BRINGING PEACE ON EARTH with the Arts

By: Leah Killian for the Rapid City Arts Council

Welcome to the holidays! With all the parties and concerts, decorating, gift-giving, relatives and shopping (endless shopping) –all inherent to our celebrations, sometimes December isn’t exactly all that peaceful. In fact, most people spend December wishing they could find a little peace on Earth.

There is a healthy, time-tested way to relax, practice mindfulness and have your distractions quiet down. Art can help you! Art encourages the mind to slow down and focus on the details. Both creating art and participating as an audience member, release significant amounts of dopamine, the body’s feel-good hormone. Dopamine activates the reward pathways of the brain. These are the same pathways that light up like a Christmas tree when you are in love, petting puppies or eating chocolate. Art will always leave you feeling content.

The American Art Therapy Association has shown that engaging in just 45 minutes of creating art significantly reduces the levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) across 75% of participants. When these levels are reduced and dopamine is added, our ability to form memories, feel energized and focus on tasks is greatly enhanced. Simply stated, we are more whole and more present when art is involved in our lives. Art brings more joy to the world!

Adults aren’t the only ones experiencing stress during the holiday season; children also pick up on the strain amidst this joyful time of year. Providing time and opportunity for children to engage in creativity is an essential tool for happier kids all year round. Children learn the skills of healthy expression, mindfulness and communication through art, whether they paint, dance or sing.

Allowing children to interact with art enhances empathy as well as critical and creative thinking. It speaks to their inherent humanity in ways digital experiences cannot. Young people who participate in art, whether creating or experiencing it, increase the potential even more for peaceful, community-minded leaders of the future.

It is understandable that the events of the past few years may have many of us feeling a little like the grinch, prior to his change of heart. Remember that exposure to the arts has the power to heal these negative feelings into childlike wonderment.

Whether you express your creativity via the choir, canvas, clay or coloring book, take care of yourself and your loved ones by choosing to celebrate with art.

Looking for an authentic South Dakota arts experience? Check out the Rapid City Arts Council and its many free exhibits and performances celebrating people like you, including the Dahl Arts Center in the heart of downtown Rapid City! Explore their three galleries of masterpieces created by talented local and regional artists.

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