The Wright Advice: The Importance of Artistic Expression

Hey everyone, I’m Kyle Chmielowski the Editor in Chief of the Wright Times and I am so excited to be bringing back the Wright Advice series that I started last fall. 

 I chose to write about the value of art and how artistic expression brings out the best in you because I know that whether you’re into literary, visual, or performing arts being an artist can be challenging, we have to accept our vulnerabilities and get over our insecurities and just put our work out there.

One of my favorite movies of all time is Dead Poets Society because it emphasizes this message that giving your art to humanity is meaningful. Robin Williams, quoting Walt Whitman’s poem “O me! O Life!” says in the movie,“ The powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.”

Art is a chance to leave a mark on society, and to be inspired as an artist it requires the belief that your creative ideas are special. Art leads to a transformation in your own soul as well as inspiring others. To give people a break from the problems of everyday life by entertaining them or helping them relate with their feelings is one of the greatest gifts we can give humanity.

 Kurt Vonnegut said, “The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable.” Entertainment is charity because inspiring and fascinating people and making people laugh gives people a sense of living and escapism that even if its momentary is still meaningful.

Also if you truly love artistic expression you’ll embrace it when nobody is watching. Now in this semester I have poetry and short stories published in two publications and people get to witness my passion for performing arts as I act in Batboy the Musical. 

To share art is a gift that deserves special appreciation, but just because my art is more public doesn’t give it more meaning. No, when I was a teenager and wrote poetry to cope with my inability to understand growing up and why I felt behind and why I blamed myself for not having many friends, those poems are some of the most meaningful to me and nobody to this day has seen that poetry except for myself.

Art should have a definitive purpose, to entertain, to cope with life’s difficulties, or inspire but social media culture has discouraged our desire to create for ourselves in some ways because it has solidified this notion that to be a successful artist is to have a higher like count on Instagram, when really art should be a way of expressing what you see of the world in your way made mainly for you. If other people like your art that’s an added bonus but your main goal as an authentic artist should be to discover how art makes you feel more alive.

I encourage artists to seek meaning in their work beyond being a “successful” artist. What are you waiting for? Make art, express yourself, be open about how you see the world. Put your creativity out there, let go of your anxiety and ignore the insecurities because the world is always in need of your unique talents.