Madison's Art on the Square Fair: "Art is a form of communication"

[I wrote most of this in July 2015 but didn't post it.]

Last weekend was the annual Art on the Square in Madison, with booths lining both sides of the streets that form the capitol square. If I'm in Madison during the fair, I nearly always go but nearly always leave feeling somewhat unfulfilled. The main exception and what's almost always my favorite stop is the high school ceramics booth, which is part of the Wisconsin-focused Art Fair Off the Square along Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, the street extending from the square to the Monona Terrace.

 “Art is a form of communication and when you have customers responding to your art, that’s what it’s all about,” said Phi Lyons, ceramics teacher at West, quoted in "Students' Clay Coalition Get Supportive Audience" Wisconsin State Journal July 20, 2015

Many of the students were there to talk with customers. At least a couple of them described to me the psychological benefits of pottery, that it could have a relaxing, meditative effect to help them deal with, for example, trauma or depression. One of the units in my intro sociology and contemporary American society classes includes the sociology of art because of those two reasons along with others. See the "Art in Cyberspace" website for links to various kinds of resources on the sociology of art.