I think art has a lot more to teach us rather than technique. What is the reason, meaning, and purpose behind your work? If someone was to tell me, ''Because I want to be colorfully rich and have my name etched in history as one of the greatest.'' then I digress. However, are we as a community of artist noticing the collapse of the art world around us? It started with negotiating our privacy for our safety...safety from what!? I don't know,  and currently, our freedom of speech is rapidly being taken away from us. Do you see where this going? So what should we do? Do we sugar coat/suppress our self-expression, or how about we compromise/settle for what is available to sustain our well being?  I can't help but notice this war at the front steps my friend. In my short documentary ''The Argument Ova Art'' in some instances, their war has already begun.

When I was teaching visual arts,  one of the main questions that kept popping up was ''How does my work look Mr. Morgan?'' My response, ''It looks great! Keep it up.'' and with just a little bit of critiquing, the young artist understood the lesson at hand. Encouragement was the ignition to jump-start their right side of the brain. With that information, we took it a step further by creating right and left (whole) brain exercises.

My love for teaching the arts came from my love of learning the arts and all its components. Upon research and development, it leads me to believe the advancement of society herself leans on art as a guide to building the future, however, is it safe to say that self-expression is being banned from public parks, recreational centers, learning institutions, etc? Of course, and century-old monuments are being destroyed in this ever-growing changing world. We're losing our history, our sense of identity, and worst of all we're losing the war. If artworks mirror culture, what will people be saying 20 to 30 years from now about this generation? Did we fight a good fight to keep young minds interested in being as creative as they can be? Or, did we let people water down our imagination to quench their thirst to eradicate self-expression?  The way we interact/network with other artist is key to keeping a strong sense of where we are as a community and where WE can take it. There will be no excuses for not using our gifts to bring awareness to the forefront. Personally, I'm not the one for a pity party, so, I don't ask why this is happening but how. How can one artist be revered for his work and another be reviled and sometimes attacked for his? Fear. The artist who doesn't fear will always succeed in their work because they are staying true to themselves. The ones who step out their comfort zone and compromise is not only cheating themselves, but there are also robbing humanity of its dignity and pride. I believe an artist should limit their selves when it comes to particular commissioned work that has the artist conceptualize outside their belief system, but I do realize the old saying ''The Starving Artist,'' and it's a hard decision. Just know that you will draw them, or they will draw you...literally.

There has been a boom in learning and teaching art online, yet, some traditional methods just can't be taught in a home setting, or can it? I know as an art instructor and father, how important it is to embed creativity into our children. Their minds light up with excitement, more than playing a video game. Family time is not just playing sports, board games, going to the movies, but it should also involve finding fun and interactive ways to engage with your kids on an artistic level. Take the family to some local art galleries, painting sessions, art festivals or better yet, do some fun creative projects at home. Keeping in mind the wonderful world of art can have an everlasting impression on your family. The decision we make now to preserve self-expression here will define what happens generations to come, and if we fail, it's because we allowed the very collapse of the art world.

What's better than a community of artist coming together sharing ideas? Could you imagine interest matching interest for a common cause that will inspire millions? That's one of the many reasons why I joined Matthew Fryer from his YouTube channel Tip Tut on this new project called The Big 100 Project www.thebig100project.co.uk. A brilliant idea to bring artists (from around the world) together to collaborate on a single picture, cut into 100 pieces, with each artist getting their own a block. I'm #32. I call my particular piece ''The four corners.'' Thank you for taking the time out to read our latest blog. More just ahead! If you have any questions pertaining to this topic feel free to email me @ dabridgeeffect@gmail.com or link up with us at any social site you see at the bottom. Thanks again, and Godspeed.