Heath turned his attention to Professor Holden as he began speaking. Paintings depicting things from history? He wondered what things that could be. At any rate, that sounded interesting. He briefly glanced toward the easels, as if trying to see through the covers. The first question jerked him out of his thoughts, and he blinked confusedly. He had no idea what to make of that question!

His thoughts immediately turned to the role the arts played in his life. The arts were his way of expressing the emotions he had to hide otherwise, and sharing his art with others made him feel understood and accepted. Granted, he was more geared toward the performing arts, but he supposed the same would apply to other art forms. But that was too close to what everyone else and said, wasn’t it? Then he remembered how he got into theatre, how watching plays helped him connect with others and he wanted to pass that on to others. He tentatively raised his hand and said, “Art helps us connect with the people of the past, their emotions and their culture.”

Was that a good enough answer? He doubted it, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say.