Sometimes group conversations and public discourse about art (arts criticism, art education, art and activism, arts and commerce, etc) stress me out.

Probably because I’ve invested way too much of my time in those conversations, attending four years of art school and investing in grassroots activism (Occupy). 

But,

I continue to invest, because I love conversation. Meaningful dialogue between two or many people, dialogue about art that inspires and challenges my thinking about the world.

One of my favorite moments in Culturebot’s, Everyone’s a Critic, was when high school student, Olivia eloquently expressed how she came, through the process of writing, to be more interactive with what she saw. And how this has helped her trust her empathetic reactions to a series of moments often complex and layered rather than feeling forced to have to make sense of everything.