The visual arts are normally explained
as the arts created primarily for people to view. They include etchings drawings, paintings,
sculptures, frescos, photography and various other decorative arts that most
often exist in permanent form. The
visual arts have been wonderful representations of spiritual things and
wonderful things of God’s creation in the heavens and on the earth. Multitudes of Bible scenes have been
portrayed with the various visual arts. Stained glass windows in churches and
cathedrals have depicted the stories told in the Bible to those who could and
could not read its wonderful truths. The
visual arts have for centuries been a wholesome way for civilizations to
beautify their surroundings.
Visual arts have been a strong ally to music in more recent
decades since advanced technology has made multimedia presentations possible. Music and the visual arts strengthen each
other in the presentation of the scenes and message of the Bible. The visual arts, when couple with music, have
also been a source of secular wholesome entertainment, education and worship.
Like the other fine arts, the visual arts must be judged
individually according to each work’s content.
Each visual representation must be in congruency with that which a
Christian believes. The eye gate is a
direct path to the mind. Therefore,
music can only be allied to the visual arts if they are compatible with the
changed life principles of a Christian.
There will be differences of opinion about violence, partial nudity,
immodest attire, and subject matter of the various visual representations among
Christians. There is also much argument
about the inclusion of the famous well-known artifacts such as Michelangelo’s
sculpture of David and Gericault’s
painting of The Raft of the Medusa.
Each music educator will have to make choices of which of the visual arts he or
she is comfortable allying with music in the worship service, classroom and
concert hall in order to not offend students, parents, administrators, school
board members, and the organization’s constituency at large.
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