I love to visit museums. Some of my favorites are the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, The Getty, or LACMA, locally; I do enjoy the World War II Museum in New Orleans, as well as the Smithsonian collections in DC. It’s not lost on me that most of what we see when we gaze upon the history of ancient or current civilizations falls broadly into two categories: their tools of war and their creations of art.
For me, the art is particularly compelling. It’s like a voice from the past. People from hundreds and even thousands of years ago, reaching out across the sands of time to tell us about their loves, their fears, their yearnings, their dreams. In their art, we can see their lives through their eyes.
The voices our artists speak with today will be the imprint we leave behind. It’s how people in the future will know who we are and who we were.
But art is not just a record for the future, it can lift us now. It can fill our hearts and challenge our minds and moods. It can be a release from the same-old and yet it can let us see the beauty in that same same-old. Art can help relieve us of the stresses of our lives and that is good for our health – take it from a doctor!
Art is what happens when we set our hearts and minds free. Some people do it and some do it for the rest of us and in so doing, invite us on a journey with them.
I am pleased and proud to invite you into a journey through the art of poetry. It’s a collection put together by Santa Barbara Poet Laureate, Laure-Anne Bosselaar. Join me and let your heart soar and your mind wander.
In appreciation,
Kurt N. Ransohoff, MD, FACP
CEO and Chief Medical Officer
Sansum Clinic