You know what the phrase “Art works” means to us – the works of art themselves, the way art works on us in transformative ways, and the fact that artists are workers contributing to our economy. What we wanted to know, however, is what the phrase means to you. So we asked! Here’s what our Facebook fans and Twitter followers had to say.

Art works when 200 people of all races gather to listen to three emerging writers read about the meaning of home, then the crowd gathers at a reception and finally disperses to local bars and cafes to top off the evening. Art works to me means art that changes, alters, frees, consoles, gratifies, shifts the perspective of each viewer, resident, dramatist, friend, grandparent, painter, onlooker, donor, poet, audience member, musician, participant, reader, child, actor, living being around the country and the world. Art works means art that works toward something and, in our case, the different communities both in Houston and abroad. It also means having the ability to (re)define art in our own way and to produce art that blurs the boundaries regarding what is considered adaptable, engaging, contemplative, and unique.

Art works for people. Art works for society, and art works for the economy. Art works to transform individual lives (including my own) to offer hope, growth, and opportunity where they do not seem to exist. Art works to blur the lines that are used to divide us and add color to black and white ways in which contemporary society is so used to thinking. Art works to create not just jobs, but careers that offer pseronal fulfillment and serve the community. These jobs can’t be outsourced, can’t be done by machines, are vital to the economic, social, and cultural growth of our neighborhoods. Any way you look at it, ART WORKS!

The arts are indicative of the evolution of human culture, creativity, and expression through various mediums. The implementation and cultivation of the arts and arts education provides both social and economic benefits to people and communities. The arts make places more vibrant, inspire a sense of community, create jobs, help heal medical problems, and more.

Teaching via the fine arts works because art, music, and theater are excellent multidisciplinary subjects with the potential to cover all major academic studies while being engaging and encouraging imagination, which is the main fuel of innovators. 

Art works as an industry, building the economy through unexpected outlets in new ways all the time. Art works as an outlet, providing opportunity to experience the world as it has never been experienced before. Art works as a lifestyle, brining beauty to the small things in the mundane and provoking thought in the menial.