Aro-Mind

Reasons for Art Extracted from http://www.incredibleart.org Marvin Bartel, a retired professor from Goshen College, Indiana has listed his reasons for having art in the schools: A reason for art is to tell stories, events, myths, beliefs, and literature. A reason for art is to convince, inform, inspire, criticize, persuade, make the world a better place (Guernica by Picasso - Faith Ringgold). A reason for art is to perform rituals, work magic, pray for protection, pray of success, for fertility, for cures for sickness, for prosperity, etc. (tribal fetish art - modern advertising). A reason for art is to enhance a religious ceremony (stained glass in Gothic church - tile of Mosque). A reason for art is to help in meditation as in the contemplation of nature. A reason for art is to create personal and group identity, inspire, school, cultural, and/or national identity, loyalty, and spirit (flags, mascots, logos). A reason for art is to tell how people used to look and behave. A reason fo

Last night, I attended a Māori arts and culture policy consultation event for Auckland City. Not surprisingly, it prompted me to think about my views of Māori artmaking and how public policy ought to respond to and enable it. It was an opportunity to share a few thoughts…. and so here are some of my points, in brief, shared at last night’s event: A concern that New Zealand’s view and vision of the arts is too small, consequently NZ continues to underinvest and devalue the arts. Significant opportunities for New Zealand are therefore missed. New Zealand’s vision for the arts, in my view, remains too small. It is not informed enough of the potential role that the arts can play in a successful society, economy and culture. This issue has to be addressed by artists and public policy makers equally. Artists, too, need to be challenged with respect to the place of the arts in a successful society and the ‘public good’ that is generated by the arts. Auckland City becomes a powerful advocate f