Art: a Way of Expressing Feelings and Interacting

Much of the people enjoy going to art galleries, concerts or reading a pleasant book. In most of these cases, the artist behind all these art forms tries to communicate his public what his inner feelings and emotions are. And this is exactly what art is about: expressing oneself. However, art conveys a much deeper meaning; and this is the fact that it can provide disable people many opportunities they have never thought about. Through art people with either physical or mental limitations are able to communicate, to express themselves, and even to interact socially in a way that was not possible for them.

In the last few years, it became popular the insertion of art programs in prisons. These programs have the aim to “offer an engaging and humanising option for inmates to engage in the rehabilitative process” (Djurichlovic 12). The art programs are “beneficial as they provide the participant inmate with a positive relationship that is not based around authority, one that also provides a link to the outside world” (Djurichlovic 6). Thus, these programs are favourable to the individual prisoners as they can express their feelings, but at the same time, they are beneficial to the society as the prisoners are in contact with other people apart from their cell mates. Additionally, this helps the reinsertion of the prisoner into society as they acquire new skills that might help them survive once they are freed. In all, prison art programs have a positive result both for the individual person and the whole society.

 Painting, which is another way of expressing oneself, is thought to be exclusive for only few people. In this way, it is believed that mental or physical disabled people are not able to produce a masterpiece; however, “some of the best artists deal with disabilities in the everyday lives” (Angela West), and use art as a way of communicating with the rest of the world. Iris Grace Halmshaw is one of these artists. She is a three-year-old girl who was diagnosed with autism two years ago. Iris “cannot talk yet due to her autism but she is able to express herself through beautiful paintings that have been sold to collectors for hundreds of dollars” (Huffpost Arts & Culture). She began painting as part of her therapy and quickly, she began to love it. Irish, as many other disable artists, show that despite their mental or physical condition, they are able to develop into artists, even though their mental or physical conditions.

Contrary to the stereotype that deaf people cannot enjoy music, is the fact that they do enjoy music in diverse ways. One of them is through the vibrations produced when an instrument is played. A second way is signed songs, where they sign the lyrics, and at the same time “they put a lot of expression in their faces to convey the meaning of the words” (Samantha Monroe). Moreover, deaf people “perform music and create it as well” (Samantha Monroe); in other words, deaf people learn to play instruments, contrary to what is socially thought. The most renowned example is the German musician Ludwig van Beethoven; who despite being deaf composed and played symphonies in a way that almost anyone can do. However, he was not the only one; surely, there must be many more cases resembling Beethoven, where deaf people become musicians who delight people with their talent, in spite of their hearing problems.

It does not matter what kind of art -painting, music, dance or literature- is being used to express oneself. The important thing is that by means of any art form, people disabled or not, with either physical or mental limitations, or even prisoners, can be able to express their inner feelings and emotions. This is possible due to the fact that art is by no way discriminatory. On the contrary, it is by virtue of arts that many children and adults have managed to gain their insertion in society, such is the case of prisoners; or even, it made possible to open a channel of communication and social interactions, such as with autistic or deaf people. And above all, due to art many people have pursued their dreams of becoming artist even though their limitations.

Works Cited

-----.“Iris Halmshaw, 3-year-old with Autism, Can’t Talk; But her Beautiful Paintings Sell for Hundreds”. Huffpost Arts & Culture. Mar 7, 2013. Web. Jul 7, 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/>

Djurichkovic, Alexandra. Art in Prison. A Literature Review of the Philosophies and Impacts of Visual Arts Programms for Correctional Populations. Australia: UTS Shopfron Student Series, 2011. Web. Jul 7, 2013. <http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/>

Monroe, Samantha. “Deaf Music”. Music in the World. A Space to Explore Music and Meaning. Dec 2, 2012. Web. Jul 7, 2013. <http://blogs.longwood.edu/ >

West, Angela. “The Amazing Art of Disabled Artist”. Web Designer Depot. Mar 12, 2010. Web. Jul 7, 2013.  <http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/>