Art is weird.

It is revered, detested, misunderstood, enjoyed, created, and destroyed. Art is in a constant state of metamorphosis; certain styles go in and out of fashion and others are timeless. Techniques are constantly being copied, spliced, and rewired. And this isn't simply visual art, it's everything — photography, fashion, architecture, music, dance, writing.

No matter a person’s relationship with an artistic branch, whether they are a contributor, an observer, a teacher, a consumer, or a creator, art is a creative outlet as well as a powerful source of energy and expression that is a part of all human beings. There is an art, a form of expression, for every person.

What they say about a picture being worth a thousand words is true. The same goes for songs, poems, movements, and designs. More complex emotions are conveyed through art than through simple dialogue (which is an art in itself). Almost everything we do involves innovation and creative expression.

The importance of art is often overlooked, especially in such an academically oriented community as Uni High. Part of the problem is that artistic expression is not as encouraged as it should be. We stop drawing and singing in middle school, and the art requirements in high school are almost negligible.

There is also the problem of the mentality that if you aren’t good at craftmanship, then you aren’t an artist and your artistic endeavors are a waste of time. What most people don’t realize is that even though part of art is raw talent, a lot of it has to do with technique and skill that can be learned simply from practice.

I see people doodling in their notebooks, hear people humming the tune of a song that is stuck in their head or strumming it out on a guitar in the lounge. It is obvious that everyone can take pleasure in art, so even if your art isn’t going to send you to the Grammys or help pay your way through college, it's still worth it.