Artists in the Nixa area find sources of inspiration in a variety of ways, and some of those sources come from other cultures — both cultures around the Ozarks as well as the world.
Professor of Art and Design at Missouri State University Dr. Steve Willis believes that an artist’s background, along with exposure to different cultures, significantly shapes their work. He encourages his students to draw from their own backgrounds as well as those of others.
“Every week, I’m in class talking about otherness, diversity and inclusion,” Willis said. “An artist is a vessel of all perceptions, and what they experience influences the art they make.”
Willis especially advocates for the direct consumption of art and culture from diverse artists.
As an Indigenous American, he has spent time immersed in Indigenous culture on reservations, garnering firsthand experience that informs his teaching.
“I think that our society is fraught with misinformation because we know that history is written in the voice of the victors,” Willis said. “I encourage students to look at native people and the history they grew up with, and how that might inform their embedded biases from what they got in schooling because Native American history is really not taught in Western society. If [artists] stay focused in a Western paradigm like Van Gogh and Renoir … then most likely they’re going to produce something similar.”
While culture can influence a creative pursuit, artists generally look to their own emotions, experiences and inspirations to shape their work. Ryan Widel, art teacher at Nixa High School, said he believes that personal identity is central to artistic expression.
“To me, if they’re not reflecting who they are, then that means they’re probably copying off of something else,” Widel said. “There’s a big difference between copying and being inspired by something. I want them to be inspired by this or that and not copy it.”
Junior Enoch Cho is enrolled in multiple Advanced Placement Art classes. Like many artists, she draws influence from media, outside of the stereotypical paradigm of physical media, that she enjoys.
“I’m usually inspired by movies more than music or other things,” Cho said. “I’m also inspired by classic literature.”
Beyond external influences, Cho channels her emotions into her work, using color to evoke feelings.
“I also just try to illustrate what I experience and how it connects with society and other peoples’ feelings,” Cho said. “I try to use bright or deep color to express emotions more directly.”
Ultimately, whether drawing from personal experiences or external media, artists use their work to explore identity and perspective. As Willis said, true artistic growth comes from expanding one’s influence.
“If they embed themselves in a culture, even their own culture, to a deeper degree, then they get to have an experience that’s not taught in books, not taught in classrooms,” Willis said. “It’s an experience that’s personal and many times prophetic.”