I’ve just finished a full week of time in my studio with two other artist friends who make books and create art. The three of us have gotten together a couple times for extended periods of “studio time,” and each time, the experience is more and more fulfilling. For me, creation of art allows me to see and really experience beauty and peacefulness. The process of creating art is liberating…it is truly “freedom of speech” that allows thoughts and emotions to be expressed on so many levels. And seeing the creations of my friends gives a peek into their values and the unique issues with which they struggle.
http://www.wallacefoundation.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/WF/Knowledge%20Center/Attachments/PDF/Gifts_of_the_Muse(Text).pdf
The report describes the benefits of the arts to both individuals and to communities and societies. It describes well-known benefits, such as improved academic performance and test scores of children, the therapeutic health benefits for individuals who create and are exposed to art, and the economic benefits that the arts bring to a community.
But the report also describes intrinsic things, such as an “expanded capacity for empathy” that happens when people create and participate in the arts. Art fosters enhanced tolerance in people “by drawing them into experiences of people vastly different from them[selves] and cultures vastly different from their own. These experiences give individuals new references and make them more receptive to unfamiliar people, attitudes and cultures.” Without wanting to sound overly zealous, I am convinced that art has the power to address the divisiveness in our society today. By helping each of us be more open to new ideas and unique ways of expressing them, I’m convinced we will all be kinder and more understanding members of society.
