Museum of Natural History, Lisbon 2015. Photo courtesy of Bruno Castro Santos

We asked artists around the globe: "What is your part equally an artist in society, your local community, and the earth at large?"

Every artist plays a different and necessary role in contributing to the overall health, development, and well-being of our society.

Creative thinkers and makers provide their communities with joy, interaction, and inspiration, but they as well give thoughtful critique to our political, economic and social systems — pushing communities to engage thoughtfully and make steps toward social progress.

From documenting man history to expressing collective emotions, these nine artists from around the world tell usa how they view their role as a creative contributor.

On the Repose Moor by Lesley Birch

Artists are a vehicle for expressing universal emotion

Fine art is near connecting with people's emotions. Information technology'south personal and at the same fourth dimension, universal.

I'm an expressive painter, working from the landscape and my memories. And yes, my work is personal, although it may not seem and so at showtime. Feelings nigh my relationship with my mum, dad and family creep into the work.

It'south a human urge to express emotion through the medium of marking-making. We all behave with us memories of our past experiences.

An artist has the power to 'feel strongly' to exist 'sensitive' to things and express this in the paint, gesture, or color. The artist 'absorbs' the temper of a place or the memory of a feeling. Sometimes, it's a burden for the artist to deport all this emotion – to be so sensitive.

About folks cake out emotion. And then, suddenly, a painting 'speaks' to them. At that point, the creative person has done their job. For me, it is wonderful to connect with people through my work  — when people respond to a painting and really 'feel'.

My painting is mainly about my cocky-expression communicated out in that location on the canvas, only really I think information technology is anybody'south expression— I'm just a vehicle.

Everybody hurts. Everybody loves. Everybody hopes. And, everybody dies. Mainly, art is about our ain sense of mortality.

Lesley Birch, York, United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland

@Lesley_Birch
Wind by Nina Fraser

Artists are responsible for unearthing the truth

I believe that the creative person'south function, higher up all things, is to be every bit true to themselves as they tin can — within society, the customs and the world at large. This sounds like a cliche simply is in itself much harder than information technology seems.

Being an artist involves wearing all sorts of masks, merely like any other chore, but the departure is we accept the lingering responsibility to unearth the truth of things. Sometimes we will seem vulnerable, sometimes we will make mistakes. But the main matter is not to give up.

This resonates with people on a personal and global level, because it is not only empowering but starts from inside ourselves. Earlier deciding to follow my own artistic path, I co-founded a community arts cafe. This was an amazing feel in itself, but as information technology wasn't my true vocation I felt there was a limit to how much I could give. This is because I started from the exterior in, trying to ready things around me, before realizing I needed to tap into something central to myself.

Nina Fraser, Portugal

@Nina.fraser, @_ninafraser_

Kiss my...by Ginny Sikes

Artists piece of work to illuminate the margins and make societal changes

Rather than the give-and-take "role", I prefer "commitment". Over many years as an arts educator, I accept helped people and communities find their voices and express their concerns through individual and collaborative fine art projects. This used to be called public art. At present, information technology is often known equally social practise.

My own work is rooted in feminism –where expressing my emotions, goals, and ideas, in the realm of the personal, social and political, is an exercise in communicating my individual feel. Working with artists and in fine art spaces in other parts of the world, beautiful exchanges of ideas often happen –which creates artistic growth, empathy, and new understandings.

All of these acts tin illuminate what lies hidden or repressed in the margins or shadows. New ideas can exist brought to life. These ideas can lead to small or large changes in attitudes and even society.

Ginny Sykes, Chicago, The states

De Negen Bargen, Noordsche Veld, Zeijen by Maarten Westmaas

They tell stories and pass on traditions

Kingdom of the netherlands is a crowded infinite. Our history is filled with stories nigh how we made land out of the h2o and tamed the deadly seas. Honoured by writers, poets, and painters. The word 'landscape' stems from the Dutch word 'landschap': View of the land. It was invented here in the 17th century, with depression horizons and great cloudy skies.

Millions of landscapes were painted here by the great masters as Rembrandt, Ruysdael, Hobbema, Weissenbruch, Mauve, van Gogh and Mondriaan. All were inspired by our flat mural and big horizons. It is this centuries-long tradition in which I stand. 'Creating the Dutch mural' is my motto, my theme, and my life.

Only, our landscape is changing. Our ever-growing population is altering the look of the land. Cities grow and our mural history is sinking beneath physical, buildings, and tarmac.

So, as an artist, I not simply want the world to see the beauty of the Dutch landscape, I besides want to grow awareness about the lasting visible traces in the landscape. From our 5000-year-old megalithic monuments to our recent day modern windmills. As a photographic detective, I search for stories about our landscape.

We take to be careful with this landscape which is difficult with and so fiddling space and more than than 17 one thousand thousand inhabitants. That'due south why I decided to donate x percent of all my income to the organizations that protect the Dutch landscape. That'south the least I tin practise as an artist — t o protect the horizon.

