The ideas expressed in this "Music and the Spoken Word" message capture why we want to include the arts as part of an Esperanza education. The Challenging Pleasures of Art Delivered by Lloyd D. Newell |
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A few years ago, Dana Gioia, a commencement
speaker at Stanford University, expressed his concern about a culture that,
little by little, "trades off the challenging pleasures of art for the easy
comforts of entertainment.”
There’s little doubt that entertainment can
be worthwhile, fun, an exciting. But when it’s over, entertainment very often
leaves us no better than it found us. As Gioia explains, it "exploits and
manipulates who we are rather challenges us with a vision of who we might
become.”
Art, on the other hand, does not try only to
entertain us. It tries to teach us and stretch us; it can lift our spirits and
even make us better. As Gioia put it: "You don’t outgrow art. The same work can
mean something different at each stage of your life.”¹ It’s not that the work of
art changes—we change. In fact, in a very real way, it’s the art the changes us.
Perhaps you have seen a painting or heard a
song that you struggled to understand fully. But then, as you studied or
pondered it, your eyes were opened to a deeper beauty, a deeper truth, and the
work of art became a treasure to you. A young high school student experienced
this when he was assigned to study a well-known poem. It wasn’t easy; it
challenged and stretched him in unexpected ways. But once he made the effort to
appreciate the poem, to discover its meaning below the surface, he was
invigorated by its richness. Somehow, in small but important ways, it helped him
see the world with a little more depth than he had before.
Like anything worthwhile, art can be
challenging. But it is also enriching and inspiring, rewarding those who dig
deep for its meaning with the ability to perceive more intently the beauties
that surround us.
1. "Gioia to Graduates: ‘Trade Easy Pleasures
for More Complex and Challenging Ones,’” Stanford Report, June 17, 2007,
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2007/june20/gradtrans-062007.html.
Program #4338
"Los desafiantes placeres del
arte"
Hace unos años, Dana Gioia, discursando en un
programa de graduación de la Universidad Stanford, expresó su preocupación por
una cultura que, poco a poco, "cambia los desafiantes placeres del arte por la
fácil comodidad del entretenimiento”.
No cabe duda de que el entretenimiento puede
valer la pena, y ser divertido y emocionante. Pero cuando acaba, a menudo no
somos mejores de lo que éramos antes. Gioia explica que éste "explota y manipula
nuestra identidad en lugar de retarnos con una visión de lo que podemos llegar a
ser”.
El arte, por otro lado, no trata sólo de
entretenernos, sino de enseñarnos y exigirnos; puede elevar nuestro espíritu y
hacernos mejores. Como dijo Gioia: "El arte nunca cesa en nosotros. La misma
obra puede representar algo diferente en cada etapa de nuestra vida”, no porque
la obra cambie, sino nosotros. De hecho, en un sentido muy real, es el arte el
que nos cambia.
Usted tal vez haya visto una pintura o
escuchado una canción que al principio no logró entender plenamente, pero
después, al estudiarla o reflexionar en ella, sus ojos se abrieron a una belleza
o verdad más profunda, y esa obra se convirtió en un tesoro personal. Un joven
estudiante lo experimentó cuando se le asignó estudiar un poema muy conocido. No
era fácil; lo retó en formas inesperadas. Pero una vez que se esforzó por
apreciar el poema, por descubrir el significado entre sus líneas, quedó
vigorizado por su riqueza. De alguna manera, en formas pequeñas, pero
importantes, le ayudó a ver el mundo con un poco más de profundidad.
Al igual que cualquier cosa que valga la
pena, el arte puede ser desafiante, pero también enriquece e inspira, y a los
que buscan su significado les brinda la habilidad de percibir con más intensidad
la belleza que nos rodea.
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Welcome To Esperanza Elementary Blog
I want to give you a special welcome to our Esperanza Elementary blog as we take our journey to found the school of our dreams. I invite you to visit us often and offer any ideas, thoughts, suggestions, questions, comments, etc. you might have.
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