In 2021, the California State Senate designated artists as “second responders” as part of “April is Arts, Culture and Creativity Month.” This has got to be a cringe April Fools’ joke, right? If I’m stuck in a burning building, I want a firefighter to help me to safety, not teach me pyrography. Giving artists even half of the same title as people who risk their lives feels frankly insulting.
However, when I reflected more on the artistic efforts of people from around the Tri-City Area, I decided that art’s slightly less foundational placement on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs pyramid is one of its greatest strengths. Art teaches universal principles—to respect the process, to learn new skills, to be curious about the world—in a setting where even messing up is honorable.
Fourteen students from Irvington and Mission San Jose High Schools and Hayward Twin Oaks Montessori, led by Ava Zhang Pedersen, recently completed a mural for Dusterberry Neighborhood Park. The process took 10 months. On some weekends, students were out working for five-hour stretches, or in the rain and wind. The completed mural is not only a tribute to Fremont as a city, but to the teens who now know that when the going gets tough, they have the grit to see it through.
Many reach a much greater age without seeing so clearly that they are capable of tackling challenges. Teens are still forming core memories and a sense of their identities, but the range of April events listed on the Fremont Creates website shows that art is accessible to any age. There are chances to appreciate the work of others, but also events where people can try open mic poetry, flash fiction, Indian folk art, or other visual media.
I think people are often surprised at what they can actually make when they give themselves the chance. They might even learn something about what’s going on inside their own heads.
I prefer writing, but sometimes I like drawing random things like the corgi plushie on the back of my couch. Rationally, I know it’s just a little pillow with a face and ears, but somehow once it’s partially obscured by the couch, I start to wonder. Maybe that friendly face belongs to an impossibly long insect body…
It’s silly, but I think that we can accomplish more when we give ourselves the permission to do something a little more frivolous than usual. We can discover our power without being paralyzed by fear of failure.
