I have often walked through contemporary art galleries or sat through an avant guard version of, say, The Master and the Margarita and found myself saying "I don't get it."  And I have an undergraduate degree in Art History and a graduate degree in Arts in Education.  With all that education, I think I'm supposed to "get it."
 
What I have learned through my advanced studies and over time is that all art is a form of expression and a vehicle for sharing a thought, an idea or a message.  What makes art unique is the communication that happens during the experience of viewing art; it's an unspoken communication between artist and viewer.  Once the artwork is complete, the artist hands his/her interpretation over to us (the viewer) to connect to it however we may and draw our own conclusions. 
 
During this communication between what the artist presents and what the viewer sees, the work inspires a reaction: small, big, intense or soft.  It is the voice and we are the ears and eyes that receive that message.  However art is a bit of a puzzle and in order to piece it together, it requires us to take time noticing all the details from the piece, to spend a moment digesting what we've seen, and to ask ourselves questions about the work.  So it requires a little bit of work on our part to "get" that message, and it will be slightly different for every viewer.
 
To give an example of this process, recently there was a huge controversy in Boston over a mural painted by Os Gemeos (twin brothers Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo from Brazil) who recently finished a colorful mural on the side of a ventilation building in Dewey Square, a location in downtown Boston. I had the pleasure of performing on the opposite side of the building one weekend and watched a bit as the mural took shape.  Several days later, I read about a huge reaction from members of my community about the work.  I'll post that picture now, so that you can see the mural and begin to formulate some ideas about the work:

During the local Fox 25 coverage of the newest mural in downtown Boston, one particular observer voiced an opinion that it looked "like a terrorist."  Fox went on to post the image to their Facebook site asking what its viewers thought it looked like. Additionally the posting included an image with a large mechanical crane in front of the mural, leading people to make assumptions that it was a gun. With a few more Facebook postings about a the mural looking like a terrorist, it caused a conflagration on their page from commenter agreeing, disagreeing, commenting and arguing with each other.
 
I stated already, art inspires a reaction.  And that every person bring their own background into forming an opinion about what they see.  Since September 11th, America is understandably weary of terrorist groups that may potential bring more harm to our shores.  And we have every right to be.  And artists have every right to create works that highlight injustices that they believe should be changed.  Art gets us talking and that it is what makes it such a powerful medium.  But we have the responsibility to truly look at what is being shared, to spend a moment trying to puzzle over what the artist is trying to say and what it triggers in us.  

In order to understand how to read art,  I'll use this "controversial" image and ask to name one thing you see (feel free to post comments on the blog of what you see).  No assumptions, just take a moment and what do you see? 

To me, and to many others, this mural has nothing to do with terrorism.  The bright colors and patterns are more indicative of a boy in his pajamas who happens to be covering his head with a red shirt (you can see the sleeve of that shirt hanging down his chest), perhaps pretending to be a Luchador fighter or any other masked crusader often featured in many American blockbuster films.  Much of the art we see require us to think; it is not really a passive experience.  My hope is that by each of us learning to really look, to take a moment and collectively see, we can begin to puzzle together a new image for this work, to create a new understanding and a new voice for this work of art.

Anne Wright
Co-Founder

Jendar Marie Morales, co-founder of The Art Haus SLC, discusses in 25 seconds how TAHSLC hopes to influence the Salt Lake City community through their arts programs. How do you personally hope The Art Haus SLC will influence the Salt Lake City community? Share your thoughts with us. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRG7eCrBcG0&feature=share

In the US, art making is often treated as a privilege. Our very conception of “the artist” as someone separate from and different than the rest of us — the moody recluse or the superstar genius — privileges the few who show the requisite talent early on. But this attitude is nowhere more striking than in our public schools. As art experiences are cut in schools serving primarily poor students of color to make room for “core” courses and test prep, private schools continue to make art courses central. Art education has become a privilege offered to those already economically and racially privileged. As evidence of this trend, a study by the NEA found that young Black and Latino adults interviewed in 2008 were 49% less likely to have had arts education as children than those interviewed in 1982; for Whites the decrease was only 5%.

At the risk of overstatement, this is a human rights violation — at least, according to the authors of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 27 of this document reads: “Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.” This is a powerful statement that reaches far beyond equal access to paint and brushes.

Art becomes a right when we begin to understand it not only as a form of individual creative activity, but also as one of the central ways that culture is created, critiqued, shared, and shifted. To cut off individuals, or even whole groups, from these conversations is to deny access to a certain type of power — the power to have a say in who we are, who is included in our “community,” and how we should be with one another. This conception of art as a right rather than a privilege is foundational to the community arts movement. But what does it mean for practice?

First of all, it means recognizing the ways that people are already participating in cultural life. Arts practice is taking place all around us, but often in ways not appreciated by mainstream arts and educational institutions. Second, it means sharing power and decision making in artistic spaces — moving from a service model to a collaborative model. Third, it means taking a serious look at how power and privilege — racial, cultural, economic, gender — shape our lives, our aesthetics, and our art spaces. Fourth, it means challenging institutions of artistic power, such as art schools and museums, to break down walls both physical and cultural. And finally, it means creating new artistic spaces that reflect the values of democracy, collaboration, and critical multiculturalism.