Values of Art

Art takes on many forms, it all depends on what you think of when you hear the term “art”. Music, painting, drawing, dance and models are all forms of art. Whether you think of physical or demonstrated or even non visual forms, art is a way of expression. People have used art for centuries to express many things, whether it was to depict a battle a ruler, or even models of technology. Wherever you look, art has made some kind of impact. Yo-Yo Ma writes about the impact of the musical form of art in his essay, “Necessary Edges: Arts, Empathy, and Education”. Ma is a renowned cellist who envelopes the idea of the true impact of art in the education world. On a bit of a different scale, Jonah Lehrer discusses the usage of art within the scientific fields like neurology and physics in his essay, “The Future of Science…Is Art?”. Lehrer reaches interesting points as in what the impact of art is on the scientific community. I chose to challenge the idea of art in its impacts on part of the mental health aspect, similar to Ma, but focus on the specific effects art has on anxiety. In “Anxiety and Art in the Public Eye” by Amanda Chambala MA, Chambala explains the impacts of art therapy on anxiety patients and how it works to allow them to express their nerves. Science is often the only way to directly understand what is happening in one’s mind. However,  art may be the connecting element to mental health and the science behind our minds. 

Yo-Yo Ma is not only an award-winning cellist, but also a songwriter who studied at both Juilliard and Harvard. Ma introduces the ideas of connecting science and arts to create a better understanding of thoughts and emotions. He discusses the use of STEAM versus STEM within schools, STEAM involves integrating the arts within the ideas of math and science in education, “The values behind arts integration–collaboration, flexible thinking, and disciplined imagination–lead to the capacity to innovate”(Ma 258). By this, Ma expresses how he believes the use of art can positively change learning.

Joanh Lehrer discusses the use of art within the world of science in his article, “The Future of Science…Is Art?” and how it’s impacted science in the past and how it continues to impact it as we move forward in life. Lehrer uses the examples of Niels Bohr used models of the solar system in order to grasp the reality of it, back in the 1920s. He reaches on the ideas of the connections between the arts and science by mentioning the use of models to get a better grasp on the ideas of what you’re trying to understand. Lehrer simply states that art is needed in science, “Science needs the arts. We need to find a place for the artist within the experimental process, to rediscover what Bohr observed when he looked at those cubist paintings”(Lehrer 2). He explains how the connections enable scientists to be more expressive in their work with arts. 

Amanda Chambala from Binghamton, New York explains the connections of treating mental health, such as anxiety, using forms of art in her article, “Anxiety and Art Therapy: Treatment in the Public Eye”. Chambala talks about the commonality of anxiety within the populations and how it’s one of the most common mental health issues within the states. She discusses the benefits of art in treating anxiety and how the expression of emotions through a physical and more positive construct. Art therapy comes in many forms, whether it’s painting, drawing, playing or creating music, or even sculpting. The forms of art therapy are endless and allow for anyone with anxiety to be able to find a way to express themselves. Using art to help ease anxiety connects art to science in it being a form of almost “medication” for patients, “The power of art therapy for persons diagnosed with anxiety lies within the idea that the creative process allows clients to engage in both self-expression and personal exploration (Liebmann, 1990)”(Chambala 187). 

The way I see all three of these articles connecting is simple, they all explore art in the scientific world. Ma discusses art in the form of music, Lehrer compares artistic models in physics and neuroscience, and Chambala shows the impact of arts as a whole on mental health. Each article uses versions of art in science, but each version is still a form of art. Art helps to discover and connect emotions, thus positively impacting the scientific world. I believe each author has their valid points, but overall they all prove the power of art within science.

Works Cited

Chambala, Amanda. “Anxiety and Art Therapy: Treatment in the Public Eye” Art Therapy. Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association. 22 Apr. 2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2019

Lehrer, Jonah. “The Future of Science…Is Art?” Seed. Seed Magazine, 16 Jan. 2008. Web. 23 Oct. 2019.

Ma, Yo-Yo. “Necessary Edges: Arts, Empathy, and Education” HuffPost. HuffPost News. 21 Jan. 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2019.