20 Summary
Art surrounds us all day, everywhere we look, from print to digital, ads to entertainment, the chairs we sit in and switches we turn on. All of the previous art movements and periods have guided us to expand, create, and express our thoughts, lives, and feelings. As humans, we use everything we have to express ourselves and to open the eyes and hearts of the audience. We use dance, music, theater, and art to get our message out into the world. Art is the gift of life.
One of the groups doing this today is Playing for Change, which includes New Orleans musician Grandpa Elliot. This group includes singers and musicians from all over the globe to promote education and peace and also to build music and art schools for children. See the video below:
Art is about creation, connection, reflection, and curiosity. The specific disciplines of art include visual arts, film and media art, music, theater, dance, creative writing, the study of languages, culture, race and gender, classics, history, religion, and other facets of life. Art is communication, collaboration, and creative problem solving, and it deals with the rapidly changing world. Art is an essential ingredient to empowering the hearts of people and bringing life into perspective. When an artist creates music and movies, they entertain people around the world. Art is making a difference in society through experiences, attention, innovation, and many collaborative efforts. It touches our emotions, and it can influence thinking, culture, politics, education, and even the economy. That is what these students in the Netherlands were hoping to achieve by getting together to bring people’s attention to the suffering in Africa with hopes of raising money for donations for the African people. Social media has many faults, but one of the positives is that it has allowed for a worldwide audience and possibly brings us all a bit closer.
Young students in the Netherlands getting together to help and show support for Africa:
Sometimes art or performance can be just about promoting itself. The Rijksmuseum did just that after reopening to bring awareness to something that has been there for a while but out of mind: Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, his most famous artwork.
Art created to give hope and peace in the middle of poverty, destruction, and hate can only bring blessings to those who see it, like a light shining in the darkest of places.
