The Arts in our Lives

The Arts provide a vital role within society, either as music, theatre, dance or visual expression. We can either be aware of these or not as they can be combined to create in various ways, such as creating an advert that has a lasting impact on us or a successful movie. Without the Arts our society would be completely different and it is for this reason that the arts should be fully promoted throughout the country and in individual cities. Glasgow provides a rich cultural experience for society as well as educational opportunities for people to gain a wider knowledge on the Arts. Over the past few months I have been fortunate to experience the variety of roles that the Arts provide to society and have learned many things about them that I had not been aware of.

The Arts within Society class began with a visit to the Celtic Connections Festival and we were able to attend a music event for free and listen to some traditional music. This was followed by a talk from one of the organisers of the festival who discussed the educational workshops that the festival organised. This was very interesting as I did not know about these workshops and think that they are very important as they provide a valuable insight into how music relates to society. Information on Celtic Connections and the education that it provides can be found on the website: http://www.celticconnections.com/

One of the sessions that followed provided an insight to the theatre. Tom Gemmell, the playwright of the play called “Whitechapel Murders,” discussed the various elements that were used effectively to create the atmosphere for this play. He also talked about the direction of the play and musical input involved with this play. Overall it was extremely useful for evaluating how the different aspects of the Arts can be combined.

Visual expression plays a vital role within society as it allows people to discuss their different views and express themselves freely. One view of art will be completely different to another’s and it is for this reason that it has such an important role. During the class we experienced two sessions in the art bays at the University of Strathclyde Jordanhill campus with Sandra Ewing and Margaret Brock. During these sessions the use of visual expression was discussed and how effectively it can be used. In order for us to fully understand this we created our own pieces of art. In the first session the task was to create a face using shapes and colours that would clearly indicate the facial expression. This was a fun task that allowed me to think how changing a small detail can have a huge impact on the overall piece of art.

The Arts within society is very important as it provides a rich cultural experience as well as educating us. Without the Arts, our lives would be completely different.