Michael Lewis and Alison Robinson, Directors and Co-Founders of More Art, Inc.
THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD
by
Michael Lewis
Once upon a time, my parents took me to see the original Broadway production of “The Music Man” -- my first real, live stage show. Miraculous! Electrifying! A locomotive right on the stage! A marching band! A parade! But the most amazing thing to me was the audience -- the effect that show had on the audience.
Simply put, they were happy. When people are happy they don’t hurt one another. When people are happy they don’t argue or glower or suffer from despair or the laws of physics. A two-and-a-half hour aesthetic experience in a large semi-lit chamber had accomplished this feat, and I never forgot it. The power of art.
In my work as a professional writer I have come in contact with many artists. Artists are people, only more so. Because Life is the essential raw material of artists -- be they sculptors, performers, painters, writers, directors, or whichever -- they involve themselves more with Life than other people. They communicate some teaspoon or cup or hundred gallon vat of Life with every piece of art they create.
For that reason what an artist does with his art is vitally important. An artist capturing the heart of his or her audience is achieving a victory far more complete than the conquest of an empire. An artist is a warrior who causes effects on an audience. And with today’s instantaneous global communication, those effects could morally cripple an entire culture in a matter of decades or just as surely create a new age of enlightenment and grace. Which it will be is in the hands of the artist.
When Alison and I first conceived of More Art, we wanted, simply and shamelessly enough, just that: More Art. More singing, more writing, more dancing, more dreaming.
More gazing at the sky and seeing more than the weather.
More painting, more images, more forms, more beauty.
More inspiration, which in turn begets more living, more hoping, more understanding.
In short, with More Art, we are putting in our two cents in the hopes of lending our voice to the best thing in the world: CREATING
The future is an empty canvas to paint on, a great unwritten novel to contribute to, a glorious musical with a finale not yet conceived.
To create the future is quite a project to undertake. Yet artists everywhere are knowingly or unknowingly already creating that future by putting their ideas and images into the free air.
We who breathe that air can -- with our showcases, our workshops and our concerts, with our encouragement, appreciation, and love – help them create with a free and light heart, a future of which we can be proud.
Come create with us!
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