Take 15 seconds and look up from your phone and examine your surroundings. Then come back. I’m not going anywhere.
You may be on a bus or a train among many other commuters. You may be at a coffee shop drinking a hot americano. You may be at work killing some down time. Wherever you are, pretend for a second that you lived in a world where there were no museums, galleries, or paintings. Art was not a profession or a hobby, but rather a part of every day life. Art was all around us, intricately woven into the fabric of everything we do, everything we consume, and everything we are.
You may have looked up from your phone and seen 20 people with headphones on and faces glued to their smartphones, but you may not have noticed the way that young woman fixed her hair. Or the way that gentleman cuffed his jeans. Or even heard the way the train conductor was announcing each stop with a unique flair.
You may have seen people standing in line to order their coffee, and others sitting down chatting with friends, but did you hear the way the barista was grinding the espresso? Or see the pyramid of summer themed coffee mugs stacked carefully in the corner? Or notice the way the cashier was using his hands to help explain a Flat White to the curious customer?
People travel all over the world to prestigious museums in major cities and pay hefty entrance fees to see paint on canvas, sculptures, history, photos, and artifacts but fail to see the beauty and the art in the person standing right next to them. It’s like we are all waiting for someone or something to say, “Hey! Look at me! I’m art! This is art! I am beautiful!” Every museum we walk in to has hundreds of these pieces staring us straight in the face begging for our attention and admiration. And as the old saying goes: It’s the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.
We are fortunate enough to be surrounded by incredible people looking for ways to express themselves – their “art” if you will. We express ourselves through our work, dress, speech, the music we listen to and write, the way we fix our hair, the drinks we order, the words we use, and the way we love.
Art is not a category, school subject, profession, or hobby. Art is everything that makes us different than the person next to us. Art is our own identity.
Tomorrow, pretend that everything and everyone is art, I bet you’ll be surprised at the beauty you see.