed in by the wants or needs of others. They are an essential link between what has happened and what will. When in their creative process, they tend to forget about time, not care about the common worries that consume pragmatists and those who walk the treadmill of matrix living. In this sense they are fearless and yet once they have created and open themselves up to the world for view, they become vulnerable to the terror of judgement, wanting their souls work to be cherished. Round and round we go in society, the giving and the taking, of creating and consuming, we live for this. The truth is without an audience the artist is lonely. And someone has to keep the order so others can color the world and make it beautiful or meaningful. We each have our times to shine. Obviously some people are more constant in creating art while others more constant at maintaining a platform for society.
We need each other. Wikipedia offers in part that Culture (/ˈkʌltʃər/) can be defined in many different ways. In the words of anthropologist E.B. Tylor, it is “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.”[1] Alternatively, in a contemporary variant, “Culture is defined as a social domain that emphasizes the practices, discourses and material expressions, which, over time, express the continuities and discontinuities of social meaning of a life held in common.”[2]
If you take art out of society or the world, you reduce the value of existence. The potential of happiness and self discovery is diminished, and I would offer up, there is no life without it. If you add more art into a community, a society or nation you will effectively increase the value of life on every level.
My passion for the arts has been pulling at my heart for a while now. I have not been involved as I once was. My passion for singing, making music with others, painting in solitude and so many other forms have been dormant as I have tended other essential parts to living. And the truth is, without art front and center, my happiness cannot be achieved. I started this blog because I wanted to write. I always wanted to write my stories from the heart to sort of document my life, so in this sense I am opening the door for myself. I have started and stopped painting again, and now I can feel the call to go back in. I know we have seasons in our lives. Just like winter, fall, spring and summer, they will repeat themselves.
I look forward to the opening in my heart which is expanding my mind. I am encouraged by the art I see all around me. Don’t stop believing in the art in you. We must also celebrate continually what we sometimes take for granted, and that is the art all around us. The point of this blog is to thank those of you who never stop driving us all forward through your art, and also to bring awareness to the total value of art in our lives. It is a case for increasing the attention and validation to those who give themselves to the practice of art, for in so doing, you are saving society, one creation at a time.
The Sarah Hale Folger Project seeks to inspire greatness in humanity by sharing inspiring stories with the world. Please contact me here on my blog or through my website at http://www.SarahHaleFolger.com
Sarah Hale Folger is a Creative Consultant, Blogger, Artist & Singer. PLEASE make sure to subscribe to my blog today so you never miss the next thing happening in the world the way I see it! Please feel free to comment, share and subscribe to my blog!!! Thanks!!
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