One of the quintessential aspects of the human experience in the journey is to find one’s true identity. But within the fine arts, one does more than merely find oneself: people create themselves and in turn create art in all its forms. At WHS, the Fine Arts programs from art, to theatre, band, choir and more, provide the canvas for students to become a source of creation in the modern world.
When words fail, art speaks. As a result of the digital age, a barrier is cast between people. Yet it is in the many avenues of the Fine Arts programs that this boundary is dissipated. Art demands unfiltered connection between the artist, their art, and their audience.
“My favorite aspect of being in the arts is being able to meet all the different types of people involved with theater. Even though we are all different, when we enter the stage, we all become family no matter who you’re with,” sophomore Blake Nelson said. “I feel as if theater has prepared me to be a leader in the world.”
Yet in addition to manifesting connection, art has the unique ability to alter one’s perspective, for an artist by nature is forced to see depth in all things. Far too often students are taught to compromise in order to fulfill an expected standard, but the fine arts allow each student to create this standard for themselves.
“Art allows us to contextualize emotion. I think art allows us to create and understand a reality in which those amassed experiences have human meaning. Music for me specifically became the only opportunity to approach life and emotion on my own terms,” senior JT Baker said. “It fills up the empty spaces in our heads, allowing us to express that which we feel but cannot understand, which, for better or for worse, leaves lasting impressions on our growing minds.”
The purpose of art, in essence, is to transcribe the inexpressible into the tangible. Thus, through the fine arts, students are given the key to release the isolation, fear, and confusion that makes one human in this world, proving that no one is ever truly alone in the fine arts.
“To me, fine arts has helped me become more comfortable with myself and my expression. I’m more open to different ideas and able to express myself through art where I cannot in ‘real life’,” an art student said. “I believe art is the key to creating a more accepting environment for all. Regardless of political stance, identity, sexuality, whatever, we can all relate to and enjoy art in some way.”
The fine arts provide the platform to express empathy and compassion to students, a place where everyone belongs.
“In the arts you get to be yourself. We have so many different types of people, and everyone is accepted. We are here to make music and work together as a group. There’s nothing else in the world like making music with 50 other students,” senior Jana Zacharias said. “Making music like that has taught me so much compassion.”
Art is for and inside everyone, and now more than ever it is imperative that fine art programs are readily accessible to the artists of the world so that they can rise up to continue creating art and empathy in the face of seemingly endless division. Let your words bleed onto paper, sing your silent song, play the music trapped in your mind, and paint the beauty of your imagination, for it is through the honesty of art that creation is born.
“Who gets to say that certain people cannot create? That is why I firmly resent the idea that there are certain people that are cut out to ‘be artists’ and the ‘rest of the world’ are separated from that ideal,” Baker said. “I don’t think that art in any form has any place being socially exclusionary, and I would like to think that this is a value shared by the structure of the facilities given to us fine arts students. I can’t think of a better opportunity to give a young adult a chance to grow into themselves than through the arts.”