In the TED talk, Dr. Urhahn and Jeroen Koolhas bring light to poor communities around the world who are only seen for their bad. When creating art by painting the buildings in the communities, Urhahn and Koolhas are creating beauty within the cities while also allowing the citizens to join into the process. The beauty of the paintings allows citizens and authority to see the goodness within the community, not just the bad. It gives the area physical beauty but also brings beauty to the citizens who were able to be part of the artwork. As Dr. Urhahn stated, “And at the end, the city of Philadelphia thanked every single one of them and gave them a merit for their accomplishment” (6:40). This gave the citizens a sense of worth in their community by being praised for their work for once rather than scolded for the things they do wrong by the press. The difference that Urhahn and Koolas made shows that art can have a positive impact on both the community and it’s people.

In the essay by Rhys Southan, “Is Art a Waste of Time?” he explains how even though art may be a passion it does not always help those in needs, at least in the eyes of the Effective Altruists. Southan faces this challenge as he joins the group and learns about their views while also creating a film. The EA believes that the way to truly help those in need is by earning money through hard work and donating it. They do not think that artists are physically helping those in need and rather than wasting their time making art they should donate money. Money is the one resource that would purchase food, water, medical care, and more. Although art may help it is not the best or quickest way.

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While brainstorming I realized that both the article and Ted talk represent art as a way to express a situation or feeling and in both pieces it can communicate to larger groups. Although they do not represent the value of art to the same extent, they signify what art is and how it can be presented. They both show that art is a donation of time and effort whether or not it affects the health of the needy in the same way as money. Art is a form of communication towards bettering the world rather than doing the actual benefitting. It is a step towards the final goal.