Just last weekend, I had the opportunity to travel to a corner of New England: Providence, Rhode Island. Even within the smallest state in the country, therein lies a beautiful art hub. This city is home to the Rhode Island School of Design, one of the first art and design schools to be established in the country.

While exploring the city, I stumbled upon this museum; knowing nothing of its importance. I decided to step inside and once the door closed behind me: I knew I was amidst a world of beauty. This museum included not only modern works, but artifacts from past empires such as Rome and Egypt. There was a wide variety of paintings displayed, ranging from the impressionist movement to the renaissance. I was very impressed by the variety, as I did not expect such a small art museum to have such a big impact on me.

Yet the part that amazed me the most was the works of Claude Monet. Monet has always been a favorite artist of mine, yet to see three of his separate paintings in person, to have the opportunity to closely look into each one, was such a privilege. I realized that what I enjoyed about Monet’s art wasn’t the art itself, yet rather the creativity and beauty that stemmed from such a talented mind. It led me to wonder if art was an expression of inward creativity, isn’t every interaction we make with this world a brushstroke on our canvas; an expression of the way we perceive our surroundings?

This museum may be a ways away for many of us (I know it is for me), yet I encourage each and every one of you to seek out what makes you passionate about the world. For me, it happens to be seeing the artwork and writing of minds who came long before mine, yet to some, it may be spending time with loved ones or taking a walk in nature. These small moments, such as attending the RISD Museum, make me realize how much time we spend living within our own heads, within our own bubble, instead of branching out and absorbing everything we can. I encourage readers to draw creativity from the world itself: from the interactions we make and the songs we listen to and the people we smile at in the hallway and wonder where their path leads.

As someone who is planning on majoring in the Liberal Arts, I recognize how important and education heavy in the arts can be. It empowers students to think critically, and analyze issues that are prevalent in our society today. Yet unfortunately, the number of students going into liberal arts majors is declining. I was engaging in conversation with my friend Sasha a few days ago, and we were discussing potential majors and college plans. She remarked that: “I don’t think many high school students go into liberal arts majors anymore. It’s difficult oftentimes to find a job with those majors”.

We live in a world with a very competitive workforce, and it is often a struggle and a fight to obtain jobs over others. There are many high-paying fields, such as medicine and law. Yet to quote the great Robin Williams in his film “Dead Poets Society”: “Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are all noble pursuits, and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for”. Work is an essential part of life. But these places, like art museums and parks, plays and movies, make me realize that life is so much more.

From my experience at the RISD museum, I learned the importance of immersing oneself in artwork. To learn from the minds of ages ago, and to continue to seek purpose in everyday life. Alas, all of art is creativity. And if all of art is creativity, so is life. For we represent the very beauty of the world in all forms of art, in poetry and music and film. And that is a wonderful thing.