Why is art so important?

Today I want to speak about the importance of art

Let’s jump right into it, art acts as a way of documentation, which highlights key events in our history while also depicting past ways of life, culture, religion etc. This allows us to have knowledge about human bygone days while also showcasing our evolvement over the centuries.

Now in the present, many artists create work that reflect or challenge current issues that are happening in society such as: politics, ethics, law and so on. This is key for society because in ways artists are able to peacefully protest and bring awareness to problems or situations through their own medium and style. It then constructs a creative way for our communities to be educated and engages younger generations to be a part of a change and to gain comprehension on such subjects.

We should feel incredibly grateful for this because in the past, artists didn’t have the same liberty due to social norms. Although this is unfortunate, these artists have paved a road that has led artists of today into having freedom to create what they want. 

Think of art as being an alternative educational tool rather than just utilizing textbooks as a way to teach. Yes, textbooks do teach us a lot but they usually come from one point of view while shutting out other perspectives. Art on the other hand, gives you the beneficial experience of being able to read and view things from different angles which then enables your mind into coming up with your own opinions and questions that will help you gain consciousness in a way that a textbook may not.

This is why I personally believe that art has a huge importance today. For my whole life I have been a visual learner and art has assisted me on understanding various amounts of topics that I have learned in school. Without art, I might not be where I am today or have the knowledge that I have. 

Each form of art has a reason behind why they were produced and professionally speaking all artworks have a deep meaning behind them. So..next time you guys see an artwork that catches your eye, instead of just looking at it from the surface, dig below and find out the context that lays behind it and the message the creator is trying to send to his/her viewers.

You might be surprised on what you could learn or how it could change your perception.

Until next time…

Caitlin W.