Introduction
Art is significant because it is expressive, informative, narrative, and persuasive. The concept of art is drawn from different life perceptions that promote acts of liberty. Artists, through various forms of art, can pass informative messages to society members. Art also plays the role of beauty and is celebrated as a source of entertainment. As an aesthetic, art promotes a sense of joy and good feeling. Different forms of art, especially clothing and household items, are meant to show the value of a certain culture. While drawing, art allows the artists to employ the process of cognitive thinking. Art is critical in many ways that may not be completely covered in this paper. In the world, art plays the role of entertaining, educating, triggering thoughts, and promoting culture.
Entertainment
Art is essential because it brings joy and happiness to the viewers’ lives. One of the many reasons people visit museums is to get entertained and feel better. Artists expressively create art to feel good. Rhys Southan, in his article, questions the importance of creating art. The author found that many artists painted as a way of expressing effective altruism (Southan). Effective altruism seeks to help those in need in every little way possible. While some artists abandon their jobs to go and offer financial support to those in need, others do what makes them feel better. Artists without the financial ability to reduce others’ sufferings choose to paint to make them better. In other words, art as a natural reward for human feelings is a way a source of joy.
Artists also develop artworks to recognize and appreciate the aesthetic beauty in their surroundings. The philosophical definition is aesthetic beauty is related to the creation and development of art. Southan, in his article, accused artists of “painting beautiful landscape in front of them while the rest of the world burns” (Southan Par. 13). The author felt that helping those suffering in the world was more significant than painting. However, his investigation later found that all things, including the environment, needed acts of selflessness. Artists take time to practice effective altruism by appreciating nature (Southan). Drawing the beauty in the environment, the artists not only show its value but also indicate that they are happy to be around. Artists travel to find entertaining environments, paint and collect valuable items on behalf of viewers.
Educating
Art also plays the role of informing, making social statements, and creating balance in society. Depending on the type of information and intended message, arts use different forms of art to deliver it. For example, an artist can paint an adult rescuing a child drowning in a river to educate society about the importance of helping. Arts can also be meant to make social statements, especially in communities experiencing unrest (Barrios 398). Thoreau used clothes while Gandhi used the craft of two hands to spread the message of resistance (Barrios 399). Thoreau and Gandhi were both the resisting civil government in British and India. The clothes and crafted hands, displayed in public areas sent a resistance message to the community (Barrios 399). Other artists have also used collections or created materials to resist an idea. For example, several Black American artists paint images of prominent black people to inform the nation those black lives matter. Arts also cover images of prominent people alongside their historical achievements to create historical awareness.
Art, through means of education, creates a balance in a community. Both ancient and contemporary artists use artwork to pass awakening messages to the community. They clarify confusing situations that may create unnecessary commotion or conflict (Barrios 400). For example, art is used to shed light on confusing political environments. It is also used to clear the source of identity for an ethnic group. For example, black people are often drawn to white people’s farms to explain the struggles of slavery. Contemporary artists are also designing specific clothes for transgender people to show that they are also part of the community. According to Ma, the empathy attained through the process of painting or drawing enables integrative awareness (1). Empathy is present when people, through art understand concepts deeply and make long-lasting connections. The parallel understanding also helps learners to bring closer things that would rather seem far without such integration. Furthermore, empathy is the extreme quality that acknowledges people’s identities as a whole community family.
Triggering Thoughts
Art promotes critical thinking and empathetic thinking aspects important for learners. In today’s learning curriculum, more emphasis is put on the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) system (Ma 1). However, the system is missing a great deal of empathic reasoning enabled by art. According to Ma, the process of creating art involves flexible thinking, collaboration, and disciplined imagination which lead to innovation (2). The painting process integrates critical thinking and empathic thinking. The artists therefore can employ both levels of thinking to understand what others feel and think. Adopted in school, the development of art boosts cognitive thinking thus allowing students to be more innovative (Ma 3). The development of art also helps students in the process of reading. By employing cognitive thinking, learners also find reading easy because they have a deeper understanding of context. The internet has become a global thinking circuit and people have to ensure that the circuit is about communication (Ma 2). By fostering critical thinking and empathy attained from art, information is formulated to be useful. These aspects ensure that people understand what is important and less vital on the internet.
Through viewing arts, people can deal with intense issues crowding their minds. Artists through artworks give the bereaved a new meaning in life (Ma 4). The art helps people to closely engage and stop avoiding deep emotions of loss. While drawing, artists can also recall and retell a story over and over. Such abilities bring the feeling of overcoming and regaining the meaning of life. Art, by connecting the environment and the human world creates a space for creativity (Ma 4). People with a busy life can be disconnected from their surroundings despite being within. Artworks, by capturing the natural environment and aspects draw humans close to reality. By provoking human attention, the art triggers the creativity aspect in their minds. Art, by enabling free thinking allows people to live a less restricted life.
Promoting Culture
Art plays the role of promoting existing and new cultures in society. Art covers community pride informed by drawings and collections. Existing culture is shown by both ancient and contemporary arts such as rocks, clothes, paintings, and monuments (Sasowsky 43). Museums store cultural arts to create awareness and help the younger generation to understand their norms. Art expresses societal norms, practices, and gender expectations of the members. According to Ma, art influences society by changing opinions, translating experiences, and instilling values across time and space (4). Art expresses the feelings of societal members thus setting behavior boundaries for the community. It formulates a community’s emotional level by telling stories. Equally important, art gives people a sense of identity and pride. Art allows people to relate to their culture hence promoting self-realization and appreciation.
By embracing globalization, art is significant in promoting new culture. Globalization entails connecting different cultures and enabling people to try new ones. In art, globalization means practicing new cultural practices by displaying them in artworks. According to Sasowsky, different cultures offer a tremendous amount of data that allows artists to design (42). Designing art, whether physical or visual makes it possible to adopt ideas from a different culture. Artists are now creating cultures that do not exist through means of imagination (Sasowsky 44). By exploring the innovative ideas available in the global view, artists design and develop new practices from scratch. Busch talks about how crafts and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) aspects have influenced new art culture (Barrios 398). The new art ideas enable regular people to become artists by following creative thoughts. The development of new culture helps people of all generations to understand the fast-evolving world. For example, today’s music and films cover the events of the contemporary world that could be confusing by making it easy for all people to understand.
Conclusion
Art plays a vital role in entertaining, educating, triggering thoughts, and promoting culture. Art gives life a better meaning, revives emotions, and makes people feel better in general. The ancient form of art was more educating on culture while today’s informed about new cultures. Through art, individuals promote effective altruism and educate people to be kind. Activists, opposition, and even politicians have used art to make social statements. Cognitive thinking promoted by art helps artists to feel and understand other people’s emotions. Globalization as a current factor has also promoted the creation and adoption of new cultures. In general, one way through which community members learn their culture is through art.
Works Cited
Ma, Yo-yo. “Necessary Edges: Art, Empathy, and Education.” Pp. 1-5, Web.
Barrios Barclay. “Crafting Resistance.” Emerging: Contemporary Readings for Writers, edited by Otto Von Busch, 4th Ed, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2022, pp. 398-402.
Southan, Rhys. “Art is a Waste of Time – or So Effective Altruism Claims.” Aeon, 2014, Web.
Sasowsky, Norman. “Art, Education, and Human Needs.” Art and Education, vol. 36, no. 5, 1983, pp. 42-46. JSTOR.