Everyday ART Challenge: Art is Everywhere

"Art is Everywhere folks!"- is what I want to call out to people in my big outside voice,  when I  hear people say things like, "I don't really like art". This statement boggles my mind on so many levels!  As a person working in a gallery, I need to respond in the best possible way  to statements not unlike this one. I can accept that not everyone may enjoy original art as much as the next and so I usually try to offer examples of art that lives amoung us in our daily lives,  that often isn't thought of as "art".

I suppose the confusion may come from what is considered art, but to me, so many things can fit the definition. From the music we listen to, to the beautifully devices we listen to that very music on, to theatre, films and advertisements in magazines and television and online, architecture and design of all sorts all around us-the clothes we wear, the cars we decide to drive, even your haircut or the food we eat, heck...even nature if you want to get really inclusive! The point here is art is for everyone, it doesn't have to be found in a gallery. Art adds beauty or  meaning to our daily lives, it can help us think of things in a different way, it can even save lives. Sometimes it may present itself in what ways that seem mundane ....but if ART ceased to exist (or the wonderful creatives that keep inventing new ways of sharing)  we'd ALL miss it eventually- that I am certain of!

ART doesn't have to cost anything! It's free to experience whenever and wherever you are; you just have to become more aware of it, which of course comes from looking and building an appreciation.

An example of this everyday beauty can be found on the outside and inside of the Bank of Nova Scotia Bank Building in downtown Halifax.  I took myself on a walk to this very building and wonderful example of historical public art in a place of business just the other day. 

I challenge you to take some time for art...find it wherever you are. Look up when you walk down your city streets...look around the corner or down a back road if you're in the country.  I challenge you to discover ART.

Artist  John M. Lyle designed the Bank of Nova Scotia, built in Halifax in 1930, "which represents the passing of an era. A shifting of popular taste toward modernism, coupled with the severe economic conditions of the Depression, meant that this was to be Lyle's last design in the classical style, employing artisans for a traditional, handcrafted and elaborate sculptural and decorative program."   Read more about the building and it's  very special features here: http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/bank-of-nova-scotia-halifax

Here are just a few snap shots I captured...a great way to spend a lunch-time walk!

Carefully painted and sculpted art fills the ceiling and walls

The Banks Coat of Arms predominantly displayed upon entering...

There's a great binder in the bank that shows great examples of the initial drawings for many of the designs around the building, amoung this one of Neptune.