So I was getting the mail for my work the other day and I overheard two professors talking about some students that they both had in their classes. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop but when you are in a small room with two other people getting mail, it is pretty easy to listen in. They were talking about how they didn’t know why these students were doing poorly in their classes. One then mentioned that one of the students was a music major and the other goes,

“Well that’s Art. Anyone can do art!”

Excuse me? EXCUSE ME?

This man was talking about how things like painting, sculpting, writing, music, theatre, dancing, and a bunch of other forms of art are easy.

Here are some things to know about art and how it is not easy.

First off not everyone can do art. I am involved in music, theatre, and dancing and I know I am not the best at dancing, but I cannot draw to save my life. I am just not talented in it, but it is so cool when I see people just doodling and it looks like a masterpiece. People are gifted in different things and there are somethings which people cannot do. I was telling this story to an Art Major and she went, “Oh hell no art isn’t easy,” because she knows just how hard her form of art is. And I know how my form of art isn’t easy either.

I don’t know about how all forms of art work, but for music, theatre, and dancing, those are performance arts. That can be very hard for people, especially when they have stage fright. Also the performance of are art can be affected on how we feel or are physically. Are art could be drastically different if we were sick or injured in some kind of way, but most of the time, we push on and perform anyway. In high school I was sick the whole day, went and performed a show, and an hour later was in the emergency room because it turns out I had gastroenteritis.

The amount of time people put into their art is something to consider. The medium of art like painting and drawing and other things like that, to make, takes hours or even days to complete. They need to have the patience to see their art through, something I would not be able to do. For music, people spend days upon days in practice rooms, going over their music and trying to improve things like tone, harmonies, and the performance in general. For theatre, at least with the last musical I was in, we practice 6-10pm Monday through Friday and had rehearsals here and there on the weekends for 6 weeks.

Finally, not only do people put their time into their art, they put their heart into it too. For some it is a hobby yes, but for others, including myself and the one of the students the professor was talking about, our art is our life. Art is what we want to do for the rest of our life. We have spent years perfecting it, practicing, taking lessons and classes for our art and to hear how professors would call it easy really astounds me.

The school I go to has nationally recognized vocal and instrumental groups. We have galleries and shows dedicated to art. We have dance showcases that are sold out every single time, to honor the dancers and how much hard work they put into their performance. Our theatre is supported by the President of our school. Every time I talk to people who do know about Elmhurst, they know it because OF THE ARTS! And for two professors to not realize how important art is and how much work and heart is put into it makes me sad.

Art is not based off of academic ability.

Art is everlasting and wonderful. I wouldn’t be where I am if I didn’t have the arts. So to those professors, even if they never read this, I hope one day they realize how blind they are to what is in front of them and realize just how important art is to the world around them.