Some in our community have been discussing art.

The thing about art is it is essential.

Music, dance and storytelling are more than gifts. They lift us from the commonplace.

In art, we can express our creative selves, our emotions, our humanness. We can see who we are.

Art can connect us to that part of ourselves we cannot express. Art can connect us to each other.

The last time you were lost in a good book, a show or a concert, you were experiencing art.

Today, in the second decade of the 21st century, with divisions unsettling us and civilization changing at an unimaginable rate, we can use art to remind us who we are and what is possible within us.

Together, we can say, “Yes” to art, our community and ourselves.

Carol Friends

Mercer Island