John Donne (pictured to the left) was a poet alive during the time of the British Renaissance. In his earlier years, his poetry was primarily about love and he enjoyed a lavish lifestyle. However, after growing older and getting married, the topics of his poetry changed and he began to write to about religious things, such as his personal relationship with God.
For Donne, his poetry helped him to work through and understand his feelings. Poetry was not just a means of making an income or persuading people towards one school of thought or another, it was his outlet, his means of understanding the world around him. Art, in its many forms, is capable of having this kind of effect on all who call themselves an artist.
However, art does not hold the same respect that it had in the Renaissance in today's world. Many schools around the country have greatly reduced or even completely pulled funding from their arts programs, meaning some students aren't learning how to express themselves through a creative medium. Artistic expression may be what makes the difference between a student growing up to be a criminal or a productive member of society.
If we could simply have the same appreciation for art that our ancestors had, we could help so many students in America have the resources that they need to learn and grow. If we can look to the example of John Donne, then we can see the kind of change that can occur in the life of an artist who is allowed to exercise their talents.
Image Credit: John, http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/ Public Domain
I think that art should definitely be incorporated more fully into our education system. In my experience going to school, my art classes were very limited and I felt like other subjects had a much greater importance placed on them. I'd love to change our attitude as a society and turn students toward art in some sense that would allow them to express themselves in a creative medium, as you said.
ReplyDeleteI think you make an exceptional point here using an exceptional artist's example. John would likely cringe at our lack of artistic expression in many schools. Our society has seemed to shift more to focus on utility. What makes money or a product is what children study and base their educations off of rather than what benefits them or allows them to produce the product that is themselves. Without art, much of life would be a dreary waste. I think the phrase for whom the bell tolls from John's poetry could be applied to artistic areas as well. What if that young person who was pressured into a field of study that merely makes a living would've been the next artist to change and shape the world? Every artist that gives up on their dreams is another bell tolling to sound the death of what could have been.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it's sad so many schools cut arts funding. I think arts are also a way to learn how to see the world differently and connect to people. I made many friendships in my high school band program that I still have 6 years after graduating, and I wouldn't have made them if we hadn't been joined in that common creative environment.
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