Some little one

Sometimes when I walk by the library and see the posters for art classes for children I imagine myself as a little girl. How happy I would have been if I could go to a library when I was a child and make arts and crafts. The idea of blinging up a bag, or making a little book would have lit up eight year old Deanne. 

So when I see those posters I think how important it is to support those projects. To make art accessible to every child whether or not they can afford it. Last year the studio's Create Beauty Everyday Foundation was able to support art supplies for the library's children's program. The foundation was created for that, to help  people get access to art and creativity without boundaries. It also supports the food bank and other such projects because of course, basic needs have to be met before we can start thinking about creativity or making art. 

Art is important. In Maslow's hierarchy of needs he suggests that our aesthetic needs are related to both self esteem and self actualization. And isn't that true. The sense of accomplishment we get when we learn a new task or finish a piece of work. It makes so much sense. Art and beauty are far more than the trivial needs we seek after we have been fed and clothed. They are essential to us as human beings. They help us see the world around us, deepen our thinking, and comfort and soothe us. And human beings have sought this out for thousands of years. David Zhang published an article in the Science Bulletin in 2021 that says that humans have played and explored for thousands of years, and that the first human artwork could be two hundred and twenty six thousand years old. There is scientific evidence that we are wired for art and creativity. (Your Brain on Art, Magsamen and Ross)

We want to make, we always have. It is a basic human drive. 

And we have this need to create. 

I have this need to see what is in my minds eye come to life.

As a child I always wanted to make things. I can still remember the art room in the basement of Holy Rosary School. How those dry bricks of six watercolours came to life when we added water. How the light filtered in those basement windows and the dust floated down on the pads of paper. I remember how it felt to lay the paint on that paper. How it felt to wet the brush. That was the only exposure to art I ever had as a child. And I loved it. I can still close my eyes and stand in that room in my blue uniform and feel the sun on me. I wanted more of that.

And I want more of that for all children, I want them to know that it feels good to make. That creating is meaningful and good and good for you. Everyone deserves this, not just those who can afford it. And libraries are beautiful that way, they are for everyone, and we all get the benefit of them. And so I believe in them, and our foundation supports them so that some little girl, some little child will have the chance to walk down to the library and make stuff. 

And perhaps that chance to make will make a big difference. I think it can because art is for everyone. It is a balm. It heals. It serves. It saves. And it is for us all.