Art has the power to save us

Pick up a good book and head to a museum

Art has the power to save us.

So do words.

Fredrik Backman’s new book “My Friends” has me falling in love with words and with art all over again just as a new exhibit opened up at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

In my new effort to build frequent flier points as I fly solo into life, I took myself to see Takashi Murakami’s “Stepping on the tail of a rainbow.” The Japanese artist paints a smile of the face of every visitor. It’s a wonderland of whimsy.

I love that he built a big “we” as an artist and collaborated with so many others — manga and anime artists, fashion houses, chefs, musicians and ceramists. The museum honored his work by building a replica of a temple. You actually enter it to walk into his art. It’s a re-creation of the Yumedono, also known as the Dream Hall, from Nara Prefecture’s Hōryūji Temple complex in the Ames Family Atrium.

You quietly enter the darkness of this holy temple, then bam! His work lights up the walls and any darkness in your heart.

The art museum offers this description on its website:

“Visitors can explore how—after shared traumatic events—art can address crisis, healing, outrage, and escapist fantasy. Artworks explore topics such as how people may change when experiencing trauma, how major disasters can lead to outpourings of creative and religious fervor, and how art addressing contemporary passions as diverse as gaming, the metaverse, trading cards, street fashion trends, anime, and manga can be an entry point to engaging the past.”

All I know is I walked into the museum feeling lonely and skipped out feeling one with the entire universe.

I don’t understand every image but that didn’t stop them from bringing me joy.

I felt a bit underdressed in jeans as some fans wore outfits that looked like walking art. If you go, go wild. Color your hair. Wear the wickedest wild outfit you have.

This blue creature Mr. DOB was inspired by Mickey Mouse.

The book that opened my heart even wider to all the art in the museum is Fredrick Backman’s latest novel “My Friends.”

The author dedicated the book To anyone who is young and wants to create something. Do it. But we’re all young at heart, so it’s for you, too.

It’s about a group of teenagers, art and the art of friendship. Here are some of my favorite quotes:

“The artist was fourteen years old and knew nothing about art, but one day he would be grown-up and celebrated around the world, and would realize that he still only knew the same simple things: Art is a moment. Art is being a reason. Art is coping with being alive one more week.”

“Art is what we leave of ourselves in other people.” I believe that is what writing is, too.

“A beautiful painting is the sum total of a person, what has happened to them, blessing and curses alike.” Same goes for books.

Then there’s the janitor. Oh, he will take your breath away when he shares with the young artist what his mother taught him:

“All children are born with wings. It’s just that the world is full of people who try to tear them off. Unfortunately they succeed with almost everyone, sooner or later. Only a few children escape. But those children? They rise to the skies!”

“You feel strange because you still have your wings, rubbing beneath your skin. You think you’re alone, but there are others like you, people who stand in front of white walls and blank paper and only see magical things. One day one of them will recognize you and call out: ‘You’re one of us!’ And then you won’t feel lost anymore. You’ll realize that you’ve always been able to speak a secret language, one that has no boundaries, because you have no nationality. Art is your homeland.”

The janitor taught him, “You’re an artist if you create something!…No one else decides what art is…Art is a fragile enough light as it is. It can be blown out by a single sigh. Art needs friends.”

“Art is empathy.”

Show yourself some empathy. Pick up a pen or a paintbrush or a handful of markers and create something. Anything. Rebel!

“It’s an act of rebellion to do meaningless things, to waste time, to swim and drink soda and sleep late. To be silly and frivolous, to laugh at stupid little jokes and tell stupid little stories. Or to paint big paintings, the biggest you can manage, and to try to learn to whisper in color.”

Whisper in color or shout in black and white.

Release your inner artist. Spread your wings. Rise to the skies. Use your voice.

Someone in this world is desperate to hear it.