In recent years, the future of Art has been overshadowed by the rise of AI and cuts to arts education. But with the student artists emerging from this discussion comes hope for the future of art. For this installment of Art Journeys, I sat down with Casey McDonald, one of these emerging artists, to discuss the life of a student artist in the 2020s and what she wishes the future holds for her as she moves into adulthood.
McDonald was born and raised in Bracebridge and currently attends Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes Secondary School. Her art fluctuates from the stage to paper to digital. Wherever she can, she creates.
“Art is my biggest hobby. It's something that I do to express myself and show my personality.”
Cartoons first inspired McDonald as a young child. The storytelling and character drawing led her to start drawing characters from her favourite shows, and later her own original characters. She loved how it was universal and how at every age, anywhere, people find comfort in these characters and perhaps a piece of themselves.
But in Muskoka, it’s not common to see Cartoon art as a prominent medium for artists. At the core of Muskoka’s Art scene are our unmistakable views and nature. McDonald believes that if there's one thing that she could recommend to young artists in communities is to do the art you love, not what's popular.
“Don't change your art style to fit what is the demographic of where you live, because, for a while I thought no one would really like my art because it's not just trees or nature.
But, I've found a lot of friends who draw similar stuff to what I do and, like, have similar inspirations, and it doesn't all have to be the same. So don't change the stuff that you make to fit what other people want from you.”
McDonald is inspired by the others around her and by the connections she’s made with others through art.
“I've made friends online and in person by sharing art, and those connections are definitely the best thing about being an artist. I can talk to them and they understand what I mean, and I don't feel judged. I don't feel silly for talking about the hard stuff around them.”
In the past few years, there have been major cuts to art education in the public school system. McDonald has seen the direct effects of this.
“Art was really important to me growing up in expressing myself in ways that I didn't know how to say out loud.
Cutting programs like art or not funding them as much can be really detrimental to how kids find themselves and explore things about themselves because it matters just as much as sports or math or English.”
McDonald hopes in the future to have more art programming for teens that fills the gap in Arts Education. On that note, through us at Muskoka Arts & Crafts, we offer a variety of art classes and are hoping to bring some targeted for teens.
“I would love more figure drawing classes aimed towards teenagers that make it easier to understand. Because I know that learning actual colour theory and foreshortening for grounding is so hard to wrap your head around.
So, if we had a more professionally trained artist doing courses that make it easier to understand the human condition, I think a lot of people – including myself – would appreciate that,” Casey says.
Finally, I asked the question of Art Journeys: why does art matter?
“It matters to me because it's always mattered to me, and it always will. It's like it's a part of me in the way that, like, sports matter to an athlete, if that makes sense. Because it's something that I do a lot. It's a hobby of mine, but it's also like, just something I care about a lot, and I connect with people over it. There's a lot more to it than meets the eye. There's a lot more that goes into it than what comes out in the end products. I would tell anyone who doesn’t believe art matters to sit down and draw something. You'd be surprised at how, like, fun it is. I find that if I sit down, just to do a doodle, 30 minutes later I'm still adding to it. It doesn't always have to be serious. Even though it is a lot of the time, it can just be a fun thing to pass the time.”
After speaking with McDonald, I wished that art opportunities weren't focused in major cities. But, at the same time, I realized how lucky we are to be in Muskoka, where we have so many opportunities to meet people in different ways than you could in the big city. After meeting McDonald, I found someone who brings new life to art in our area. I also found that the future of art in Muskoka is so bright with individuals such as McDonald.