Why Surrounding Yourself With Art Matters -- And How To Do It

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Last edited Fri Jul 2, 2021, 04:16 PM - Edit history (1)

https://nymag.com/strategist/article/wall-art-from-black-artists.html
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NPR, Life Kit podcast, July 1, 2021.

The art you choose to display in your home tells a story. For me (TK), it represents who I am and what I care about most. After all, "If there's any place in this world, if you are so fortunate to have a roof over your head, that you can be the main character of your story, it is at home," says independent curator and author Kimberly Drew.

I spoke with Drew about how to find and choose art for the home. Drew isn't so interested in what constitutes "art." Instead, Drew thinks the important question is: "What kind of stories do we want to tell for ourselves in our home space?" The first thing to realize is that art is all around us in the everyday objects we keep, from ticket stubs to T-shirts. If it means something to you, it can be art. Go through that box of treasures and see what brings back beautiful memories, then think about how you might display them.

Next, let the art speak to you and your space. Social media, magazines, and television shows have endless advice on how to curate the perfect home. While they're fair game for inspiration, there can also be a downside: They can push us to create the "ideal" home for external approval. Recognize that your taste is unique to you and your space — no one can dictate what you're drawn to.

Buying art can sound intimidating, but it's like buying anything else. Think about your budget and who you want to support. See if there are auctions that are attached to social justice issues you care about. Many artists during the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s would sell art to benefit movement work like that of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and Congress For Racial Equity (CORE). In 2021, that would be like your favorite artist doing an auction benefiting an organization you support.

You can also ask the artists directly, find out where they are showing next, email them or follow them and interact respectfully on social media...

More + Images,

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/22/1009098860/find-art-for-your-home
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- Also: 'Comfort Decorating Is All About Making Your Home A Sanctuary,' NPR, https://www.npr.org/2021/03/08/974858326/comfort-decorating-is-all-about-making-your-home-a-sanctuary

- Black Art Matters. 2020.

- Black Opera as Architecture: A Conversation with Kimberly Drew, Alicia Hall Moran, and Imani Uzuri. Jun 30, 2020

National Gallery of Art- Kimberly Drew, writer, curator, and activist; Alicia Hall Moran, artist, composer, and mezzo-soprano; and Imani Uzuri, composer, librettist, and 2019-2020 Hutchins Fellow, W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute, Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, Harvard University. Edgar Degas's (1834–1917) renowned images of the Paris Opéra are among the most sophisticated and visually compelling works he created. Celebrating the 350th anniversary of the Opéra’s founding, "Degas at the Opéra" presents approximately 100 of the artist’s best-known and beloved works in a range of media.

In celebration of this exhibition on June 17, 2020, Kimberly A. Jones, curator of 19th-century French paintings, welcomes Kimberly Drew, Alicia Hall Moran, and Imani Uzuri to discuss the influence of opera on contemporary artists’ practices. Their conversation expands upon an Office magazine interview conducted by Drew about the possibilities of opera as the architecture for Black cultural production. Together they explore the medium as historically unapologetic, dramatic, and bold, asserting its potential to set a precedent for all artists. This program coincides with the publication of Drew’s book "This Is What I Know About Art."