Why Art?

 People who know me well know that I wrestle with this question--why, in this broken world, should people continue creating visual art and music and dance and poetry? I spend three mornings a week teaching children and young adults how to read; isn't that more important?

My answer is that the world needs both. The world needs radical acts of service, and the world also need art. Here are a few reasons why creative acts are so vital:

For beauty

One day years ago I was stuck in heavy traffic on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley. It was a hot day, and my car window was down. Just then a street musician began playing a beautiful melody on the flute. I was transported. At that time I was working full-time as a teacher, but the beauty of that song made it possible for me to serve another day.

When I wake up in the morning, this painting is the first thing I see:

 It's like a prayer for my day, giving me the strength to go out and do what needs to be done.

For community  

Art draws people together. My roommate is struggling with chronic pain and a deadening job, but when she plays music with friends, she's transformed. Her laughter joins in with the melodies.

For the prophetic voice

This painting is hanging in an environmental law office. The person who bought it said it was to remind her staff of what they are fighting for.

 

A hospice patient looked at this painting and told me, "I always thought I'd go into darkness when I died, but when I look at this I realize that I'll go into light." 

Sometimes when I create a painting, I don't realize its full significance until it goes out into the world. 

For the joy of creating 

I bristle at the label of "consumer." 

I am the most completely myself when I am creating. Even if what we make is never seen or heard or read by the world, the act of creating makes the world a better place.

 

 

Do you have other reasons for creating?