Art + Soul

“All Art is a gift of the Holy Spirit” (See full quotation on side panel), is unsurprising in a Bahá’í context, but imagine my surprise when reading the current issue of PMI Network, (a publication of the Project Management Institute), I saw an article entitled “Art + Soul”.
This was a piece by Emily Wray about the “Children’s Art Village”, a charity founded by Ms. Mai Q. Lai, in 2007.
The Children’s Art Village supports art & music programs in Ghana and India which currently reach over 2,000 children. The organization works in collaboration with local schools to provide children, who are suffering from trauma and abandonment, access to art and music programs, with the aim to facilitate healing and a return them to normal childhood things. The mission statement on their website succinctly defines their aims.
MISSION STATEMENT: At the Children's Art Village our vision is to connect children to themselves and to their creative spirits through art. Our focus is to use art & music as mediums of expression to initiate the process of healing for children who have been abandoned. We promote and support creating and maintaining sustainable art & music programs in each of the different locations around the world where we work.
For more details visit the website at:
http://www.childrensartvillage.org/events.html
As I was preparing this post a friend Neyssan Moshref posted a link to a 2006 TED talk given by Ken Robinson, arguing that schools are killing creativity by suppressing the arts, and relegating them to a subsidiary role.
You can listen to the talk at:
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

It is refreshing to see these examples of the use of the arts, and the positive effects possible for both the individual and society.
So please let’s follow the guidance and increase the core activities and their artistic elements. Please contact us if you want some ideas or to share what you are doing.