Community Breeds Creativity
Art, and many of the activities associated with creativity, are seen as individual practices, ones where the creative is shut-in for hours on end, producing their best works in what is similar to solitary confinement, only chosen. For many, this version of the creative process appears to be the only version, led by the belief that we must all seek solitude or build a cabin in the woods to live as deliberately as Henry David Thoreau, just to produce works with a similar grandeur. However, limiting the creative process to that of one mind may result in other limits, not only of the work, but of the artist.
It is true that idea generation begins on an individual level, and with individualism often celebrated and rewarded by society, it is easy to assume that “individual” means alone. However, an individual is much like a spark inside a lighter. It is what is lit by the lighter that carries a more stable flame. Through community, the sharing of ideas and the fostering of inspiration, this stable flame morphs into an eternal fire.
Community is known to have a multitude of mental health benefits, as well as the capacity to build social skills, a sense of identity, purpose, and connection, as well as reduce loneliness. Community is found within neighborhoods, places of worship, workplaces, educational areas, and interest organizations. For creatives especially, these spaces allow for common ground and conversations that ensure the creative process becomes a longlasting, shared, journey. The benefits of this kind of creative process start with inspiration coming easier, as one idea quickly leads to another in this kind of environment, artists can get their intended message across with greater ease due to feedback groups, and finally, the story behind each and every individual becomes part of one another.
For creatives, their journey, their personal story, is always, although in differing capacities, reflected in their work. Because of this, through art, the story of an individual is able to be shared in ways that are otherwise inaccessible, which in turn, circles back to the intrinsic community that art provides. External community only fosters this, ensuring that art is a conversation, from artist to piece, to piece to viewer.
Thinking of how art is made, music artist collaborations, genre and media mixing, and even the multiple pairs of eyes that land on a novel before it is published, they all involve an individual, or multiple individuals, with several ideas, discussed and pushed by one another to create a communal piece of art, as well as a communal art process that creates impressions and spurs new ideas that succeed the initial art itself. This long-lasting life, this willing vulnerability, is what makes art something not only worth pursuing, but something enjoyable. Community only heightens this, which in turn heightens the quality of the work itself, as there is passion behind the work celebrated, and shared by many.
Communities, and artistic communities, are not hard to find. It starts with public spaces, parks, libraries, frequenting a local restaurant or shop. For creatives, finding these groups can mean connecting via the internet with like-minded artists, meeting in person and creating in the same space as these people. How this sort of community continues is through contribution.
Volunteering, encouraging, supporting nonprofits (like the Downriver Council for the Arts), showing up to exhibits of local artists, buying and sharing their work, all help to build up community and create safe, inspirational places, that give artists and their works a lifetime of support and cherishing that can only be found within the environment of a community.
“This long-lasting life, this willing vulnerability, is what makes art something not only worth pursuing, but something enjoyable.”
