By Issac Fox Tamblyn

Throughout my life, I’ve encountered a lot of change. My parents split when I was seven, and I had been to three different schools before moving to Royal St. George’s College for high school. In a life full of new experiences and unfamiliar environments, I’ve found that it’s essential to have something you’re passionate about that keeps you grounded and provides respite amid a barrage of potentially stressful experiences. For me, that’s always come from the arts. Some of my oldest childhood mementos are the countless doodles I did of my favourite characters. In fact, I could probably find drawings from just about every year of my life. If you saw me at school or summer camp, I’d most likely have a sketchbook by my side. While art has impacted my life in many ways, I believe that the most important one is the way it has brought me together with people I might not have otherwise interacted with. That, I believe to be its greatest function.

Like many other people, I have trouble with large crowds. Birthday parties, new classes, and public speaking have historically been stressful experiences for me. It is unsurprising, then, that performing in my summer camp’s talent show was not something that a ten-year-old me had ever considered. However, after the continuous prodding of my cabinmates, I built up the courage to come up with an act. I eventually came up with a concept that was later dubbed “mystery sketch,” (which is somewhat of a misnomer for the actual contents of the act). Essentially, I would stand on the stage at the beginning of the show and take drawing suggestions, and while the other campers performed their acts, I would draw people’s ideas backstage. Finally, at the end of the show, I would emerge from behind the curtains and reveal the finished product. While I was in no way a master artist (I was ten), the simple act of taking people’s ideas and putting them on paper was so entertaining to people that they would approach me to praise my act for the remainder of my time at camp that summer. I wound up performing my act again the next year, and from that point forward, I gained a reputation that stuck with me even after I retired the act. Doing that talent show allowed me to connect with people in a unique way and brought me closer to many members of the camp.

In grade 8, I felt lonely. I had some close friends at school that I enjoyed spending time with, but we rarely hung out outside of school due to busy schedules and them not sharing many interests that friends normally bond over in their free time, such as video games. As a result, I began to spend an increasing amount of time by myself, on my computer. The year prior, I had received a digital drawing pad for Christmas which was the source of much of my entertainment in my time away from friends, and one day I had the idea to post some of my drawings online. Many of my drawings contained original characters, but I would occasionally draw fanart of creators that inspired me, and send it to them publicly. The exposure I received from these creators retweeting my art allowed me to connect with people online in a way I had never done before. Before I knew it, I was immersed in a thriving online art community and had actually made some great friends. By the time grade 8 was nearing its end, I was talking to my best online friends almost every day– people who, at that point, I had never even met in real life. However, the physical space separating us—which was significant for some of these people, especially one friend who lived in New Zealand—did not matter at all because we were able to connect over a shared interest. Since then, I have lost contact with most of these people as my life has moved forward, but I will always cherish the time I spent with them, which was facilitated by our shared love of art.

Art impacts people in many ways. It can blow people away with aesthetic beauty and provoke deep analysis with complex themes and imagery. However, I believe that the best aspect of art is ultimately its ability to bring people together. Art can connect people from all walks of life and allow them to unite over a common interest. That, I believe, is art’s greatest service to humanity