By studying Fine Arts Expression and Analysis, we can articulate, by engaging with art, music, or theater, an understanding of the expressive languages and the technical craft they employ, and interpret their meaning and value, either through the creation or performance of works in art, music, or theater, or through an analysis of their relation to specific cultural, historical, and theoretical contexts.

Perspectives

A jali is a person, particularly in West African countries, who performs history and stories through singing and music (jali – or jeliw (sing. jeli) – is often the preferred term to griot, which is a French colonial word). They are, to a certain extent, “musical history books” (Arif, 2021). Jalis are recorded as far back as the thirteenth century; we can find them, for instance, in the Epic of Sundiata, a thirteenth-century poem about the founding of the Malian empire. This story reveals that, not only is a jali a musician, but also holds important positions such as political advisor, diplomat, entertainer, keeper of records, and presider over marriages and funerals.

These musicians traditionally are trained within families, with songs passed down from one generation of specialized performers to the next. Young apprentices learn the history and the rituals of their people. Creativity is encouraged, as long as it does not impede accuracy (Bortolot, 2003). They practice on such instruments as the kora, which is similar to the lute, learning how to educate audiences as well as entertain them. Although instrumental music is important in the jali’s work, the history is mainly told through vocals: “Music provided the vehicle for many of [their] activities, but instrumental music always took a subordinate role to the voice” (Knight, p. 10). The jali is a highly respected member of the community, whose music preserves culture and history that might otherwise be lost.

View: “The Griot tradition of West Africa”

Concepts to Consider

Fine Arts Expression and Analysis places a focus on both creation and interpretation. The Americans for the Arts “Americans Speak Out About the Arts in 2018” (p. 3.) report compiles the benefits of practicing and studying the arts:

• Aesthetic: The arts create beauty and preserve it as part of culture.
• Creativity: The arts encourage creativity, a critical skill in a dynamic world.
• Expression: Artistic work lets us communicate our interests and visions.
• Identity: Arts goods, services, and experiences help define our culture.
• Innovation: The arts are sources of new ideas, futures, concepts, and connections.
• Preservation: Arts and culture keep our collective memories intact.
• Prosperity: The arts create millions of jobs and enhance economic health.
• Skills: Arts aptitudes and techniques are needed in all sectors of society and work.
• Social Capital: We enjoy the arts together, across races, generations, and places.

With the survey data that they collected for this report, they were able to make several interesting observations, among which are:

• An overwhelming majority of the American public (91 percent) agrees that the arts are part of a well‐rounded […] education—including 61 percent who “strongly agree.” (p. 10)
• 76 percent of those who engage in the arts believe they have a positive impact on their overall health and well‐being. 68 percent of adults agree that the arts improve healing and the healthcare experience. (p. 8)
• 55 percent of employed adults say their job requires them to be creative and come up with ideas that are new and unique. (p. 9)
• 73 percent agree that the arts “help them understand other cultures better”, and another 72 percent agree the “arts unify us, regardless of age, race, and ethnicity” (p. 8) […] People of color are slightly more likely than whites to be arts makers overall (49 percent vs. 45 percent) and significantly more likely to paint and read/write poetry. (p. 16)

What these findings reveal is that, beyond contributing to being fully educated, there are health (see Personal Wellness in chapter 5.7) and career benefits to engaging with Fine Arts Expression and Analysis. These skills also contribute to engaging with and developing empathy for Diverse Perspectives (see chapter 5.2).

In their 2021 report “Art for Life’s Sake: The Case for Arts Education,” the American Academy of Arts & Sciences echoes many of these benefits, stating that the arts play “a vital role in the personal and professional development of citizens and, more broadly, the economic growth and social sustainability of communities.” They describe increases in observation, problem-solving, innovation, critical thinking, and communication skills along with reduced intolerance and increased appreciation for other cultures.

Studies have also indicated specific benefits from individual arts. Adam T. Tierney, Jennifer Krizman, and Nina Kraus (2015) found that in-school music training accelerates neurodevelopment and literacy skills (see also Kraus & White-Schwoch for further studies on musicians’ brains and neuroplasticity). Those who practice music also see improvements in memory and memorization skills, hand-eye coordination, math and pattern recognition, auditory skills, spatial intelligence, and imagination and intellectual curiosity (“Important Benefits of Music In Our Schools,” 2014). The art of drawing has potential for health: “Picking up a pencil or charcoal and mindfully making marks connects us to our haptic skills, or sense of touch, and offers a respite or rest from the relentless digital drain, which is important for mental health” (D’Silva, 2023 – see also Mastandrea, Fagioli, & Biasi, 2019; see Ilari and Eun Cho, 2023, for similar results concerning performing music). Indeed, according to the study of Xuguang Jin and Yuan Ye (2022), fine arts education in general is associated with psychological well-being.

