One of my favorite exercises is to try to see the art in everyday things that surround us but largely go unseen. I can often be found contemplating the compositional arrangement of multicolored gas meters on the side of a building, or the rhythmic patterns cast into the tops of manhole covers, or even the rough poetry inherent in the profile of an idle and rusting steel plant against a setting sun. My wife will tell you that this can lead to some hair-raising driving experiences, but she also gives me credit for opening her mind to seeing and feeling our surroundings in a different way.
I urge you to take the time to look and listen; music underlies the rhythm of a ceiling fan, there is beautiful ballet in the way rushing water moves around an immovable object (as Leonardo Da Vinci so famously observed), and the red of a ripe tomato in a green garden would put any painter to shame. There have been notable artists and movements dedicated to sources of inspiration such as those, most of which we wouldn’t have thought to see on a gallery wall or heard in a concert hall before they helped open our minds.
The list is very long indeed, stretching from the likes of John Cage to Andy Warhol, and stretching back throughout history. Early landscape painters during the Renaissance reminded observers that the everyday could be evocative amidst the allegorical, and composers such as Antonín Dvořák evoked the sounds of the world around us to deepen the resonance of their works. In dance, performers often provide their own percussion accompaniment using the instruments of their own bodies. If we open our eyes and our hearts, there is art in nearly everything that surrounds us.
Speaking of the arts in our lives, October is National Arts & Humanities Month, with some very special events happening statewide, planned by the Ohio Arts Council and many other groups, in tribute to the importance of arts and culture to our quality of life. To learn more about what’s going on and what you can do to help, go to www.ArtsinOhio.com .
At The Music Settlement, we have many people who work hard every day to make the arts come to life for our community. One of them is Donna Baznik, who brings literature alive in the hearts of children in her position as librarian for our Early Childhood Day School and Preschool programs. For many years, Donna has shared her love for great children’s books with the youngest of The Music Settlement’s students. With the assistance of the staff and parent committee she has led the effort to create the library, a wonderful resource on the second floor of the Early Childhood building. When you walk in the room, the many shelves are overflowing with books, CD’s, resource kits, stuffed animals, posters, and other materials all destined to promote literacy, spoken narrative, and imagination within the minds of the very young. If you spend any time with Donna, you’ll learn that books are her passion, and that she’s dedicated to igniting that passion in children from an early age and onward.
Donna has announced that in June of 2010 she will retire as librarian and move on to the next chapter of her life with her husband Dick, who is also no stranger to The Music Settlement. If you have the opportunity during Donna’s triumphal retirement tour over the next nine months, please wish her the very best and thank her for all she has done to make a difference in the lives of children. As the son, nephew, and brother of librarians, I can tell you that they are a truly precious asset in our world. Books are a pathway to what can be, and the earlier we are each able to recognize that value, the better chance we have to reach our potential.
Enjoy this year Donna, as we have enjoyed all those that preceded it with you.
Have a great week!
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