Page 69 - Senior Link Magazine Winter 2025 - Online Magazine

HONORING SENIORS

THE TRANSFORMATIVE

POWER of

Art and Music

by Ann McDonald

ne way Webster’s Dictionary defines Inspiration
“art” is as “a skill acquired by
Oexperience, study, or observation,” forever captivated by the concept that he/she
actually “made” that mark.
which implies that art includes not only
paintings and sculptures but also the art of Art certainly changed my life. When I was nine
medicine, the art of architecture, and especially years old (in 1944 during WWII), my family
the art of music as well as many other and I spent four months in Cambridge, MA.
qualities of life. The lyrics to John Denver’s My mother took advantage of that time to
song, “Annie’s Song” (You Fill Up My Senses) make frequent visits to the Boston Museum
express how most of us react when we are of Fine Arts. That exposure to various forms
emotionally affected by something we see, of artistic expression, especially the Japanese
hear, taste, feel, or smell. Art has a way of woodblock prints and a simulated Zen sand
“filling our senses.” Be it a favorite song, a garden, broadened my world in a way that
treasured photograph, a recipe from Mama’s influenced me for a lifetime!
kitchen, or a magnificent painting by one of the
old masters, art stirs something inside us. The good news is that you don’t have to travel
to the Northeast to have such experiences—the
A new book, Your Brain on Art, by Susan South Plains is blessed to have an enviable
Magsamen and Ivy Ross, explains why variety of arts to experience! The live music
viewing or making art and listening to music scene in the area is legendary: Texas Tech
improve our mood and mental wellness. The University School of Performing Arts, Lubbock
authors explore how the brain responds to Christian University and South Plains College
aesthetic and artistic experiences and makes departments of music and theater along
the case that art is good for our physical and with commercial venues for theater and area
mental health. musicians. The Lubbock Symphony Orchestra
gives us myriad opportunities to hear the
Art appreciation is as old as mankind—the Classics, Contemporary compositions, Pop
cave drawings found many years ago in France music, and even watch a movie with the
are estimated to be approximately 20,000 soundtrack played by the orchestra. The LSO
years old, as are the same type of drawings Youth Orchestra invites the community to
by Aboriginal inhabitants of Australia. Who enjoy local high school student performances,
began humming and whistling sounds that, and the Cactus Theater hosts amazing acts
through the millennia, have led to our enjoying year around. “Wall art” can be seen in a variety
the many types of music we enjoy now?
of galleries and museums and, of course, the
In my opinion, the urge to sing or draw or annual Lubbock Arts Festival gives thousands
enjoy another’s work are primal urges to which of visitors the chance to “fill up” their senses.
we respond unconsciously. An art history Art is good for you—body, mind, and spirit.
lecturer quoted an author who declared that I encourage you to make it a delightful priority.
when a child first makes a mark on a piece of
paper (or even the bedroom wall), that child is

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