art is
an expression of the human experience.
art is an invaluable tool used by
countless individuals before us,
in order to call out our
political / social / spiritual spaces.
art is
an irreplaceable practice in healing
the
heart mind soul ... our communities
art is a form of resistance.
and every space (especially educational institutions) ought to offer art programs.
art is education.
artists are some of the most intelligent, intuitive and potentially influential creatures on our planet. but our educational (and ironically often our art) institutions do not honor the rhythms and needs of these individuals. instead, they discourage free-thinking and penalize creativity through negative social conditioning. out-of-the-box thinkers and makers are often excluded/seen as "too eccentric".
i see myself as an artist but i continue to struggle with the gatekeepers - those institutions/industries/individuals who exclude the freest of us. those who determine the "trends" and assign "value" to our art.
admittedly, i allow the gatekeepers to run the game, most of the time.
i allow them to convince me that my art has monetary value first and foremost - and if it doesn't (aka no one will pay for it) then it's literally and figuratively not worth much.
this is extremely discouraging for someone like me who sees art as a form of being: a way of being, an expression of being.
well i'm working through it.
but truthfully, often consider whether hanging the old art business hat up is the right call.
perhaps seek employment outside of this artist realm where i seek to feel joy - and often walk away feeling "not good enough".
or perhaps, this is just another of the thousands of laments of expressed and i will stubbornly clomp onwards.
stay tuned.
