Guest Blog: How Can Visual Art Make the World a Better Place? by Anna Nichols
Anna Nichols has been teaching art since 2004 and is currently at McAdory High School in Birmingham, Alabama. She inspires her students to see art as more than self-expression; she shows them how creativity can change the world. She created the following lesson to guide her students in exploring Alabama artists who use their talents in service to others. It’s both a celebration of local artistic heroes and a practical classroom activity you can adapt for your own students.
Anna has gathered stories of artists who overcame adversity, built community, and shone a light on injustice. Together, they reveal how visual art can heal, empower, and inspire. Below you’ll find the lesson as she shares it with her students. It’s ready for you to copy, paste, or even share directly with your classroom.
Lesson: How Can Visual Art Make the World a Better Place?
Discussion Starter
How in the world can a visual artist serve others through their creative work? Bringing beauty to others is one way (painting a mural, making a gift or a card). Teaching your craft to someone is another way to help. Reaching out to a person in need to provide a walking cane, or even a home, are also ways that artists can help their communities. You can even use your art to expose an injustice, like photographers Charles Lee Moore and Gordon Parks did during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
Featured Alabama Artists
Becky Guinn – An art teacher who returned to painting after a medical crisis left her a quadruple amputee. She launched Hooked On Art, traveling statewide to provide art programs where none existed.
[Becky Guinn on Vimeo]
[CBS Evening News: Artist Loses Hands, Feet, But Not Talent]
Larry Allen – A Leeds potter who tells a group of alternative school students: “Being in art, you have the power to create whatever kind of universe you want. Even if you are surrounded by ugliness, you can create beauty.”
[When Lightning Struck Interview]
Charles Lee Moore – Civil rights photographer from Hackleburg, Alabama, whose powerful images (including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s arrest) spotlighted injustice around the world.
[I Fight With My Camera – PBS]
“Santa” Jack York – Woodcarver from Anniston who creates walking canes for injured veterans, along with toys and ornaments.
[al.com feature]
Samuel Mockbee & The Rural Studio – Auburn University’s Rural Studio trains architecture students by designing and building homes, churches, and community centers for people in need, often with recycled materials.
[Absolutely Alabama with Fred Hunter]
[Rural Studio: Love Stories – YouTube]
[Encyclopedia of Alabama article]
McAdory High School’s Community Projects
At McAdory, students also participate in service projects such as creating cards for nursing home residents and showcasing uplifting artwork at UAB West Hospital. These projects remind students that even small acts of creative kindness can bring hope.
More Alabama Artists Who Serve Others
Ricky Trione, a blind painter who teaches children and demonstrates how to paint without sight.
[YouTube: Reflections of a Blind Painter]Bruce Larsen, sculptor and special effects artist who donates his work to civic programs.
[al.com article]Don Stewart, humor artist who donates works to charity auctions and speaks in schools.
[Interview link]Jamie Ankenbrandt, clay artist who founded Prodigal Pottery to provide jobs for people escaping abuse, homelessness, or addiction.
Student Learning Targets
I can answer the question, “How does visual art make the world a better place?”
I can explain how each of these artists serves their community after viewing the videos.
Artists to explore:
Painter Becky Guinn
Potter Larry Allen
Photographer Charles Lee Moore
Woodcarver “Santa” Jack York
Architect Samuel Mockbee (Rural Studio)
Closing Reflection
These stories show that art is not just about skill, it’s also about service. Whether painting, carving, photographing, or building, Alabama artists prove that creativity can heal, inspire, and bring hope.
What are your ideas for serving others through your art?
