Collaborative Creativity

Mary working with her longtime friend, the incredible artist and educator Jane Dunnewold, who inspires her in art and in life. www.janedunnewold.com

“The long-standing image of the lonely artist wasting away in obscure isolation is a bit overdone. Not all artists are recognized; some are probably lonely. But the fact is that most of us, in many fields of art, do not work alone. We are one part of a collaboration that results in our art. Gilbert & Sullivan. George and Gracie. Symphony orchestras. Ballerina troops. Art is often a consequence of artistic collaboration, which is not a lonely task: It’s as intimate as anything human beings can do.

And when we are engaged in the making of art, we aren’t segregated away from our communities or our culture. We are in the middle of them, breathing the community’s air, hearing the sounds and smelling the aromas that define our neighborhoods. It’s in our communities, in you and the people around us, that we find the creative ideas with which we work. We don’t leave our communities to produce art; we join them, explore them, pray for them, worry about them…love them.”

From “Collaborative Creativity” — A speech given by Mary Fisher

West Palm Beach, Florida — Saturday, January 20, 2018