Where Has all the Great Art Gone?

When you think about where all the great art in this world and where has it gone, I'm here to tell you that between the AIDS crisis, the drug and alcohol epidemic, and the mental health crisis in America, the ART hasn't left. It's trapped in prisons, psych wards, and at your local bar or traphouse. I speak from experience. Before I became a full-time artist, I was a full-time drunk who was lost in the criminal justice system, psych wards, and the local bar and traphouse. It seems that creative genius comes with an IQ and EQ that needs to be heavily medicated.

Self-image is a problem for the best of us, but an even bigger problem for artists. Addiction is often described as an image problem. Artists are creative geniuses but art is not valued in today's societies. Respect the hustle culture has gone too far and money is considered far more valuable than art. Empires have risen and fallen since the dawn of time, but the art, science, literature and philosphy remain through it all. We need to change the way we look at artists in this country and give them the respect they deserve.

The crime against art begins in our public schools. In an effort to increase test scores on standardized tests, we have sacrificed art, recess, drug prevention programs, and physical fitness all to our detriment. These are all activities that they offer in psych wards; art therapy is therapy, music therapy is therapy. The elimination of these programs has created the mental health crisis in the United States. There is more to life than the regurgitation of facts. A career is nice, but we need to strive have a life, complete with art, hobbies, and self-care.

A popular meme of social media says something like, "I've never needed entertainers for anything, but I need the police and truckers every day." I respectfully disagree with this. Every night after work, you need an entertainer, whether it is Netflix, a book, Spotify, or the local sports game. Entertainment makes life worth living. It takes your mind of your problems, gives you a sense of community, and makes you realize that you're not as alone in this world as you think.

I started writing music lyrics when I went into drug abuse recovery. I told the page the things I used to tell the men I fell in love with. The heartbreak, the lust, the obsession, the eventual despair. It's all trapped in the love song. I've written poems, painted paintings, and wrote a book. The alcohol and drugs had destroyed the creative genius within me, but once in recovery, the art came back with a vengeance.

Visit a local prison, or get to know someone who has been to prison, and they will tell you all about the art trapped within those prison walls. A prisoner with artistic ability will write poems and sell them for cigarettes; the buyer will send his honey the poem and she'll think he wrote it just for her. You can hear rappers in the prison yard as well. However, victim mentality thinking, living in survival mode or at a rock bottom, prevents a person from being relaxed enough to express their true artistic ability. The AIDS crisis and the resulting deaths took a lot of art away from us as well.

An intellectual revolution started with the advent of the internet, and now brains are as sexy as money. But again, a full life, a life worth living includes art, artists and trips to the museum. Everything in moderation as they say. This includes work, self-care, family, friends, and artistic hobbies. Don't work too much, think too much, or drink too much. The devil is in these details. The United States does not have enough happy-medium type people. We all seem to be go big or go home type people.

In my opinion, if you are creating art on any level, you are winning. The art you leave behind will be looked at by future generations to come in your family. Art is an expression of the political and economic climate in a country. I use the word Art is the broadest terms possible. Music, literature, paintings, sculptures, are all examples of art.

And if someone tells you that you are wasting time on your art, remind them that empires rise and fall, but the art, science, literature, and philosphy remain. If you don't believe me, think of what we remember about Ancient Greece or the Dark Ages. Do you know the name of the kings and queens of the time, or do you remember the art from that time? I'll bet you remember the art.

The next time you want to spend your paycheck at the bar, I would suggest saving your money and staying home to pursue your artistic pursuits. I've never woken up sober and wished I blew my paycheck at the bar. Instead, I wake up sober and realize my art will be here for generations to come. In fact, it will be my legacy. A legacy of artistic pursuits is a much nobler legacy than being a bar fly, I promise.