The Purpose of Art: Part I
Buzz / Guest Writer Series
Editors Note: “The Purpose of Art” is a three-part series by a Buzz Blog guest writer that we will be publishing over the next few weeks. Dan Lake, the author of the blogs, is one of our Ohanga Creatives who specializes in impressionist oil paintings. To read more about Dan, check out his Ohanga profile here.
Artists create works for many reasons—usually personal, sometimes necessary—but always from the inside out. Art can be created for a purpose that transcends the artist and benefits the receivers of their work beyond the aesthetic.
This blog series describes three projects I have undertaken in the past few years that I think embody the many purposes behind art outside of its visual appeal. I hope to motivate others to consider creating art beyond the aesthetic, contributing to community causes, and creating and maintaining legacies.
Project ONE: The Beyond the Diagnosis Project
Noah and Laine
This project began with a request from a mother who had two daughters affected by a rare disease. Patty Weltin entered the gallery of the Wickford Art Association asking if anyone would be interested in painting a piece for a childrens’ portrait series. Her purpose was to create a traveling art exhibit featuring portraits of different children fighting various rare diseases, thereby creating awareness of the humanity behind the scientific and medical aspects of those illnesses. She especially wanted this exhibit to spark a desire in medical professionals and those in training to further research these ailments and find cures.
I was one of the original five Wickford artists who saw this as an intriguing and inspiring opportunity to practice my art as well as help those in need. Ms.Weltin gave each of us a photo provided by parents, some were of individual children and others of siblings who shared a disease. The finished portraits can all be found on the Beyond the Diagnosis website.
We combined these first efforts with several other artists’ works to be displayed at Brown University’s Alpert Medical School in February 2015. This seminal exhibit drew widespread media coverage and support from the community.
The project only grew from that first series and numerous professional artists continue to contribute to the collection, expanding the profound impact this project has brought to the scientific and medical community.
Austin and Max
My first piece for the collection was a portrait of Max and Austin, two brothers with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a genetic disorder that causes progressive muscle degeneration and weakness. Over the next few years, I painted a second portrait of Noah and Laine, two beautiful children who later succumbed to Batten’s Disease, a neurological condition that can cause vision loss, impaired motor skills, and seizures. I created a third portrait of Hunter in 2017.
Each has supported the idea expressed by Ms. Weltin in this quote:
“The world needs to see rare diseases. People need to see our humanity. We are not our disease and we are deserving of treatments.” - Patricia Weltin.
Hunter
The portrait of Max and Austin has been shown to legislators as a tool to impact laws concerning the fast-tracking of experimental drugs believed to better the lives of children with rare and previously untreatable diseases. I was deeply saddened to witness the struggles of the parents of Noah and Laine who loved their children immensely but lost both shortly after the exhibit was created. They continued to help researchers look for future solutions to overcome Batten’s Disease, an always-fatal genetic disease, even after their children had died.
Hunter’s mom, a Texas journalist, used his portrait to further the cause championed by all rare disease parents through her newspaper writings and referrals to other media formats. Creative efforts like these raise awareness beyond the medical community, and the Beyond the Diagnosis project is just one of many instances of the power of art beyond the appreciation of the aesthetic.
Author: Daniel Lake
We envision a world in which creatives can grow and share their passions unburdened from the complexity of business management; a world where a community can easily access art for sale as well as celebrate and engage with their local artists.
Find more information about Dan and our other Ohanga creatives here.
For more Rhode Island art news, read Etch as an online magazine.
Find us at our Newport art store, Ohanga Newport.