Art Advocacy

"The most important things in life-love,beauty,and one's own uniqueness-are constantly being overlooked. " -Pablo Casals

As I've been looking through some art advocacy websites, and reflecting on class discussions.. I ran across this quote in some searching online and it really struck me. I think the biggest goal of my advocacy will be to keep art (aka the love, beauty, and individual uniqueness of life) from being overlooked. Advocacy does not mean that you are putting paintbrushes in everyones hand and turning our entire world into practicing artists, but it is all about increasing awareness of the art world. As an art educator, I will naturally be in a position to advocate art; to promote art in the community, involving businesses and individuals in my classroom, spreading the art around town, promoting galleries and art shows in the area. It's hard to think of legitimate risks when promoting something you are passionate about, other than risking other people's criticism if they don't agree or believe with the importance of art. If advocating means taking official steps through school boards or city councils for programs, the risk would be not going in prepared-which you should avoid by getting your stuff together and entering in well thought out ideas. I'm enjoying making the advocacy zines in class, and look forward to handing them out. I'm giving a campus tour on the 12th, so I already know of an audience I will be able to share with.. :)