In the past few months, the City of Calgary has invested quite a bit of money in making our city more beautiful, to be exact, 1% of all the expenses put aside for projects.
Huffington Post Alberta, Article from October 9, 2013
Just a few days ago, one more piece was added to our city, called “The Travelling Light,” along 96 Avenue. Other art projects such as the Bow Tower, the Peace Bridge, and some minor installations along the c-train lines downtown have been internationally recognized and have increased Calgarians’ pride. The newest addition does not receive any love or recognition – rather hatred, going as far as saying it is so ugly, it is not worth being talked about! Even our mayor says he hates it.
Well, before we can judge, we need to understand what art is about. So what is its importance?
Art is a way to express ourselves, and our thoughts. Though not crucial to our surviving like food and drink, it can indeed help clients in institutions focus on their psychological well-being. Art further defines our culture, and often pushes us to the edge of our understanding of Art.
According to the website “Do Something,” there are seven main reasons why the arts are important. Here they are:
1. They are languages that all people speak that cut across racial, cultural, social, educational, and economic barriers and enhance cultural appreciation and awareness.
2. They provide opportunities for self-expression, bringing the inner world into the outer world of concrete reality.
3. They develop both independence and collaboration.
4. They make it possible to use personal strengths in meaningful ways and to bridge into understanding sometimes difficult abstractions through these strengths.
5. They improve academic achievement – enhancing test scores, attitudes, social skills, critical and creative thinking.
6. They exercise and develop higher order thinking skills including analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and ‘problem-finding’.
7. They provide the means for every student to learn.
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There are four crucial questions, that will be answered, or will be attempted to be answered, since there is no such thing as one correct answer in Art, in four different articles. The questions are:
1. To what extent can the intention of the art collective behind a piece shape our opinion of the art piece?
2. To what extent do we have to consider the nationality of an artist, when the piece constructed is to represent a different nation?
3. To what extent is the cost of a public art project justified, if it takes money from crucial city development funds?
4. To what extent should the public actually be involved in considering the type of art paid for as ‘Public Art’?