WHY — Learn About Art?

Ok, so why study and learn about art?
I’m going to cover the benefits of Art in our daily lives from a therapeutic perspective to the intellectual benefits and the impact it has on our brains to the emotional benefits and how the Arts can impact our work/life balance to the economic benefits personally and to society.

I read one article which said Art is linked to God because God created beauty so God must be an Artist. As we study his creations and look around this wonderful universe we get to know and appreciate God. So the more we understand something, the more we can appreciate it.

There is a difference between the left side of our brain and the right side of the brain. The left side is verbal and analytic and engages our abilities in logic and making rational decisions and enhances our abilities to calculate and solve mathematical problems. The right side of the brain is better at artistic and creative tasks and helps us develop our abilities to make spontaneous decisions and to make choices while contemplating ideas.

Art and the study of Art helps to develop motor skills and decision-making skills and increases our ability to observe the world around us. Art helps us to learn how to communicate and enhances our ability to focus and helps with memory. The Arts also can be a means to connect with others and develop skills in how to engage in conversation and how to consider different opinions.

Emotionally the Arts impact us by giving us a sense of understanding our place in and realizing the contributions we make to society. It’s similar to meditation because in our attempts to understand why an Artist chose particular colors or why an object is rendered in a composition and it’s placement in that composition we develop emotions like compassion or empathy. And colors impact our moods so Art helps with anxiety.

Economically the Arts generate hundreds of billions of dollars to communities with a thriving Art scene and Art support millions of jobs and provide governments with millions in tax revenue. People like the Arts and find participating to be pleasurable so when a community develops a thriving Art scene it fills their hotels, shops, restaurants and bars and makes those communities a destination. It’s good for business. There is also the economic benefit of buying and collecting Art on a personal level because Art investments have yielded greater personal wealth and beaten the S&P stock market by 250%. It is common for the value of a work of Art to increase exponentially following an Artist’s death and make those works of Art much more collectable.

Plus looking at or listening to Art simply makes us feel good. I feel better having works on the walls of my home by Artists I have met and collected over the years. I feel contented listening to a composition or a song. Like Luke, reaching out with my feelings makes me feel connected.

These are just a few of the reasons to Learn About Art. Let me know your ideas.