Peter Clothier discusses his new book, “Persist”
Persist: In Praise of the Creative Spirit in a World Gone Mad with Commerce
It’s a collection of essays on art, art practice, and how to carry on in the modern world. It’s encouragement for all creative types, and who can’t use a bit more of that?
Persist explores ways today’s artists in any medium can find fulfillment, a sense of purpose, and joy in alternative and more lasting values.
The book is a collection of essays addressing the predicament of the artist (painter, sculptor, writer, musician, actor, dancer) in a cultural climate in which celebrity and an established commercial track record too often count for more than talent and quality of work. Yet artists of all kinds have to “do it”–because that’s who they are. The book describes strategies the author has found indispensible in learning to “persist” in spite of all obstacles: he has found those resources in practice, the exercise of mental and logistical discipline, and building community.
Peter Clothier is a former art school Dean (Otis Art Institute, Loyola Marymount University) and a widely-published art writer, bringing the perspective of long experience and an empathy for the creative passion. He currently blogs daily at The Buddha Diaries, and does a monthly podcast for Artscene Visual Radio.
This talk is sponsored by the Arroyo Arts Collective, Avenue 50 Studio, and Future Studio Gallery.
