I grew up surrounded by glue guns, glitter and chop saws.
Art was everywhere in my family and we spent long hours as kids building, making and creating. Despite all this, somewhere along the line I also got the message that art as a career was a doomed path to follow. “Only a select few make it, do you really want to be a starving artist?” or “If you are smart, don’t waste your time in art school,” and I watched my high school art teacher whose constant annoyance with us students was consistent during the four years I had her as a teacher. There was only one day I can remember when she seemed excited and animated. She was showing us a slideshow of her own work- meticulous large scale watercolors of Harley Davidsons which took her months to complete, but clearly did not pay the bills.
I kept making art because I loved it and it helped me through some tough times, but I got my degree in International Studies. I moved abroad and- mostly by chance- took a job as an art teacher at an elementary school. It turned out that I LOVED teaching art, and loved watching the unique creations the kids would come up with.
It still took me the entire next decade of painting and teaching art to kids of all backgrounds before I finally wore down that internalized idea of arts as an “extra” and instead really deeply believed that YES- the arts matter to us all- even when you are poor and have very little, or even if you are rich and have it all. Making things transforms us, and helps us make meaning in the world for ourselves and others.
And here we are in 2020, when finding meaning in our day to day lives and in the precarious world around us feels even more important and ever. And here I am trying to “make it” as an artist in the middle of it all.
I wanted to share this clip that aired on NBC the other day because I am so excited by the work Amplifier is doing to create opportunities for art to make an impact. And I’m so honored to have my work included in their Mental Health and Public Safety Campaign. I especially loved this quote from Guggenheim Chief Curator Nancy Spector, “The question is whether art during a pandemic such as this, can save lives- and I really believe that posters that appear on the street, [and] in newspapers … images of hand washing, images of social distancing that are aspirational, that are supportive, then yes, it really can make a difference.”
What’s your take? What meaning does art hold right now for you?