Pittsburgh Visionary Arts Festival: May 2009

Monday, May 25, 2009

About the VAF Purpose...

I have been asked to share more ideas about our purpose. Well, keep in mind that the VAF is providing a space for a rich diversity of minds, and so the purpose and the visions will range from artist to artist. I want to provide this open space so that individuals can make their own important points, since I know every artist has one. But I do have a personal vision which is specific to the creation of this event. I will share some of this in hopes that we may all agree, or at least think about what the point of doing something like this may be.
In short, I have thought of six concrete points or goals regarding the VAF vision:

1) To entertain, engage and enrich all of the city of Pittsburgh with a fun venue that promotes art in its widest and deepest sense.

2) To provide a space for rare and diverse visionary expressions that may not normally find outlets in the existing art market.

3) To create a strong venue for dialog among artists and community members, outside of the conventional art world and free from a lucrative focus.

4) To engage youth and promote active, independent leadership by means of example and inspiration.

5) To raise Pittsburgh’s awareness regarding the potential of art to transcend ornamental value and address real topics of public and personal importance.

6) To aid a definition of art which honors true impressions, emotions, struggles, concerns and free thinking, and that is not ruled by standardized and conventional notions of aesthetic value, academic norm, craft standards, economic worth, marketability or productivity.

Ultimately, my interest in facilitating such event as The Pittsburgh Visionary Arts Festival comes from my own experience with feeling extremely passionate about art work, yet finding that the existing structure for exposing art is somewhat limiting and often times inappropriate for the rare nature of many works. There is a fundamental error in a society that supports art solely for aesthetic or ornamental reasons. This is not to say that I don’t fully support the existing structure, I just hope to compliment and extend the definitions of art as perceived by viewers. What I find to be the truly important art is the equivalent of a materialization of Spirit, much in the way of aboriginal, shamanic and sacred art. It involves an understanding of art which reintegrates it to the most fundamental necessities of human kind.

I have met artists who have stopped making art altogether for not having found an outlet for their unprofitable creations which are instead charged with deeper purpose and inner beauty. This applies not only to artwork per se, but also to original, questioning lifestyles and thoughts. I have been fortunate and driven enough so as to participate in the conventional art scene with great success, and yet the general public does not seem opened enough to appreciate many of the more inexplicable aspects of my work. This openness has to come from exposure and so more venues must exist for the subtler and “stranger” arts. I am inspired to encourage artists and non-artists to continue on creating works and lives that don’t seem to have an obvious place in this world. I intend to recover that place. It is ultimately a dream of mine to provide a venue where the rarest and least-understood corners of creativity can be proudly displayed, shared and enjoyed with the world.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

The Good News!!!!!

Dear artists, visitors and friends of the VAF:
We are soooooooooo glad to inform you that Sprout Fund has decided to grant a Seed Award to the Pittsburgh Visionary Arts Festival! This means we got the grant and this dream is now well on its way to becoming a reality!
So now is a time to tell everyone, get ready, get excited and prepare for August of 2009!
Keep your eyes out for the poster and press releases, as well as the website which will come out very soon. Also, please help us spread the word.
We will keep you posted!

General Info

The Pittsburgh Visionary Arts Festival (VAF) will occur in August 7th, 8th and 9th of 2009! It will entail 50 individual artist booths spread along the main lawn of Schenley Plaza in Oakland. Artists will display their work and be present in their booths to talk to people, from 12pm to 9pm. In addition, many artists will perform demonstrations, or will be at work during the VAF. Do not miss it! For more information visit:

www.pghvisionaryartsfestival.com

For directions and info about Schenley Plaza visit: http://www.pittsburghparks.org/schenleyplaza

Regarding the concept of "Visionary"

The American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore says: "Visionary art is like love, you know it when you see it". The Pittsburgh Visionary Arts Festival could not agree more with this statement, adding to it that "the definition of visionary art itself is like love: elusive and tricky as can be!"

It is important to clarify that the VAF hopes to be as inclusive as possible while still maintaining a distinction between its definition and conventional notions of art. We want to be able to include artists and non-artists from all different backgrounds, not just those who would traditionally be considered self-taught or "outsider artists", so the definition of visionary art becomes even trickier.

