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The world is in crisis. Wars are being fought. In this kind of environment, why does art matter?

 Canyon Light Show by Page Holland

Art matters because looking at a beautiful painting or sculpture gives us an experience that nothing else can. It’s not just that art can make us feel good, which it can, by being made of pleasing colors, or harmonious shapes, or beautiful materials. A good piece of art work, whether it’s a painting hanging on a wall, or an enormous sculpture that transforms a public plaza, can excite, provoke, soothe, and inspire.

  Delicate Sunrise by Larry Christensen

In a time of crisis, art matters more than ever. We live in a 24-hour news cycle where people are inundated with negative headlines and stock market data around the clock. Regular people, not just hedge fund managers and financial professionals, now spend hours on end glued to their computer screens, watching their 401K’s, or their pensions. Imagine all the stress this massive tsunami of information causes them on a daily basis, with no reprieve in sight. But there is a reprieve, if they only knew where to look. It’s hanging on the walls in Gallery Moab.

  Red River Valley by Carolyn Tibbetts

It’s the sculpture made of wood

  Owl by Nick Eason           

 or metal.

    Patio Person by Dell Crandall

Or is it in the dozens of works of both emerging and established artists showing in the gallery. If people could just unplug for a few minutes, and explore, people could discover that art provides a necessary escape, even if only a temporary one, from the troubles of the world.
Is art an escapist? Or does art provide a sensory experience that, on the contrary, can be restorative?

  Evening Reflections by Peggy Harty

Art gives our eyes and mind a chance to rest, to muse, to think. We reconnect with our inner spirit, a spirit that is rich in thoughts, feelings, and dreams, a spirit that can’t be bankrupted, no matter what is happening in the world. No one needs to own art or buy art to appreciate or benefit from it. What one needs is the curiosity and the desire to truly see and feel.

  Arches Sunset by Robert McKendrick

To perhaps be a bit uncomfortable as you learn to decipher how different art works make you feel, but to learn that on the other side of that discomfort lies pleasure, the pleasure of discovering a work that “speaks” to you, or the pleasure that comes from simply gazing at something beautiful.

  River View by Jane Buckingham

Art is beauty, and no matter what form it takes, soothes the soul. Gallery Moab is an excellent place to get lost in the art of award winning painters, sculptors, glass artists, photographers, ceramicists and jewelers. You can come in and get lost in the art. Something may call to you. Or you may just walk around and soak up the incredible feeling that art gives.

  Destination by Phil Wagner

"Destination and destiny!  - every thing has one -, rivers, rock, roads, even you and I. Deny or resist as we might,  we are none-the-less moved by some unseen force. We experience a holy, primal urge: In order to survive, to prosper, to be made whole again, we have to go where we need to go, to go where our soul tells us to go, . The river tells us we can move on; indeed, fulfill our lives. That's "hope"! The painting acknowledges the innocent state wherein we are able to act on inspiration, the unseen energy. "You are my destiny", Paul Anka sings, giving expression to a boy and girl captured-enraptured by that distant force: "destiny". We too, like rivers, are moved along by the unseen. This painting is about faith, faith to change, move on. The river responds to the unseen force, gravity, and creates beauty by moving on. If there's "faith", the tiny mustard seed becomes a mighty tree, a drop of water become the might Colorado: we  act upon primal impulses, inspirations, imaginations ...and have the courage to express it, we kiss, and like the river, respond to the unseen force, make it real! Art isn't about talent; it's about the courage to act." 

                                                                                                                          -Phil Wagner

“We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.”

                                                                                                                                                     - John F. Kennedy

That is why I believe art matters. Why do you believe art matters?