Rebuilding the Visionary Community

For most of my life, I’ve watched a curious and somewhat tragic pattern in the art world. We teach our young talent that the only way to be a "real" artist is to stand on the furthest possible edge of the avant-garde—to break every rule, to shock, and to be as obscure as possible.

We’ve turned "fine art" into a specialized language that only artists speak to other artists, and we've been doing this for so long that we wonder why society has stopped listening.

I call this the "Lemming Effect."

Thousands of creative minds hurtle toward the edge of irrelevance, only to find that in the process of stripping away tradition, they’ve stripped away the art itself. When art stops speaking a truth that people can understand, it stops having the power to influence the direction of our civilization.

It’s time for a new Renaissance. And I don’t mean we should go back to painting like it’s 15th-century Italy. I mean we need to bring back the Renaissance mindset—the belief that creative value is the foundation of economic and social value, not a secondary byproduct of it.

Historically, the Renaissance was the light at the end of the Dark Ages because it integrated creative communities. It engaged with the concepts of the common good. It spoke to the center of society, not the margins. Artists were ombudsmen, critical thinkers, and community builders. They were as essential to the moral fabric of the city as any doctor or judge.

In our current "Post-Modern" era, we are witnessing a return to this need for meaning. People are hungry for art that provides context and insight into their lives, not just another clever deconstruction of "what is art." They want "heart statements."

This is the essence of "Creative Infrastructure."

It’s about building visionary communities where the voice of the artist is placed right in the middle of the national conversation. When we bring creative people together to work, learn, and socialize, we aren't just making objects; we are reshaping the public conscience.

To rebuild Portland, we need artists to be relevant again. We need them to think larger, to relate to the whole, and to help create a new cultural paradigm from the reality of our current situation.

The Renaissance held that the opening of knowledge to the broadest public was for the benefit of all. If we want Portland to thrive, we have to stop treating art as a "marginal" luxury and start treating it as the foundational utility of a thinking society.

We are the makers of meaning. It’s time we step back from the edge and start building the center.

Sincerely,

Martin Eichinger  Sculptor & Founder, Art at the Geode