Art is a good way to express what we feel through a non-verbal channel. It allows us to be in tune with what is happening around and within ourselves. In this times of uncertainty like the one we are going through today, artistic expression is even more necessary.

Giving ourselves a space to appreciate, enjoy, and create art is vital to our emotional, physical, and mental health.

Art should not only be conceived as a piece exhibited in a museum, but also in its widest range of possibilities for artistic expression. Art is cooking a plate of food or inventing one. Art is found even in the way and the arrangement in which we present in the plate to our guests. Art is also selecting  the combination of colors, textures and shapes in the clothes we decide to wear on a certain day or in the melody and lyrics that we enjoy in a song.

We do not always realize that we are all consumers of art and culture, and as such, we must give it the importance it deserves.

Art is a language that allows us to understand and connect with our deepest feelings and also capture them in the way that best represents us. Mastery is not always as relevant as we think. When we appreciate art pieces of the other we should also be able to analyze them from our curious and expectant set of eyes and from our child like self, hoping to surprise ourselves and listen to the little secrets that the other wants to communicate to us.

The goal of any creative process is in putting pleasure at the center of the aesthetic experience and not at the result of it. We do not have to be professional artists, but we must have the desire to create and above all, to play and to be honest about our art . In that courage lies the value of an art piece.

In children it is very important to provide these tools from an early age because at these early stages of development we think with the body and many times through sensoriality we can find solutions to conflicts and achieve the integration of the different parts of our brain.

By understanding the artistic language as another form of communication, the child who has the opportunity to express his or herself artistically can provide us with a lot of valuable information about his and her inner world. Children can better identify, elaborate and communicate their emotions through art.

Art is an engine of change an impulse for the society in which we live and that we all want to see grow. It is confirmed that in societies that invest and allocate a big part of their budget to promote art and culture, such as building and restoring public spaces, supporting film funds, facilitating the city structure for making and creating art, games for children, free shows, etc. Crime rates decrease, citizens feel more satisfied. There is more dialogue and spaces to exchange ideas, aesthetic sensitivity and, after all, happiness.

By Camila Varela – Art Teacher

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