Thursday, July 5, 2007

Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, delivers a powerful Commencement address

Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, delivered the Commencement address June 17 at Stanford University. This link was passed on to me from Alyson Stanfield.

Here is just a small excerpt:

"Art is an irreplaceable way of understanding and expressing the world—equal to but distinct from scientific and conceptual methods. Art addresses us in the fullness of our being—simultaneously speaking to our intellect, emotions, intuition, imagination, memory, and physical senses. There are some truths about life that can be expressed only as stories, or songs, or images.

Art delights, instructs, consoles. It educates our emotions. And it remembers. As Robert Frost once said about poetry, "It is a way of remembering that which it would impoverish us to forget." Art awakens, enlarges, refines, and restores our humanity. You don't outgrow art. The same work can mean something different at each stage of your life. A good book changes as you change."

Read the entire commencement speech HERE it's worth the time and effort. WOW!

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