Larry D. Lauer

When I arrived at TCU in 1966 to teach radio-TV-film my closest colleagues and friends were in the art department. I found myself hanging out with oil painters, graphic artists, sculptors, and photographers. They were asking me about the psychic and social impact of television and I was learning about the power of imagery from them.

Looking back I can see clearly now that I believed early on that art had the ability to give context and tone to big ideas… and even enhance their power. In theatre the background set reinforces the dramatic impact of the story. In a marketing brochure graphic design and photography attract attention and reinforce the importance of the content. And the right magazine cover sets the stage for everything else that follows. In today’s media world you certainly can tell a lot about a book by its cover!

But it goes even deeper than this. Creative artists of all types provide insights and truths unavailable to many of us. The daily lives of poets, novelists, essayists, dramatists, composers, musicians, all take us a little closer to the basic truths we all seek. So when you engage with artists, appreciate what they do, see up close how they do it, and bring your compelling content ideas into the dialogue, you are enabling the kind of multi-sensory communication essential to influencing today’s audiences.

In the past I thought that intellectuals were only those high IQ people who could remember names and dates on objective tests. They were those scholars who could master numbers and put complicated formulas on blackboards. But over time I came to see that true intellectuals also include those who struggle to give birth to new ideas and surround themselves with creative people as a way to accomplish higher goals and deeper understanding. I love these people, and you should too.