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Community, Exchange & Innovation in the Arts

how community influences exchange and innovation in the local arts

As I perused (see also: procrastinated) the internet, I came across an article on Problogger titled 27 Thoughts on Blogging for the Artist. I do not consider myself an artist, but I read it nonetheless, and lo and behold, it had some insightful things to say. But then I got to number seven.

            7. The creation of great art has nothing to do with Community.

 Ok Problogger, I know you make lots of money telling people how to make lots of money on the Internet, but I have to disagree with this one.

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Of course, art is often deeply personal, and for many artists all they need is their supplies, a concept, and time. However, with the Benicia Annual Open Studios having come and gone in the last week, it’s hard to ignore the impact the community has on the arts. 

Over the weekend thousands of people from Benicia and the Bay area ventured out into the arsenal and downtown Benicia to get a glimpse at the workspaces of local artists. One visitor, who had come to Benicia from San Jose told me “I’ve been to open houses like these before, but it’s usually like you park, get out, see one studio, then get back in your car and drive to the next one. You can’t usually walk from studio to studio like this.”

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The close proximity of studios has created a unique environment for visitors as well as the artists who live and work there; it has created a community where cross-pollination is constantly occurring.  Upon entering Joseph Mele’s studio, I noticed a mixed media collage, that included a photograph, a bone, and a small wooden object. I had seen them in Sharon Payne Bolton’s studio earlier that day, so I inquired, “What are these?” Joseph told me that Sharon had given them to him. When I asked that Payne Bolton what they were she said, “I don’t know! Mike Kendall gave them to me. And they come in three different sizes!” I glanced around her studio full of mixed media sculpture, and there those little wooden objects were, being used as legs, as handles, as decorative elements in her work. This exchange between directly changed the work of each artist involved, and it is only a small example of how the artists in Benicia work together and influence one another.

These exchanges and influences may not always lead to direct changes in their work, such as the scenario that occurred with Joseph Mele, Sharon Payne Bolton and Mike Kendall, but it is conducive to a creative environment where artists can continue to push the boundaries of their work. And I would argue that pushing boundaries, acquiring new perspectives leads not only to innovation, but to the creation of great art; and all of this is happening here in Benicia.

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