What We Believe and What We Do

Alex S. and his portrait of A. Einstein

Every one of us, including those who may seem different in mental, emotional or bodily traits and capacities, is endowed at birth with a wide range of sensibilities and aptitudes that lend themselves to the practice of fine drawing and painting. In each one of us, some of these gifts are evident; some remain hidden until exercised. Fine drawing and painting allow us to uncover and refine our individual gifts, bringing us a joyful sense of empowerment and accomplishment. As we progress, we each carry the seeds of untold advances in ourselves and in our practice.

The arts we practice are founded on venerable craft traditions, rich in history, specialized knowledge and codes of manual practice. We work with these traditions to further them, as well as to alter them through bold experimentation. Beyond wanton entertainment, self-expression in a vacuum, and disposable décor, we pursue our arts as life-long forms of knowing the universe. Much like religion, science, and philosophy, our practice offers rich frames of reference through which we ask profound questions and seek answers. With and through art we stay curious, we think critically, we act knowingly, we make all imagination visible.

Untitled(1999)
watercolor on paper 9"x12"
Janie Thomson-Lide

We, students of art and artists serving as instructors, walk in the footsteps of many masters who came before us, brilliant thinkers and intrepid makers who exalted the search for meaning burning in the human soul. We study the struggles and feats of these extraordinary men and women to trace our own horizons. We recognize that we stand in the company of giants.

The capacity to generate the beautiful, the powerful, and the astonishing through insightful manual labor is one of the most wondrous feats of humankind. We look beyond the constraints of our own time and place to learn from fellow practitioners elsewhere, and from other artistic pursuits of all sorts. We welcome all forms of fruitful knowledge that can inform our work.

Our gestures and artifacts help create stronger communities where we cherish human worth and pursue democratic ideals. We build communities where creative genius lies not in the few nor in special events, but in each one of us, present in our everyday lives. We serve at home and abroad as emissaries of all that is still possible. We strive as artists, engaged with the world, and committed.

©2001 by A.E. Soto-Canino