If somebody is reading this in the far future, I would like to emphasize that this post was written in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, where state and local governments in the U.S. have instituted stay-at-home orders to contain the spread of the Coronavirus. Perhaps, the isolation imposed by the pandemic has given some room in my head to think about certain concepts, such as art, at a deeper level.

As I was driving around town to complete my groceries, I decided to listen to my local PBS radio station to listen to classical music. Music of swimming emotions started to pour out from the car’s speakers as the string instruments lead the melody for the rest of the orchestra to follow and echo. At certain points, it seemed the music was speaking to me directly to tell a story of a quiet but adventurous country-side from times past. There was a sense of nostalgia of a familiar place that was never visited as the music came to a close.

The music was The Lark Ascending by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. I decided to listen to the piece again by searching Youtube, and I was pleasantly surprised by the civil comment section, where people were pouring their hearts out. You could see a rare moment on the Internet, where people were genuinely their best of themselves. In case the video, comment, or Youtube disappears from the Internet, I share some heartfelt interactions.

This last comment needs additional attention. From classical music to jazz performances, real high-art music has the ability to bring the best of our humanity to ourselves. Visual art, whether it be static paintings or photographs, can stir a deep feeling that can initiate a long train of introspection. Performance art, whether it be a Shakespeare’s play or a Broadway show, confronts the audience with the story where the human stakes are high.

Art, whose creation is not solely commercially driven, has the ability to engage the audience beyond mere entertainment. My experience with classical music always includes stirring up my creativity based on the thematic experience illustrated by the composure. I believe other people’s experience with art is different from mine, but I also believe that there is a common agreement that art is a necessity that can help us maintain our best of humanity in this world.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 has shutdown the art world as governments are racing to develop a vaccine. I am afraid that we might lose a significant portion of talents due to the financial strain COVID-19 has imposed on the art community. I believe it is worth thinking about using government funds to temporarily provide financial assistance to artists until the COVID-19 situation passes. Granted, the U.S. government and various state governments are under budgetary strain, and it is difficult to consider additional budgetary spending when our national budget deficits are skyrocketing. However, I have this uneasy feeling that we might be losing something permanently from our art community. Without drastic measures to protect our art community, I fear that we might be facing an irreversible cultural loss for future generations.

Performance art school closures; art venues closing shop; artists deciding to change careers permanently due to the financial hardship. I don’t want to live in a future where art is dominated by social media influencers and live streamers hunting down for likes. Hopefully, more people would start investing time in enjoying art and realizing the value of funding art (whether through purchasing tickets to an art showing or maintaining membership of a local museum).

For me, I am looking at some audio CDs to buy to bolster my classical music library. Once this pandemic is over, I am looking forward to attending my local museums to expand my art horizon even further.