ArtsLIVE in Ventura County

Op-Ed / Essay Submitted by Mary Galbraith

Art … transforms

When the toys known as Transformers hit the market, boys and a few daring girls were quick to realize the potential for action-filled fun.

There is, I believe, a desire among humans – grownups as well as children – to be transformed, to take on a new personality, all in the blink of an eye.

Real life does not always present such exciting opportunities. Most lives gradually expand and contract, meeting new challenges, experiencing the highs and lows of existence with very few “gotcha” moments. From the nursery onward we come into contact with innumerable events that shape us, that inform us, that even occasionally transform us. The hard thing is knowing when that moment, that “aha!” moment, is ready to take hold.

Did reading “Anne of Green Gables” and the subsequent volumes transform me? Probably not.  But did devouring those books, books that really did tell the story of a girl transformed, create in me a lifelong love of reading? Yes. I was hooked and from that moment on I was able to become an orphan in a war-torn country, a detective solving the most difficult of crimes, a cowboy riding through the purple sage.

When my parents took me to my first opera – “The Barber of Seville” – was I transformed?  Well, I remained the pudgy girl in braids, but in my heart I knew dressing up in costume and singing beautifully would be a great career. Of course, reality set in and I’ve had to settle for the occasional night at the opera.

I don’t remember the first time I went to an art museum. Cultural tourism was a given in my family. But I do remember being absolutely blown away when I first glimpsed El Greco’s “Burial of the Count of Orgaz,” on the wall of the Iglesia de Santo Tome in Toledo, Spain. My 19-year-old eyes could not believe what was on the wall. Each time I return to that church, the feeling of awe takes over. 

In the ‘60s I was introduced to the work of Ed Kienholz. He proved to me art is not necessarily beautiful, but it has enormous power to make us think, make us feel, even to appall us. I learned art has the power to engage all our senses, to make us feel pain as well as joy. 

Is a transformative moment a big moment? Does it come with bells and whistles, or does it sneak in quietly, like Carl Sandburg’s fog, “on little cat feet …looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then move[ing] on”?  Is it transformative to feel joy looking at a whimsical sculpture by Moorpark artist Tesi Sanchez?  Is it transformative to feel the effect of Ruth Pastine’s color paintings, paintings that are about as subtle as a punch in the stomach, paintings that change forever the way I look at contemporary art?  Is it transformative to listen to a recording of Morten Lauridsen's "Lux Aeterna" while driving on the 101?  To be shaken by Osvaldo Golijov’s “Ainadamar” performed at the Ojai’s Libbey Bowl?

Looking back at a seven-decade life, can I really, honestly say that I have been “transformed?”

Can we settle for enriched?  Nurtured?  Educated?

Can we all promise ourselves that we will work diligently to be sure “art” is not relegated to the back burner? My own life history contains parents who loved to take their kids to museums and concerts and who encouraged us to read. My own education came with music appreciation and art history lessons.  I know not everyone has had those life-affirming, OK, transforming, experiences. 

Isn’t it up to us, citizen and city councilmember, teacher and banker, housewife and architect, to make sure today’s youngsters can grow up with the wonders of the world shown to them?  Isn’t it our responsibility to ensure museums stay open?  That schools include lessons on fine art and music?  That children experience the beauty of ballet and folkloric dance? 

That answer is a resounding YES! 

Mary Galbraith, of Ventura, is a member of the ArtsLIVE Advisory Council of the Ventura County Community Foundation.  This Op-Ed is one of a series celebrating the arts and their impact on leaders in Ventura County.

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