Creative Expression Matters

Today, the remarkable advances in how the world communicates has given birth to an overabundance of ways for us to share our stories.  There is a global platform that allows people everywhere to tell us who they are and what defines them.  Human rights movements have been energized on Facebook.  Millions of people hang on the 140-character thoughts of their favorite TV personality, entrepreneur, or author on Twitter.  Artists of all mediums can better publicize their work through social media resources, many of which are free.  We are living during an exceptional time of opportunity, bold ideas, and collaborative potential.  
     

If you doubt that art has played a role in this Renaissance of innovation and think that creative expression only belongs in drab black box theaters, fine art galleries, or exhibition halls, I encourage you to take a closer look.  If for example, you own a MacBook, you are the proprietor of an idea, not a product.  Many are already well versed with how a small calligraphy course at Reed College in 1974 influenced the creative vision of Steve Jobs, or how a stylized stencil image of then presidential hopeful Barack Obama conceived by street artist Shepard Fairey galvanized a call for change.  The truth is that art, which is to say the expression of imagination, has profound importance in our world.