“Art and the Human Element”

12/15/2024

Inspiration – All Arts

“Art and the Human Element”

It has always been my intent to increase the public’s awareness of the world of art. So many today, including educators and politicians have downplayed the role of the arts and the humanities. Some have evoked the “woke” movement as being unnecessary, diminishing the more personal aspects of our human development. I say, the individual should never be sacrificed for “the greater good!”

As a former educator, I was introduced to Maslow and his developmental growth theories early on in my college studies. I would like to share some of his thinking (quotes), and briefly discuss his take on human development.

“Abraham Harold Maslow (April 1, 1908 – June 8, 1970) was an American psychologist who pioneered humanistic psychology and developed ideas related to a hierarchy of needs.”

“It is too often not realized that culture itself is an adaptive tool, one of whose main functions is to make the physiological emergencies come less and less often.”

“The good or healthy society would then be defined as one that permitted people's highest purposes to emerge by satisfying all their basic needs.”

“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be.”

Maslow then went on to outline the stepping stones necessary for each one of us to develop our highest potential as a human being.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often represented as a pyramid, with the more basic needs at the bottom. As our baser needs are met consistently, we can more easily rise toward a higher state of human development or "self-actualization"

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”What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.”*

*Quotes derived from Wikipedia – Abraham Maslow

The jist of the "Theory of Human Motivation" is that once the baser, more primal needs are met, then we, as individuals may be enabled to move toward a greater fulfillment of our individual potential. As you may note, “creativity“ is toward the top of his pyramid, and is an element of “self-actualization”. In this context, creativity speaks to an appreciation of or personal engagement in the arts.

Self-actualization is gaining a greater understanding of ourselves and embracing who we are as an individual. Transcendence, (in many models, the tip of the pyramid), is where we get out of our own bubble, (ego), and start thinking in terms of being an active participant in the world around us. These last steps in our personal growth allow us to be the best we can be.

But enough about abstract theories and the need to satisfy our inner yearnings to be creative and to become a positive participant in our society.

I have written about what constitutes art in previous blog posts. I want to emphasize, once more, that art is a mind-blowing number of creative endeavors on the part of us humans. Once more, a quote from Wikipedia under the heading: Art.

“In the perspective of the history of art, artistic works have existed for almost as long as humankind: from early prehistoric art to contemporary art; however, some theorists think that the typical concept of "artistic works" does not fit well outside modern Western societies. One early sense of the definition of art is closely related to the older Latin meaning, which roughly translates to "skill" or "craft", as associated with words such as "artisan".**

**Wikipedia – Art

We should never be close-minded when it comes to diminishing the impact of art on our lives. In these times of increased environmental and interpersonal stressors, we are reminded that focusing on arts and crafts has a calming effect. As Maslow indicated, health is not just about disease or physical ailments, it is also a condition impacted by constant stress and various unhealthy mental conditions.

If we are to advance, as a society, as a species, art appreciation must be taught in the schools and vigorously supported by the educational community, parents, and the spiritual and political leaders of our nation. People, money and time must be devoted to the advancement of artistic experiences, including the various means to explore, educate and encourage individual artistic creativity in the young and the old, alike.

This part off our nature must be nurtured!

Follow your dreams – Make More Art! M.True