How Do YOU Show Your Art?
“Artists might explore an ancient myth, the experience of a kiss, the disasters of war, unrequited love, or the tension between two rectangles – but no matter what their subjects, they are all speaking with the same vocabulary and the same elements of art. Because the language of art evolves, art changes with time and comes to us through the voices of different artists. But art is a language not just of growth and change but of reinvention and recycling.” The Art of Looking (Esplund, 87)
You don’t have to identify as an artist to create art. We can all create art. Art can be anything from writing, poetry, dancing, playing music, singing, making a collage, scrapbooking, knitting, basket weaving, cooking, baking, and many more. Every form of expression is an art.
We created this project to help people understand why murals -specifically San Antonio’s Westside murals- are important to us and should be to everyone. Now we want to show you who we are and how we show our art.
My name is Daniela and I show my art by reading, writing short stories and preserving insects. I believe that many people are conditioned to fear insects and sadly we forget how beautiful they can really be. Many insects even help us in our day to day life and we don’t even realize it. By incorporating it into art, I think it shows people how to be less afraid and to understand insects a bit better. And I use a very similar thought process in my writing. When I write I think about how I can use my own life experiences and turn them into something that could resonate with other people.
Alt Text: A cropped image of a girl with dyed blonde hair and brown eyes wearing a beige top. 
Alt Text: A green leaf looking insect called a Phylliidae mounted on a wooden stand in front of an assortment of classic leather bound novels.
My name is Camryn Blackmon. I show my art through painting and drawing. When I was in high school, I attended SAY Sí, a non-profit art organization where I expressed my identity and worries through art projects almost every day after school. When I draw and paint, I express and understand my anxiety and depression and explore my identity. Art has been an outlet but also a way to conceptualize things in my life.
Now whenever you show your art, ask yourself….
- Are you conscious of yourself as an individual when you create art? If so, does your identity come into play when you’re sketching or thinking about a piece? If not, does your identity find a way into your art subconsciously? And reflect on why this is? How is your identity reflected in your art?
- What do you want people to feel about your art? For example, do you seek to inspire, educate or just make someone feel happy?
- What does your art make YOU feel?
These same questions can be applied to the murals that you have just viewed. They all had an objective, some were simple and light and others included heavier subject matter. The purpose of this project is primarily to help close the gaps in historic art spaces, but also to help you look at murals a little different than before. So next time you look at your mural ask yourself, “what did the artists want us to know with their art”.
All art is different. Our art is unique and so is yours.
