It’s not hard to get lost, even without leaving the house.
Life, after all, can be a big distraction. Not just the mundane and repetitive parts, either.
Often it’s things that are genuinely important, like loved ones who are sick, or how to pay
the bills, not to mention the real injustices in the world that make everything else seem small.
Now feels like a good time, however, to look around and take stock of where we are. After
all, we’re likely to be here a while. The truth is, yearning for change is a constant of the
human condition, but the difference between making change and simply worrying about it,
is the difference between standing consciously where you are, or dreaming indistinctly about
somewhere else.
The changes you yearn for may be personal or political, but the place to start is in the
present moment. Take in your surroundings, whether it’s the drum of rain on a metal roof,
or the countless shades of green in a tropical hammock, or the story told in the face of the
person bagging your groceries. Sounds, sights, stories – these are art experiences, and it’s
the role of art to lead you on the steps towards them.
Seen this way, the value of the art experience is immense; it is no less than finding yourself.
Explore where you are, and you will discover who you are. Our job at The Studios is to provide
as many of these experiences as possible every day, by whatever means necessary, like a
garden you can eat out of.
Making change, however, like making art, begins with the step from observation to response.
To be an artist is simply to make it a habit. Observe and respond, observe and respond, until
change occurs. Draw, paint, speak or sing. Of course, good habits are easy to break, especially
when life threatens to overwhelm, and it’s our other job here at The Studios to make it easy to
keep them. Taking an art class may not change the world, but it’s a step in the right direction,
and it sure feels good.
1
See you at The Studios!
Jed Dodds
Executive Director
Art. Wherever you are.