Robert Henri and “The Art Spirit”
Art and learning have been hooked up together for me. While I have my Ph.D. in adult learning and education, art is what continually tugs at my heart. I don’t think learning and art are separate, but our culture (unfortunately) separates them. Apparently learning is supposed to be dry, dull and boring, while art is something fancy and capricious that doesn’t have anything to do with anything of importance. Not.
One of the goals of this blog is to bring art and human development together. I believe art is central to developing wisdom and insight, and a culture’s major issues are always reflected in its art. So in the spirit of linking learning and art, here is what the American artist Robert Henri (1865-1929) had to say:
There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day, when we seem to see beyond the usual. Such are the moments of our greatest happiness. Such are the moments of our greatest wisdom. If one could but recall his vision by some sort of sign. It was in this hope that the arts were invented. Sign-posts on the way to what may be. Sign-posts toward greater knowledge. (Henri’s quote is from The Art Spirit).
May you have a moment of great wisdom today.
