There is a crisis in sustaining and developing art, artists and art institutions.  

There is no better time to explore the challenges and opportunities we face integrating our need for creative sustenance in today's world. Creativity is the language of the soul and each of us find ways to express our basic need to communicate.  

This abundant interior landscape that we each posses - rich, vibrant, tumultuous - has long been a key asset in our development of communities and civilizations.  

Accessibility and acceptance of art in daily life has grown into a profit-centered mechanism that simultaneously mimics and mines our natural impulse to communicate artistically and creatively with each other into a cycle of consumerism,  loaded with false and unrealistic notions of artistic quality, admiration of artists and the rise of development and fund-raising schemes that have become ingrained in the promotion, preservation and presentation of all art forms.

This book suggest options, new paradigms and fresh vistas in hopes of integrating and sustaining ongoing creativity for all.

The Immediacy of Joy: Integrating Creativity + Art in Daily Living

for my children

contents

 - a note to readers - 

chapter one.  re-imagining the possible

i. siempre sera diecinueve - what the somoza regime, the sandinista revolution and the iran-contra scandal can show us about profit-centered perception and values

ii. is there anything new under the sun? the mounting frustration of quickly accessing data - trust but verify

iii. in search of the possible: the precocious experiment

iv. combat lessons about absenteeism, bullshit, hustlers and having enough jobs for low-skilled individuals

v. taking steps together: inclusive growth and implementation by design

chapter two.  what is art? baby don't hurt me...

vi. we are one body  -  take care of your own body before you care for somebody else

vii. art fully allows and explores the dimensions of the psyche

viii. music as a reflection of the self

ix. literature and language as a reflection of abstract thought

x. drama as a reflection of consciousness

xi. dance and sports as a reflection of kinetic and sexual memory

xii. plastic arts as a reflection of the idealized past

xiii. photography and film as a reflection of the idealized present and performance art as a reflection of the imagined future

xiv. architecture as a reflection for the id and new media art forms as a reflection of the ego

xv. art as super-ego 

chapter three.  meet the artist: mind the gap, not everyone's a genius and that's OK

xvi. the artist seeks to understand core realities and truths,  then struggles to share that earned wisdom

xvii. the artist as a living symbol of collegiality and connected growth

chapter four.  questions in an age of global competition

xviii. fortification v. integration

xix. tension v. intensity

xx. justice, mercy and understanding v. unjust global economics that prizes profits over people

xxi. security v. doubt

xxii. i don't care vs. i care and I'm curious...

chapter five.  trust in a data driven 

xxiii. trust is clear

xxiv. trust is concise

xxv. trust is communicative

xxvi. trust is compassionate

xxvii. trust is charitable

xxviii. trust is creative

xxix. trust is commanding

xxx. trust is centered

xxxi. trust is consistent

xxxii. trust is calm

chapter six.  poetry, politics & policy

xxxiii. the immediacy of love and understanding

xxxiv. the immediacy of anger, bribes, leapfrogging and working outside the box

xxxv. the immediacy of patience and discipline

xxxvi. the immediacy of passion and truth

xxxvii. the immediacy of joy

chapter seven.  profit management,  new media & information technology

xxxviii. personification and self-awareness: our present business models prize ownership without accountability; commercial considerations and political ambitions are strengthened rather than embracing a moral obligation to inspire, inform and educate the public

xxxix. embracing our inherent and unending capacity for understanding others, our intellectual capacity to thrive and why arguably, rural men and women are more inspired to motivate and maintain revolutionary ideas that permanently change the world for the better

xl. language, free will and user interface: the promise and peril of technological integration and human impatience

chapter eight.  cultural patriotism and a passion for the arts

xli. cultural patriotism, indigenous energy and you

xlii. cultural patriotism as a venue for personal and institutional artistic expression

xliii. cultural patriotism as an expression and reflection our collective and societal conscience

chapter nine.  partnerships

xliv. between people

xlv. between institutions

xlvi. between people and institutions

xlvii. between the artist and the audience, the rich and the needy & perception and silence

chapter ten.  el machete, or, art is to everyday living as India is to cricket or America is to geopolitics : the undisputed superpower

xlviii. look mom: no hands! unlocking the power of asia, latin america, sub-saharan africa and the carribean by just paying attention

xlix. making sense of the census: the one percent and you

l. integration

acknowledgements

appendix, addendum and index