At the same time that we consider all of these benefits of Fine Arts Expression and Analysis, we do need to remember that participating in the arts can simply be enjoyable!

Fine Arts Expression and Analysis and Good, Necessary Trouble

A form of “good, necessary trouble” is what has been called creative resistance. Susan Karlin (2017) explains how creative resistance was a “strategy employed during [the] 1960s civil rights movement, whose architects coordinated novel clandestine tactics and revealed them at opportune times to throw opponents off guard.” The NPR series We Insist collected the protest songs and music videos produced during 2020. The Protest Plays Project identifies and shares protest-inspired short plays with calls for plays on #THEATREACTIONVOTE!, #THEATREACTIONIMMIGRATION, and #THEATREACTIONGUNCONTROL and advice on how to use plays and monologues during marches or other events. Even the logo for Black Lives Matter is an artistic rendering that has been used by other artists (see “How to Draw Black Lives Matter Fist” step-by-step video).

While some of this artistic work is more permanent or easy to document, some is not. The Creative Resistance Project is a “Showcase for Activist Art,” and its categories help us think a bit about what types of creative resistance there can be (although, in reality, there is no limit on creativity): music, visual art, poetry, performance art, animation, puppets, and protest signs. In the Women’s Marches, starting in 2017, art of all kinds was on display “from whimsical signs, costumes, and T-shirts, to unleashing satirical songs and drawings on social media, to theaters, art shows, and apparel raising money for such advocates as Planned Parenthood, American Civil Liberties Union, and the Southern Poverty Law Center” (Karlin). The Urban Art Mapping research documents and analyzes “street art responding to moments of friction and crisis,” and they have a digital database of “tags, graffiti, murals, stickers, and other installations on walls, pavement, and signs” that developed around the world after the death of George Floyd. Such art, while they “have the ability to capture raw and immediate individual and community responses,” they are “by nature ephemeral” with meaning that “shifts over time” (Shirey, 2020). Digital methods, such as photographs, social media, and homemade videos, certainly help to preserve acts of creative resistance that would otherwise be lost once the march is over.

There is some artwork that is itself all digital. Beautiful Trouble is a project that trains people in creative tactics for social movements and grassroots organizing. One of these tactics is guerilla projection, the act of projecting messages or other images on the side of buildings, which is relatively low-tech, can be immediately changed, and is easy to transport. Beautiful Trouble does offer advice on potential risks. In the case of guerilla projection, it is mostly an ethical concern: “The technology is very powerful, ‘spectacular’ in nature, and often under the control of one person or a small group who could potentially manipulate a large and impressionable crowd. This power needs to be kept accountable to the broader group, and should be wielded with great care” (see Ethical Reasoning in chapter 5.3.). The positive is that there is a smaller chance of destruction of property with light projection.

On June 7, 2023, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts raised a Pride flag over the state house with political leaders unofficially declaring Massachusetts a safe haven for LGBTQ+ people. Drag performers were invited to that event, marking the political nature of drag art, particularly in light of legislation and bans on drag performances (and drag story hours) around the country. As a result, drag performance has become a form of protest (in truth, it has always been) and, as such, has also become a dangerous form of artistic expression in some circumstances with performers fearing acts of violence. Bans also threaten the livelihood of these artists (Hall, 2023).

There has been a trend in recent climate change protests of vandalizing famous works of art in order to draw attention to the issue. These incidents have included protestors gluing themselves to Johannes Vermeer’s seventeenth-century Girl With a Pearl Earring, others throwing soup on Vincent Van Gogh’s The Sower (1888), and tossing paint on Claude Monet’s The Artist’s Garden at Giverny (1900).  This particular form of protest has drawn quite a bit of discussion and mixed responses. Some have likened these incidents to performance art, while many people question the ethics of such acts that potentially could harm world heritage (see Ethical Reasoning in chapter 5.3).

See also the Met’s collection of “Art, Protest, and Public Space” with protest art from the eighteenth century to the present.

Discussion 5.4

• If you have already taken a course with a primary focus on Fine Arts Expression and Analysis, think about what you were asked to do and what you learned. If you have not already taken a Fine Arts Expression and Analysis course, think about the types of courses you could take.
• In what ways did or might the idea(s) or example(s) discussed above apply in such a course?
• What other ideas or examples would you add to the discussion?