Peter Donnelly, Birmingham, 1962.

A sketch of a dog poking his way through a page from the Book of hours, Flanders, c. 1485 CE (Kraków, MNK, 3025 I, p. 469-470)

"But what I mean is that you gotta rip it out of your skull and your guts. To find out what the hell you really…what do you really feel should be said at this point in life by you? You gotta say something with a movie. Otherwise, what’s the point of making it? You’ve got to be saying something.”

“Signs of this slow suicide are all around: the narrowing pipelines for rising talent, the overreliance on nostalgia projects, and a general negligence in cultivating enthusiasm for its products.”

In September 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act, which created the N.E.A. The act contained a long declaration of findings and purpose outlining Congress’s view as to why the arts were necessary and deserving of support. “An advanced civilization must not limit its efforts to science and technology alone,” Congress declared. “Democracy demands wisdom and vision in its citizens. It must therefore foster and support a form of education and access to the arts and the humanities, designed to make people of all backgrounds and wherever located masters of their technology and not its unthinking servants.”

These words ring even truer today. The arts nurture the human spirit, reflect the human condition for us and, at their best, allow us moments in which we can transcend the limitations of our own points of view and see the world anew. The government has long recognized that the market is not enough to sustain this project. Indeed, at times the relentless focus on shareholder value and corporate balance sheets puts the market and American art at odds.

“The theatre should be a factory of thought, a prompter of conscience, an elucidator of social conduct, an armory against despair and dullness, and a temple to the Ascent of Man.” – George Bernard Shaw

You have to learn the way we become sustainable and generative creative contributors in the first place. Instead of waiting to be discovered, spend the time learning. Spend the time experimenting. Spend the time getting things done. Show those haters you are here and can’t be ignored.

https://youtu.be/sCgZhsfg60s

St. Peter: “I want to kill my soul, which was born to live forever.” Which was born to live forever.

Which was born to live forever.

Which was born to live forever. 

Experience, Observation, Imagination