By Riley Fontana
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Art Matters is an organization that strives to bring art history education to adults. Jane Blair recently shared her program on how art is human at the Walpole Public Library (WPL). These programs aim to engage and educate adults in a way that is similar to docent work in schools.
Blair started Art Matters as a way to connect people through art awareness and education, though she is not an art historian. She believes that art keeps humanity human as people are the only species known to make art. Her program was not meant to force art history lessons upon the audience but instead to have them look at and appreciate art. “This is about looking. Looking is what we do,” Blair said. “You can look at any image and touch another human being.”
She began with early art that dated back to the dawn of humanity. Cave paintings of bison and early storytelling traditions. These art techniques quickly evolved into communities and civilizations which brought the talk to ancient Egyptian culture and early portraits. These are some of the first renditions of humans available along with the first written language, hieroglyphics.
Egyptian art and culture quickly moved into Greek and Roman civilization and their fascination with sculpture and human existence. These sculptures captured humans for who they were, flaws and all which made them a rare commodity. Many other faiths at the time focused on the afterlife, while Greeks and Romans focused on the current life. After this era came the Dark Ages and then the Renaissance.
Modern art was where the audience really engaged. Talks about Picasso and Andy Warhol moved into photography and the power of advertising. These were some of the most recognizable prints and got people talking about the power of icons of art. Blair used images from the backside of the moon to show the power of advertising for large brands. The conversation ended with questions about art and the future of AI. There is no telling where art will go, but it should always be human.
Art Matters hosts wonderful and engaging presentations around art history and appreciation. More information and recorded presentations can be found at: https://www.artmatters.website/.
