We Need Art!

“We need art, in the arrangements of cities as well as in the other realms of life, to help explain life to us, to show us meanings, to illuminate the relationship between the life that each of us embodies and the life outside us. We need art most, perhaps, to reassure us of our own humanity.”  -Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities

Art connects people in a neighborhood or region. The city of Holland already experiences the positive effects of featuring art through the annual Tulip Time festival. The Big Read Holland Area is another wonderful example of celebrating a community through art. Many of the To Kill a Mockingbird events will incorporate an artistic or visual element. We think that responding through art and creativity is important because it gives people a chance to express what they are learning from reading this classic piece of literature in a unique way and to respond in a personal way.

Already, many groups and individuals have submitted their own unique mockingbird drawing that will be a part of a collage that features hundreds of mockingbird artwork submissions from To Kill a Mockingbird readers all over the Holland Area! Local artist Joel Schoon-Tanis will be creating this exciting representation of community togetherness.

We need YOUR art, too! Every mockingbird counts in this community-wide creation. Download a template from our Art Response tab or pick one up at Van Wylen Library on Hope College’s campus or Herrick District Library. Be sure to attend the grand unveiling of the collage at the Big Read Art Reception held at the Holland Museum on November 21 at 7pm.