Now here’s a creation theory I can live with: Bringing art into your life makes you smarter and happier.
It’s for real. A 2011 study published in the journal Epidemiology revealed that men who involved themselves in the arts reported feeling happier than those who didn’t. There’s more: Several studies have shown a direct connection between art and brainpower, especially in regards to growing up. A 2008 University of California at Santa Barbara study showed that kids taking part in the arts learned more, better, faster.
Clearly, it’s not just for breakfast any- more. It’s not just for fun, either. Art and the arts in Aurora and Colorado mean business — big business. State officials say arts create about 190,000 full-time jobs in the state, pushing hundreds of millions of dollars through the economy.
When reading Aurora magazine writer Adam Goldstein’s articles in this issue, focusing on Aurora artists, you’ll find out that art is for everybody.
For too many people, “art” immedi- ately brings to mind geeky, $2,000 frame- less paintings of God-only-knows-what hanging in too-quiet buildings.
Read on, and find out how mistaken that is.
More important, the six artists that we’ve profiled in this edition are work- ing hard to let everyone know that their art, and everyone else’s, is as much about you as it is about them.
Art is about communication, com- munity and being a human being. It’s about everyone. It’s what you wear on the front of your T-shirts. It’s what you eat out of. It’s what listen to on the radio. It’s what you post on Facebook. It’s your life. It’s all our lives.
The art most comfortable and common to all Americans is the cinema. Yeah, I agree, much of what I see barely passes for entertainment these days, let alone art. But it is. We’re so familiar with it because it’s so cheap and approachable.
So is most everything else in Aurora’s art scene. Take a look at the Aurora Arts district on East Colfax in northwest Aurora. There, for just a few bucks or just tens of dollars, you can make or take home ceramics, prints, paintings, jew- elry, a night at the theater, a concert and more. For not a lot of money and almost no effort, the arts in Aurora are personal. They’re yours. Art really isn’t about them, it’s about you. ■