This makes it important for us to come together to showcase our work, share tips and experiences. Through the work of community art projects, we can do exactly this.

Firstly, AVA Gallery and Art Center held an event Friday, June 14th in which 29 participants made art that adorned the interior Advance Transit buses. AVA also has art programs, Art Lab and Art Stop, that regularly hold community art events. Art Lab, in association with the Special Needs Support Center, gives weekly classes to special need adults. Art Stop provides a weekly drop-in studio for middle school students. Both programs are offered at no cost to participants.

These kinds of events are not only fun for participants, it is important in our world to remember what brings us together. Art is one of the many things that does this. We gather to experience it. Art, that is to say, any form of artistic expression, may be created by the lonely, starving artist in a studio or vacant home, however it is the coming together that breathes new life into it.

Art on its own is important, important for the artist who has an emotional outlet, and important for the analysis of society in order to open our minds to new paths we may not have considered before.

On a much smaller scale it is perhaps more important that rural towns such as Hanover, NH, collect en masse for certain occasions. It is easy to become disenchanted with a small, rural town. Collecting with a singular purpose, allows residents to remember the magic and beauty of their hometown.

Artistic expression by its own nature is a celebration of the creator’s mind. A dive into the strange, wondrous, or exquisite way of thinking that a singular person may have. By celebrating the creation of artwork or collecting to create our own artwork we are living a life full of celebration. We are relishing in what it means to be human.

This summer was a wonderful summer for living. Hanover, NH, and towns all around the area held multiple showings of local artists and their work. Participants attended to see the art their local towns had to offer. One such event is still taking place until the end of October.

Scavenger Gallery in White River Junction. “Flower Portraits,” paintings by Sue Lawrence and Andrew Williams. Open through October 31st.

Art is an expression. Art is living. Art is for everyone to enjoy and celebrate. Art is perhaps one of the easiest ways to bring people together, because taste is subjective. By gathering, discussing and creating, we build bridges with people that weren’t there before, and we celebrate our lives in a way that comes from the heart. Then go, celebrate and create in every way you know how. You may find that by doing it close to home, your interior world brightens a little.