Maarten Westmaas, the netherlands

@Maarten_Westmaas , @maarten.westmaas.dutch.mural

Peace by Shih Yun Yeo

Artists connect with and inspire people globally

As nosotros live in a global hamlet, we are somehow all connected via some grade of social media. Artists are no longer hermits and we are all "out there [in the world]". I hope my role as an artist is to inspire, connect, and interact!

My abstruse works are paintings and drawings at the same time. Paintings of geometric and organic shapes and lines, composed of layers of ink, acrylic, and other mediums allude to the gestural surface marks of Abstract Expressionism. My paintings reverberate not only with the radical disharmonize betwixt the two "colorless" colors (black and white), but also their interaction and interdependence. There is a historical richness here, the temporal quality of landscape ink painting, the concrete strength and boldness of the black ink and its generosity and infinite possibilities.

Shih Yun Yeo, Singapore

Untitled #xv past Bruno Castro Santos,  2017, colour pencil and graphite on paper, 33x46cm

Artists record and preserve our human history

We live in an ever more intricate guild where every individual regardless of its specific role plays an important part in the social biodiversity of the world.

Artists have been crucial from the very kickoff of our being. From prehistoric cavern paintings to frescos around the world, to scientific drawings, to the avant-garde movements, artists take contributed to expanding human evolution from many different perspectives.

This expansion, much similar the universe, is still going on and artists however play an of import role. I see myself as part of a community whose piece of work as a global force contributes to this human growth.

There is a crescent complexity in the way the art world evolves and the myriad agents who orbit around it are intimately interlaced with artists and their production. Although artists typically work alone in their studios, they are part of a much larger community and they play a much larger part than one might conceptualize.

Bruno Castro Santos, Lisbon, Portugal

@Bruno.castro.santos

INDUSTRIAL & URBEX: 'WHITSTABLE WHARF' (United kingdom) past Aleta Michaletos

Artists offer messages of hope

I take my part as an artist very seriously, although I still have endless amounts of fun and experience slap-up joy in my studio. I effort to be very thoughtful and socially and politically aware of my surroundings.  Whenever I experience feelings of discomfort in my life, I need to find an answer past transforming those feelings through my fine art.

An creative person'south part is near that of an Alchemist — capable of transforming a few humble materials into objects which are imbued with spiritual and aesthetic value and then possibly as well cloth value.

I prefer to be a straw of good news and hope, in this increasingly cleaved globe of ours and I observe that images have immense ability to restore commonage emotional hurting and lift the spirit.

Considering I transform my own anguish concerning the present and also the futurity into something tangible which is elementary, hopeful and beautiful, my function is to offer through my art and without beingness superficial, a bulletin of promise to society, my community and the world at large.

Aleta Michaletos, South Africa

Parrsboro Weir by Poppy Balser

They are ambassadors of the natural world

I have always lived within walking distance of the bounding main. I experience my role every bit an artist is to be an ambassador for the natural beauty that is found here. I paint out-of-doors as often as I can to get the clearest vision I tin can of my surroundings. That helps me capture it the nearly the highest level of truth.

I make my paintings to capture the parts of our landscape that I cherish and detect beautiful. In doing so, I am preserving views that may disappear without notice. Call up of all the paintings made of the Northwest landscapes that are now records of what those environments looked similar in that location before the wildfires that take swept so much of that part of the continent.

One of my recurring subjects is the herring weir, which is made of nets to take hold of wild herring. The weirs are largely unique to the Bay of Fundy. When I was immature in that location were herring weirs everywhere; they were commonplace. Now, they are nearly all gone. I now take to travel a fair distance to paint the remaining ones while they are notwithstanding hither. These rather odd assemblages of netting might not mean much to people who have no connection to this area, only they are instantly recognizable to the people from here, who find bang-up significant in my paintings of the weirs.

I go out to paint the things that I observe cute, never knowing what might anytime become extra special because it, too, may no longer be hands seen outside of paintings. I put my paintings out into the earth so that people who will never become a gamble to come here might all the same be moved by the views of this place.

Poppy Balser, Canada

@poppybalser, @poppybalserpaintings

Polychrome past Steve Immerman

Artists create a sense of community

At that place are many roles that an artist fills. Merely, in smaller cities, having local artists brings a sense of pride to the community. It besides sets examples for young people who might be considering careers in the arts. Artists back up their communities by teaching their art and arts and crafts.

Also, in nigh communities, there are auctions that benefit local causes and charities, and donations of art by local artists are some of the well-nigh pop items at these auctions.

Steve Immerman, Usa

@docimmer, @clearwaterglass

To celebrate International Artist'south Day we are offer 20% off your offset year on any Artwork Archive programme. This week simply, go the online tool that artists all over the world use to manage their studio careers.