This past weekend, I attended a conference and one of the breakout sessions was titled Beautifying Through Art. Two of my favorite topics, beauty and art. The facilitator introduced herself then began to share attributes of beauty.
Florence
“Beauty is unpossesive~we are drawn to beauty in a non-selfish way.” There is no ulterior motive for enjoying beauty, other than to purely enjoy it.
“Beauty is unselving~it takes us out of ourselves.” We forget about “me” and get lost in the mesmerizing effect of beauty.
“Beauty tends to be unprecedented and incomparable~it has a sense of being new.” Beauty always seems fresh, unable to be captured in it’s full essence.
“Beauty is life giving~it quickens your heart and if it leaves, it retracts your heart.” When we partake it beauty, all of our senses are engaged. If the beauty, like a sun set fades, so does our beating heart.
“Beauty evokes in us a desire to protect.” We protect by placing beauty in museums, in photographs on our refrigerators.
“Beauty evokes a desire for us to share.” We can’t wait to tell someone about what we just experienced. We want the reach of beauty’s hand, to extend.
“Beauty points to life, reconciliation and justice.”
Pieta
She quoted Iris Murdoch, “The enjoyment of art is a training in the love of virtue.”
I know right?! I’m still digesting the idea of exploring the virtues of art and beauty. And to think, this was just the first 10 minutes of our session. We went on to talk about the universal language of art and how beauty can transform the ugliest of places, oppressed cities and even awaken sleeping souls. What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear your response to any of the above statements.
“Beauty tends to be unprecedented and incomparable~it has a sense of being new.” This is so true! No matter how large or small the object of beauty is, we are only viewing it from one vantage point at a time, in the present light and from our own perspective. Turn, or blink and it is different. It changes as we capture it with our camera. It is both fleeting and enduring.
That must have been an amazing conference! Was it ‘The Creative Connection’? I must attend that next year!
You are so right…it is hard to capture it’s full essence.
No, it wasn’t the Creative Connection…(I so wanted to be there too). It was a local conference in Baltimore with people who are serving in our city with homelessness, sex trafficking, beautifying through arts and addictions. It was really inspiring!
Oh that sounds wonderful! I wish I had known about it! I live nearby, in Severna Park, and have wanted to get more involved in community services. So glad to hear that good things are going on; I just love that city!
Love that quote from Iris Murdoch! I feel like often in our modern world, we are so inundated with images, it is difficult sometimes for us to truly see the beauty around us. We don’t see the forest for the trees, so to speak. One of the things I love most about art & visiting galleries and museums is that it forces you to stop, take a moment and really look and absorb what you’re seeing ( beautiful or not ). I also find that getting away & out into the wild helps spur my own creativity.
PS– That group sounds really interesting! Do they have a website you could link to?
I love that we are forced to stop and pause and enjoy the beauty in museums and galleries. I love that sometimes they take us back to a different time, or to a different place. Chris Ann and I love travel for the very same reason, it fuels your soul and your creativity. We find we always return with new ideas and a renewed desire to create. The group is a new one in Baltimore. It was formed as a way for those serving in Baltimore to network and share resources. Sorry, no web site.
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