Libby Maynard, Artist, "The community is my palette"
What is your favorite art medium to work in, and why?
I like to work in community. It's malleable and responsive, though sometimes it resists. A slow medium, it takes patience and persistence, but once it starts to respond the results can be miraculous. It's not often that one gets the chance to change people's lives and be thanked for it.
When did you first figure out that art was important to you?
Art has been an important part of my life. Growing up in Washington, DC, I thought everyone went on school field trips to the National Ballet, Symphony, Gallery, or Theater. My house was full of Maurice Prendergast paintings. Living in Thailand and Laos, art permeated every facet of life. After I ran away from Wellesley College near Boston and arrived at HSU, I flipped a coin between art and English, and well, the universe works.
Who is your art mentor?
Working in community, my mentor is Arlene Goldbard. She epitomizes cultural democracy and all that is best in the work to bring the arts and culture back to being integral in our lives. Her books, "The Wave" and "The Culture of Possibility," beautifully express her vision of a social structure filled with arts and integrity. A few years ago, she created the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture (USDAC). The U.S. Department of Arts and Culture is a people-powered department — a grassroots action network inciting creativity to shape a culture of empathy, equity, and belonging. Learn more about the USDAC and read our Statement of Values, then join this act of collective imagination! (usdac.us)
Finish this sentence: My art is my...
hammer made of feathers.
What advice would you offer someone just beginning their exploration of their own artistic self?
Learn to hear your heart, not your mind. Be true to your vision. Don't follow fads and trends - you'll always be one step behind and never a leader.
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