What Can the Arts do at a time like this?

The Further Erosion of American Innocence
Barry Hessenius, WESTAF Blog, 12/16/12
http://blog.westaf.org/2012/12/the-further-erosion-of-american.html

The last line in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is:
“And Ralph wept for the end of innocence and the darkness of man’s heart”.

In the face of the senseless carnage at the Sandy Hook Elementary school this past weekend, America again shed tears in the continuing erosion of its innocence, and the recognition of the darkness in the heart of one seriously disturbed young man.

We in the arts – whether directly as artists or those who support them in some way – have the great and good gift of dealing with beauty, with joy and hope – even in the face of despair; with redemption, salvation and the wellspring of epiphany. We do this in a world that is sometimes unimaginably ugly. What can we now do? Nothing more than to keep doing what we do; to continue to be part of what makes life good, what makes it worthwhile, what gives hope and joy and brings smiles to faces.

Thank you, Barry, for this poignant reminder of how the arts heals our humanity. Stay tuned for the first pilot episode of First Online With Fran! Angelina Fiordellisi, Artistic Director and Founder of the Cherry Lane Theatre talks about this very subject in our interview. STAY TUNED…