| Stimulus rich environments improve learning, make us more alert and get oxygen to our brain. Drawing is usually the first language we learn and sometimes one that is forgotten to easily. Usually at school when our art is marked down because it doesn’t fit the criterion of the classroom or is not representatively accurate or some other such exam-ple. When we are told or we accept that we can’t draw the five year old uninhibited artist who found no problem filling pages with original expressive drawings gets lost.The commodification of music has come along the same lines from not something we enjoy and can express ourselves with and socialise around but something that is perceived to be professional and a waste of our time unless it is exploitable by business. The music business does much to destroys the amateur enjoyment and development of music.The scratching sound of a child practicing violin should be music to our ears because it is part of a basic primal instinct to express ourselves that is original and our own and one we can enjoy and share with others.
Theatre was not invented by the arts council, it had a tradition in schools long before the arts council deemed what was worthy or not and before then in villages, hamlets and towns all over the land. Theatre was and is part of a story telling tradition, a carrier of news, an extension of language, a participatory event. Theatre is just as at home in the freedom of the street as the auditoriums for only those who can afford it. |
We need to find this wee person again. We need to creating environments where folk can find their own growth and creativity. A mother with two kids and a meager income exercises as much creativity getting through the day as the visual or performing artist. Living a creative life is about much more than making artifacts. It is about adding to the rich tapestry of humankind, passing skills and traditions. It is about what you make it, not what convention decided’s it is. |