IMAGINE A WORLD WITHOUT THE ARTS -- WHAT WOULD THE CONSEQUENCES BE?

Melanie Richards, sounding the alarm for the arts, demonstrates how we are denying ourselves and our children an artistic way of living, thinking, and learning, thereby creating an artificial life for them and a legacy for the future that is wanting in substance.  If we ask some difficult questions about where we are as a society today and what legacy we are indeed creating for future generations, we come up short on our understanding and living of the arts, and how we expose our children to their influence.  This book brings up some hard truths about how we live today, and how a true exposure to artistic living and its benefits, especially that of using process as a tool for learning, would better prepare our children for life.

Through an examination of the artistic process and how it can be applied to everyday living, we are taken through fire, earth, air, and water to the artistic realm, where we see the face of beauty and its reflection in the mirror of our lives.

The goal is to get this point of view "out there" to educators, artists, and parents especially, so that it might be a catalyst for action. 

CHAPTERS:

Introduction

Where are we now and where do we want to be?

We are artistic beings

The artistic process

What can the arts teach us?

Where do we go from here?

Reaching for the divine

Excerpts from the book: 

"In this study, I want to venture into territory that is probably not as familiar as the plea for more 'arts programs' in the schools.  I submit that an artistic way of living and thinking should define our entire lives, starting in childhood; and that it is the lack of this objective that has brought on the incredible decline in true intelligence that characterizes our society today.  The positive uses of technology are without question; but when the use of technology usurps the human spirit of creativity, then the effects are felt mostly in our children, because they take from what they are given and taught.   Because we are left-brained learners, that is how we are taught in school, on an everyday level we have become obsessed with the facts and  details without seeing the whole.  Our lives are run by cell phones and computers with instant access to information about anything and everything; this in turn is coupled with a growing lack of caring about the beauty of the aesthetic as a means of inner growth and strength.  This way of living makes us rigid, anxiety-ridden, and unable to breathe. 

 I believe that we can realize a change in our children’s lives by immersing them in the arts so that they naturally react as artistic beings.  For those who missed that experience, there are some principles and steps that characterize creative experiences that can be studied and applied to begin the initiation into this artistic way of living and thinking."

~   ~   ~

"By placing ourselves within the realm of art, we are raised out of our mundane existence and get a taste of something beyond us, yet within us. We learn to think independently, not always following and being influenced, but evaluating our own perceptions.  We learn to use our imaginations with the materials at hand, which in themselves become the potential for expression. We access the rhythm, light and movement already in motion in the universe and fit our composition, form, or movement within them. This connects us in a very powerful way with everything else. Most importantly, art shows us the need to let go of fear and become aware of beauty within and without. This is truly the path to understanding and participating in the world of art."

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 Paperback, 96 pages

Published by ArtsLegacy