Art is the essence of a beautiful life.

Look around you. From the moment you awake in the morning, you are surrounded by the work of an artist, a designer, an architect, a builder....need I go on. Here are a few staggering statistics from the Americans for the Arts website, nearly 3 million Americans are employed by creative industries. Art exports are a 30 billion dollar business. Non profit and arts and culture industries generate over 166 billion dollars in economic activity each year. Those numbers do not include for profit galleries, independent artists and other creative industries. Americans donated over 307.65 billion to the arts in 2008. Creative industries are growing while many other segments of our economy are stagnant. The Creative Coalition of Greater Milwaukee is currently working with a grant of $146,000 to strengthen the arts in the M-7 region of Wisconsin. I urge you to learn more about Richard Florida's Creative Class. Creativity is the new face of our global economy and it is the innovative that will not only survive but thrive in the years to come.

Back to art and every day life. I have often discovered that the greater one's sense of self on has, the more driven they are to create an environment that reflects that strength. I have visited a number of my clients homes. I am blown away by the personality and individuality these home exhibit. From serious collectors to your everyday creative decorators, their homes contain paintings, unique furnishings, sometimes murals or faux finishing projects. You can go back through history to the first cave paintings to see that we are driven to create something that defines us. Those reflections are also found in our music collections, the food we cook and the books we read. We are so beautiful in our distinctiveness. It is comforting to be surrounded by people who create things we can relate and connect with.

Watch for an upcoming project created by the Milwaukee Artist Resource Network, MARN, which will focus on those who collect and appreciate art and artists. I think it will give artists valuable insight into those we seek to reach.
Take a look at Richard Florida's Creative Class website to learn more about this movement.
Take a look around you and enjoy the world that surrounds you. From the colors you choose, the styles you enjoy, the literature that moves you to the clothes you wear, you are a work of art. Celebrate it and never forget how amazing and essential it is to life.