They
say that Art shapes society. I
agree. Art is communication between a
“Speaker”—the Artist, and the “Listener”—the Audience. It can take a variety of forms—painting,
sculpture, photography, films, literature, music. But it must convey a message from the Speaker
to the Listener.
Personally,
I enjoy Art most when the message is positive—when it instills virtue, or
celebrates a joy. My favorite though, is
when it creates a sense of oneness. When
it shows us that we are a lot more alike than we are different, even if we are
separated from each other by race, or class, or time.
I
consider myself one of the lucky ones. Art
was a big deal when I was growing up.
“Picture Study” as we called it, was taught in the elementary
schools. I still remember learning the
names of the great paintings, the Artist, and their country of origin.
We
had theater too. Our local theater
group, “the Playhouse” was made up of people who we knew. When I saw Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass
Menagerie” performed, it was my teachers, and my neighbors that I was
watching. And it wasn’t limited to small
productions either. They performed
“Camelot”, and “The Royal Hunt of the Sun”.
Dozens of people were involved in every aspect of putting on a
play—building sets, painting scenery, moving scenery, rehearsing lines, playing
musical instruments, or acting as “extras”.
This was all in addition to the Director and his or her actors who were
the public face of the production.
Almost everyone had some connection to the play, or knew someone who
did.
Music
was a big part of our community as well.
In the Summer, the local park would host the town “orchestra”. It was comprised of people who knew how and wanted
to play an instrument. The well-regarded
high school band director at the time was the Conductor, and people would
gather to picnic and listen to their neighbors play.
When
I was in third grade, the Oklahoma City Symphony came to town. Our largest auditorium at the time was in the
Junior High School. That was the
venue. During the day, grade school kids
from town were bussed to the Junior High to listen to an abbreviated
performance. That evening the adults
would attend the entire concert. For
some reason I was unable to attend with my classmates that day, and I was
extremely upset about it. I lobbied hard
to attend the adult show that evening.
My parents did not want to go, but in a compromise which I find amazing
to this day, my father drove me to the Junior High, and let me out. After the concert he returned to pick me
up. I remember sitting there, listening
to this wondrous music. I had never in
my life heard an actual orchestra “up close and personal” like that. It was a deeply satisfying experience, and
I’m grateful to my folks to this day for making it happen.
High
school was a feast, with Band, Orchestra, Chorale, Glee Club, Speech
Activities, Drama, and Art. I followed
the Speech Activities path and competed in Poetry and Dramatic
Interpretations. I was the Audio Manager
for our school TV show, and the Program Manager for the school radio
program. I played the lead in the Junior
play, and was a Photographer and Photography Editor for the Yearbook. It was all fun, and great times.
Art
can show us proper principles; it can make us search our souls. Good art inspires us. It schools us in creativity, and, dare I say
it, in “thinking outside the box”.
That’s why I cringe when I see school systems today cutting Music and
Art in response to funding shortfalls.
I’m not saying that Art is more important than Science, or Math, but it
is at least AS important.
In
my work as a Human Resources professional, I have seen the difference that Art
makes. Those employees who come from
schools without Music and Art programs tend to be less creative
problem-solvers. They seek the one right
answer without understanding that the goal is to solve the problem. They keep requesting a template instead of
creating one of their own. They don’t
grasp that maybe there are multiple answers, or a variety of ways to do
something.
These
are not bad people by any means, and they’re no less hard working, but they’ve
missed out on an important part of being a human. I look for ways to share, but it can be
difficult. Once we reach adulthood we
become a tougher audience. Not long ago,
we had a corporate retreat and I suggested going to the Crystal Bridges Museum
of American Art in nearby Bentonville, AR.
The first response was pretty much, “You gotta be kidding me, right?”. But I prevailed, and we did go there. Among our activities was creating a group
piece of art, and we allowed ample time to visit the Museum itself. After it was all over, the responses were gratifying: “I’m so glad we did that”, was common, followed by, “I plan to take
my family soon”. I said a silent “Yes!”, while doing an
invisible fist-pump. And I celebrate a
little victory every time I pass the group painting which now hangs in a
prominent spot in our corporate office.
Art,
in all its forms, is a path with heart.
Follow it and be rewarded. As
Pablo Picasso said, “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life”.