THERE IS POWER IN ART

Some stories are told with a pen. For some, a paintbrush. Perhaps a camera. Others, clay. A writer creates a character from their imagination, bringing them to life by giving them a past and a present, and conveying a message on the author's behalf. An artist loads their brush and creates layers of color and texture, giving each stroke a reason to be on the canvas and helping shape the story. 

But there is a tool we all use, though we rarely name it: Time.

We want to be remembered. What’s more, we want to be the one who controls how we are remembered. That is not a big ask, more of an individual right. But I’m not a writer, so will my story be passed on?

Storytelling is how we ensure our collective experiences are preserved and passed on to those who need to know them. History is a collection of events, but just as importantly, a collection of perspectives. This is how we connect with each other. The collective experience is how we ensure historical accuracy (is history accurate if it’s exclusive?). 

Edward Hopper said, “If I could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint.” 

A moment preserved on canvas tells us as much about you as a memoir. The delivery is by you, the creator; the information is for me, the observer. When I hang your story on my wall, I’m brought into your experience. When I show it to a guest, I am passing it on, and so they will know you and share what they learned with another, and so on.  I read a book, store it on my shelf, lend it to another, and reread it occasionally. I am keeping that story accessible and in my memory, as the author told it.

Let’s return for a moment to the part about the observer. The most difficult part of letting your story go out into the world is that gnawing feeling about how it will be preserved. Will the new owner take care of it? How will the story be retold as it’s seen in its new home? How will my story, my art, be remembered in a generation? T

rust! It’s a prerequisite to passing on the authority responsibility of your story. When we tell our truth, there’s no room for debate. And time will tell.

Hopper’s point is that we should tell our truth, however we can. Then we trust and give it time.