We have all heard it before. "Art is dying." "Museums are boring." "Art is the WORST subject to major in." "Why would you want to major in art, you won't find a job." "Schools should take the fine arts department out of the school curriculum." It's really annoying to hear people say this. I'm not an art major. However, I am a student of the College of Art and Sciences and will be getting a Bachelors in Liberal Studies, so I appreciate art. A lot. It might not be my career and I might not be one of those people they were talking about that might not have a job in ten years but I stand tall next to them.
I don't think art is dying. Just today I went to an art market/fair. TONS of people were there and it made me so happy. There was at least 30 booths of art and lots of portraits that had "SOLD" on the tag. At my city's art museum the first Friday of every month they showcase a specific artist and give out free appetizers, desserts and wine. Although engineering is the number one career to get into and the highest success rate in finding a job after college, art is too important to just throw away.
I'm furious at school corporations for contemplating getting rid of fine arts curriculum. Some schools have debated getting rid of drawing classes, dance classes, theater classes, sculpture, sewing, and photography classes. Art is not dying. And even if it was, condemning art, getting rid of classes and bashing people's life careers is not bringing it back. People are what can decide the fate of the arts world. Let's see a play rather than go to the movies. Lets go to a museum rather than to the mall. Lets buy art work and go to art fairs and spend less time online shopping.
At this same art fair I was at a booth admiring beautiful handmade jewelry. A man made jewelry from sterling silver and 14 karat gold. Some of his jewelry was high priced, but why would it not be when they spend days working on a ring? Two teenage girls walked up to look at them. One girl told her sister, "look they have the ear cuffs." Her sister responded, "those are ugly." The other sister than replied, "savage," and laughed. I didn't think it was funny. Someone worked hard on those ear cuffs. It is their handmade artwork and their way of living. Art is all about perception. Perhaps you may not like it or even understand the abstract but someone put effort and time into creating something I know I'm not capable of.
There is so much to art. At this art fair, I admired handmade jewelry, stainless glass windows, ocean photography, woodwork, pottery, aluminum art, water color, abstract and so much more. How can art be dying when art makes up so much of what the world is? We come across art everyday in all forms and rather than tearing it down, insulting it, saying it's a bad idea to achieve a job in it, let's appreciate it for what it is. Expression. Love. Beauty. This might sound cliche and totally overused but you can't spell "earth" without "art." I think that says it all.