The VAF is hosting a huge diversity of minds, ranging from well-established professional artists and university professors to self-taught creators who have never shown their work publicly, or have no interest in the art market whatsoever. I encourage open mindedness toward the idea of "visionary", since it will be clear that the term covers a wide range of possibilities.

We like to envision that, within the greatest umbrella of "visionary art", one could interpret many different subjects and categories that are not synonyms, and which welcome and include terms and notions such as: outsider art, raw art, self-taught art, primitive art, folk art, psychedelic art, mystical art, shamanic art, religious art, sacred art, cosmic art, anti art, kid's art!, spontaneous art, automatic art, etc. As many as these categories are, one can easily say that there are still many other forms of art that don't particularly qualify as visionary.

In general, the intent of the VAF is not to be exclusive of any specific art form or artist, instead hoping to be embracive by accepting and promoting all artwork, but especially that which may not be as easily and commonly approached, understood and appreciated by typical norms and standards. So in this sense the VAF will favor people who, in one way or another (and as a principle) question, expand or transcend the consensual norms and practices of art.

For now it is also important to clarify that, in order to select the artists, the VAF often leaned on a couple of parameters:
••The existence of a uniting vision is often a feature of visionary art. The work often has a mission, a purpose, or a dimension of reality that may have been overlooked by the status quo, or may seem of pressing importance to the artist. This notion of purpose or vision differs from artist to artist sometimes radically. While much visionary art is concerned with spiritual, mystical, shamanic and existential realities, oftentimes the work is also centered on social, cultural, political or environmental concerns. Many other times too, the work is not even mental or logical whatsoever, but the result of a spontaneous or intuitive mindset, brought to being by pure play. In this way, the spectrum of visionary art is wide ranging from very down to earth, visibly-functional approaches, to very ethereal and imaginative dimensions; its essence as diverse and malleable as the human soul.

••Devotion as a fundamental principle and driving force of the work is seen as evidence of a true and honest intent and practice in visionary art. The work is a clear physical outcome of uniquely arduous work, a very strong belief or passion, a conviction in a greater or important truth, an unbreakable commitment or some combination of the above. Devotion means that the artist makes it clear in the work itself, that he/she has a strong commitment and need to put a most delicate and persistent care into every second of the work. It also may mean that this work is to continue forever, or become fused with every other aspect of the artist’s life. This is not to say that devotion in visionary art cannot be manifested also as a subconscious or compulsive act, and may at times even seem completely detached or careless.

••Uniqueness, innovation and a general deviation from widely validated methods is also often a factor in aiding to identify visionary art. This is a very tricky matter since visionary art rarely intends to be different or purposefully go out of its way to appear original. The artist’s uniqueness is something that comes as a natural progression to the artist’s vision and not as a forced, ideated strategy. Visionary innovation is less a matter of attempting to do something new and more a manifestation of true passion and fearlessness from or disinterest in consensus agreement.

While not necessarily on purpose, visionary art is often innovative in at least one or many of these categories:
1) The artist’s use of materials, both in collection and implementation of mediums.
2) The artistic processes of creation, which are almost always artist-specific and are many times non-traditional, invented, ritualized, automatic or even accidental.
3) The artist’s concept or statement which may display unfamiliar, unknown, revolutionary, controversial or unpopular subject matters and concerns.

There are hundreds of artists (in Pittsburgh alone), who represent and engage in a visionary approach to art. It is the intent of the VAF to find and highlight these artists while praising the hard work and vision of ALL ARTISTS. The VAF would be the first to say that ALL ART IN ITSELF IS VISIONARY, as long as we continue promoting the liberation of ART from any and all forms of ties, cages or chains.

Finally, the VAF hopes to mature and improve, and will therefore always take risks, welcome new ideas and suggestions, and accept corrections, criticism and challenges.

Monday, May 25, 2009

About the VAF Purpose...

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

The Good News!!!!!

General Info

Warning!

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Regarding the concept of "Visionary"

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