Getting Art

More than five years ago some volunteers met to discuss forming an art organization in our small town 30 miles west of Chicago. A suburb of modest means in a county of high incomes, public art seemed sparse, local schools were thinning down their art curriculum in favor of higher budget priorities, and local artists didn't seem to have much public voice.

So the Warrenville (Ill.) Arts Council was formed. Its primary purpose was to advance appreciation of art and to encourage art education and expression among those with the urge to do so. The group wished to address both performing and visual arts. At first we would produce performing art concerts during the winter months – October through March. Exhibit events would offer visual artists the opportunity to display and sell their treasures. In time we hoped to offer classes to those interested in exploring their artistic side of life.

With four seasons of concerts offered from late October through April, the Arts Council has also produced four annual art showcases. The latter events provided exhibit halls for many artists working in diverse genres – oil and watercolor paints, sculpture, photography, ceramics, glass work, jewelry making, paper arts, fabric arts, woodworking arts, and metal arts. Coupled with these exhibits in separate performing spaces were short concerts encompassing dance, theater  voice (both solo and choral), jazz ensemble and classical string quartets as well as pop musical offerings. Our most recent showcase was titled Art Works 2013 and was held April 14, 2013.

325 attendees came for the day-long event. 20 exhibit booths were present to engage visitors. Four concerts were offered in the auditorium. Financially the event broke even, even gaining some reserve dollars for next year’s showcase.

With volunteer turnover our group struggled to produce the showcase this year. Leaders among the clan stretched themselves to learn how to manage the event and build on past successes. Together they prospered. They invested a lot of sweat, blood and tears to make the event happen. Together success was theirs.

Many neighbors and friends of these volunteers continue to wonder why these efforts continue. Perhaps Leonardo DaVinci said it best:

            “Painting is poetry which is seen and not heard, and

             Poetry is a painting which is heard but not seen.”

The human spirit generates thoughts that have weight and importance. Not all thoughts are shared. Often such thoughts are difficult to articulate for others to understand. Art provides a medium through which to express those thoughts. The beauty of a musical thread or melody; the voice of a single person singing a line of joy or loneliness; a wood carving that sculpts a shape of sinuosity, warmth, texture, wood grain and color; a ceramic pot both functional and sensuous. These are thoughts shared in shapes, colors and materials that combine to delight the mind, the eye and the ear. And touch. Don’t forget tactile articulations.

Expressing the self, the inner human self, is a complex process. It requires discipline and creativity and selflessness to allow wondrous things to come into being. These creations are the outward expressions of artists. The art itself is then free to be perceived by those seeking communion with the art forms. They are accidental in meeting. There is no great social calendar that organizes all of us into intended gatherings. Happenstance plays a large role in these things. We stroll an exhibit, a museum or attend a concert. We explore such opportunities.

In doing so we hope for a surprise. A unique encounter with an artistic product that speaks to us on an individual basis. Your spouse or friend suddenly stops. They are mesmerized by what they are experiencing. You do not see it. You are itchy to keep strolling, or move on to another performance. But no; the other person is rooted in place to contemplate the art object before him. A conversation within the mind is happening.

We give him or her space in such moments. We allow the surprise encounter to both happen and mature.

Intersections of minds and souls are the stuff of art. We know it when we feel it. The incident is not a universal thing; the process is, however.

And the mind carries the conversation onward to more creation and appreciation.

Such are the rewards of art. And its necessity.

April 23, 2013