Making Art: Making A Life of Art

The end of program showcase for Nato Thompson's Independent Study Program

Rocks, human rights journals, the home as a fulcrum to understand the globe, printing for the people, printing to print, law and activism, activism as residency, postcards for family.

What is art for? And furthermore, who is art for? In the last six months, this incredible group of artists have gathered together to consider what it means to make a life of art. We have talked about our own personal journeys. We have discussed what our professional aspirations are and matched them against what our personal community journeys are. We have run the gamut of questions of not only what it means to make art, but more profoundly, what it means to make a life. This exhibition is the art that the artists have chosen to show that has spun out of this process.

​The results are sometimes that art can just be for an immediate family. Or, that art can be for your immediate neighbors. In other situations, the art is an ongoing reflection of a poetic journey between taking care of a family member and the ecological conditions we all face. Ultimately, what this show demonstrates, and I certainly take it deeply to heart, that this art and the lives behind them, present a portrait of poetic activity that is a profound antidote to the news cycle. That this exhibition shows us, in a dreamy way, that the integration of art into life is a complex journey delicately involving others.