Creating a Stronger
Community Through the Arts
by Yazmin Maldonado
An empty canvas creates a space for endless opportunities just like:
a new roll ofafilm, sample of fabric,
a blank sheet of paper,
the strum of a new chord,
an empty stage.
Art can take form through many mediums, providing an artist with an opportunity to be heard. It's when people feel heard that their connection to the community and to their neighbor is deepened. Time has been devoted to asking how we bring people to Lorain. The arts provide an answer to how we can invest in the people who are here to develop a community that thrives from within. Utilizing the arts to push our local economy forward expands the realm of possibilities for our youth, entrepreneurs, and countless others. Every day throughout the country, more than 100,000 nonprofit arts and culture organizations act as economic drivers— creating an industry that supports jobs, generates government revenue, and is the cornerstone of our tourism industry.1 In several ways, this city is a blank canvas of its own waiting to be filled by those within our culturally rich community—similar to Antonio Barrios, whose creative soul and passion for culture led him to develop a permanent home for the arts in Lorain. References:
1
https://www.americansforthearts.org/by-location/ohio
