A great deal is learned from studying trends and experiences through history which tend to explain the present as well as the past, such as, with great suffering comes great art. Twenty-Twenty was full of suffering for people all over the world, but artistic expression from suffering has been commonplace for centuries. This is true when we look back at times like the calamitous fourteenth century—covering the Plague, political crisis, religious division, and a handful of critical societal changes. Art reflecting the events during this period was reproduced for centuries, such as Pieter Brugel the Elder's Triumph of Death,which depicted the atrocities of the Black Death. It shows piles of the dead, emaciated figures, skeletons, fire, and terror surrounding everything. His intricate piece features dozens of small details encompassing a devastating time in human history. 

In a more modern context, Pablo Picasso used Guernica to express his pain, longing, and displeasure during the Spanish Civil War. It shows a mother crying over her dead baby—a modern Pietà; a horse screaming in pain after being impaled multiple times; the bull, the symbol of Spain, in disarray while multiple other characters are in distress. It is one of Picasso’s most famous paintings and one of his most painful depictions. It expresses everything that he felt for his people even when he learned of it living in a foreign country. His painting invoked a mode of expression where people could grieve and connect even when not together. 

Similarly, 2020 has been arguably the most consistent year of suffering for the United States. In the United States, there has been a poor response to a global pandemic, the murder of George Floyd, which triggered a global movement for Black Lives Matter, rampant natural disasters, and one of the most important, controversial, and impassioned elections in modern American history. All of these experiences also came at a time when we were unable to properly grieve, celebrate, converse, argue, or share lives because of  necessary social distancing. 

Art is something that unites people in times of joy and distress. Art like Breugal or Picasso’s are reproduced in the mediums of city murals, photography, exhibits, music, humor, and anything that propagates human expression at a distance. This expression indicated the needs of the people to influence politics; justice for crimes against citizens, protection in a pandemic, action to prevent wildfires, aid to rebuild what was lost, and political change in America. Policy is made to provide and protect for the people; art is how the people tell policymakers, or the broader people with power, what they need.

People have used art to cope in tumultuous times, which is relevant to politics because politics infiltrates every aspect of life—especially in times of trouble. Whether somebody participates or not, policy affects what people can and cannot do, how they can be helped, what their opportunities are, or who they are surrounded with. It is important to listen and learn from these forms of expression because policy is used to serve and protect the people. Art imitates life, and thus, politics must listen to the art, given that art is how the people are telling policymakers what they need. Emotionally and intellectually, investing in art and listening to the people's voices places compassion back in politics. Having compassion, working in the best interest of citizens is at the heart of effective, lasting, and respectable policy-making. 

One of the earliest losses of 2020 came with Kobe and Gigi Bryant’s death. It was unexpected and heart-breaking, yet unifying. Before the United States went into the first phase of lockdown, people were able to come together to honor their memory and what he symbolized—success, passion, inspiration. For many this marked the first tragedy of 2020 and the beginning of changing traditional ways of life and expression. 

Soon after, the world felt the sting of isolation as students were sent home from school indefinitely, young adults settled in for the long-haul, and we retreated to our homes. People immediately began using art to communicate sorrow, support, rage, and community. For example, the famous street artist Banksy created a mural for Southampton Hospital depicting a young boy playing with a doll dressed as a nurse in a superhero position with Batman and Spiderman tossed to the side. Before we knew it, healthcare workers became our men and women in uniform and the heroes that we desperately needed to survive. 

The New York Times’ “2020 In Photos: A Year Like No Other”  took an emotional account of the year in the most common and accessible form of art in this century. Photos in the age of constant sharing has become one of the most genuine mediums because it captures a moment exactly how it is, without any manipulation of what it is. They start with New Years in Times Square, portraying the hope that the beginning of a new decade would match the enchantment of the 1920s. They guide us through the tragedies of the past year by each emotional encounter—it is a challenge to hold back tears thinking about and seeing all that has been lost. On April 6 in Yonkers, a 92-year-old man was intubated in his home surrounded by medical paraphernalia. In Boston on May 12, Father Ryan Walters administered the Catholic sacraments of Last Rights to a patient in full protective gear. Both juxtaposed on April 13 by an image of unmasked and unafraid crowds resisting the stay at home order and mask mandate in Ohio. Clearly, this communicated separate needs. For some, the necessity of medical care and the strength to survive. For others, they desired the fluidity that a pandemic world could not afford. Both sentiments were conveyed to anybody that would see them and demanded action to people who could create change. 

The Black Lives Matter protest that took the world by storm in June produced some of the most emotionally jarring and thought provoking media of the year: with murals of George Floyd all over the country, quotes from his daughter saying “Daddy Changed the World,” and paintings of “Justice for Breonna Taylor” plastered all over cities and social media. Floyd’s memorial in Minneapolis was so unique and communal that the University of St. Thomas sought to share it all through the Urban Art Mapping George Floyd & Anti-Racist Street Art database. It encompasses street art all around the world in a single place for supporters to cherish and learn. The voices of the BLM movement were impossible to ignore, much like their murals. By memorializing street art and contributions of individuals who were deeply affected by this, they are ensuring that the power of the message is kept for posterity and in the present, shows the movement towards action by those in power. 

To round out 2020, America faced what Joe Biden claimed was ‘the fight for the soul of the nation.’ After four years of former President Donald Trump, people were either die-hard followers or believed avid change was needed. With the mishandled COVID-19 response, race relations in America at one of its most contentious points, and wildfires ravaging California, the race was not a sure thing for either candidate. After days of apprehension Biden became the 46th President and Kamala Harris the Vice President. It marked a powerful moment rung with emotional significance for the majority of America. But perhaps the best indicator of people’s voice was the fortress of posters, signs, and pictures left at the newly renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza right outside of the White House accompanied by overflowing trash cans of champagne bottles. This, too, is art. An indication of joy and relief after days of anticipation and years of distress for some. 

These artistic marks left by Americans showed struggle and triumph through the hardest part of many people’s lives. It demonstrated the resilience of a person, the passion of the American citizen for liberty and justice, and the power of art to connect to others when we are unable to physically come together. Politics is supposed to provide people with what they need, these forms of art exemplify what those needs are and what policy needs to do to satisfy them. It is like a hint to policy makers. They needed frontline workers to be safe enough to help others, they needed justice for wrongs in the legal system, they needed compassionate and active politicians, they needed a leader who would put the country first. The people got some of these things. But in the meantime, art will not cease to voice the needs of people and the people will not cease to express it.