JUSTIN ST. VINCENT is the Director and Founder of Xtreme Music: where Music meets Spirituality, based in Auckland, New Zealand. He served on the Fetzer Institute’s Advisory Council for the Arts, and created a website embracing the beauty and diversity of Music and Spirituality. 

Why does art and music resonate with the human spirit? Who are the artists that are uniting artistic expression with emotional healing? In this guest blog post, we explore these key questions and discover a spirit of artistry, faith, and unity.

Art has served humanity throughout the ages: from ritualistic and symbolic functions to expressions of the personal and mystical, and as a record of culture, community, and creed. Those who create art have discovered a unique path of creative expression that suits their abilities and interests and serves art’s many functions. Through their craft, these artists convey an experience, expression, story, or mood, all to share an idea, sell a product, or simply offer an aesthetic expression of their personal beliefs.

Art often appeals to and connects with our human emotions. It can arouse pleasure, disgust, sadness, or joy as well as elicit complex moral considerations or judgments. When artists convey love and forgiveness and other emotions and values through their medium of choice, they are inviting a deeper consideration of their work, allowing an audience to consider both the emotional and aesthetic. Art has a profound capacity to explore and express the complexity of the human condition and artists who are highly attuned to their craft can do this effortlessly.

For artists, their attention to their craft allows them a deep understanding of the symbiotic relationship of artist and audience. They hope that the presentation of their work offers the space and time for an audience to learn or process their emotional responses. They also understand the inherent and ongoing exploration of their own inner life that their artistry offers.

Exploring this theme further is LOVE LIVE FORGIVE, a FREE eBook with an exciting collection of exclusive interviews with many of the world’s most visionary artists, authors, and musicians. A unique anthology that explores the transformative power of love, forgiveness, and the creative spirit, sharing insights and reflections on the powerful intersections that exist between artists and creativity. This book embraces contributors from a dynamic spectrum of artistic, cultural, and faith-based backgrounds. Individually they offer their unique perspective on the human experience. Collectively they embrace a shared passion for art and its ability to transform our lives and the world around us.

I feel that this project can strongly resonate with young artists; teenagers, students, and graduates alike, to help develop their own understanding of love, forgiveness, the creative spirit, and how to practically express these essential values in their world today. 

JUSTIN ST. VINCENT is the author and managing editor of the new book, “LOVE LIVE FORGIVE: Insights from Artists” is available on June 1st 2014 from: http://www.LoveLiveForgive.org