The second Dark Age descended with a flash. This time, no empire fell or dictator reigned. In fact, all of the information anyone wanted spread through the Internet. People just didn’t know where to look. They had a teacher to explain the wonders of Pablo Picasso, JK Rowling and Alfred Hitchcock.
These people could not experience the emotion and empathy of the world through art, writing and dance. Such ideas were not passed down and, therefore, forgotten by the culture.
You must be taught the value of music, art and stories. We fail our communities when we do not give individuals the tools and education to find value in creative endeavors beyond profit streams. For those of us who feel through artistic expression, we experience the world with richness. By not spreading our message, we’re denying others this joy.
Do you believe that money means more in this world than artistic expression?
Would you trade all the music, movies, books and shows for a few dollars?
If not, please enlist in our cause.
Some people are natural lovers of an art—these enthusiasts are rare and wonderful. Some people have a certain art form destroyed for them by an overindulgent teacher or a pretentious acquaintance. Some of us are told we’ll never find work in an art form and we need to grow up and get a real job. However, Art forms are a necessity.
In moments of grief and desperation, we want the words of poets and the grace of music. In those moments, very few of us pull out a 20-dollar bill and stare at it. We want to move closer to something heavenly. We want to evolve through the great gift of artistic expression. Art forms allows us to see more than what is and embrace more than we can describe.
Through good fortune and privilege, I was surrounded by forms of art my entire life. From a young age, my parents made sure I was well versed in everything from Elvis and Mozart to Chevy Chase and Scooby Doo (my Mom’s suggestion when editing).
In seven years at Denver School of the Arts, I never had to explain art’s intrinsic value to talented peers. Most artists are educated in closed-off systems away from the rest of the world, which means the general population is absent inx these interactions.
I have conversations with people from the other side of that fence. People who are surrounded by a lot of thoughts of profit margins and customers. Some people rarely talk about art. Without prior knowledge, it’s hard to explain the value of expression or creating something for its own sake. That’s what marketing is about, right?
There is not a business proposal for artistic expression. Art has feelings beyond profit margins. Its value is inherent. Every organization is better with art in its culture, not just in a department.
People who are surrounded by art see the world with greater depth. They can draw inspiration from many places and can find empathy in symbols and stories. Art adds richness to life and can also add creativity to business environments.
We are a better culture when we embrace our artists. Not all art will resonate with us, but we need to be surrounded by symbols that make us think.
We need warriors willing to go out and expose people today to the humanities of the world. Not everyone can find art alone. If we stop teaching these disciplines, we’ll start to lose them as a culture, but we must begin to educate in this way.
For More: The Power of Books